Planning a New Kitchen Design

We’ve been in our house for four years now and like many parents still have the “to do” list when it comes to things we wanted to achieve around the home. The boys have had their bedrooms redone twice since we moved in to suit their growing needs, the dining room has been a dining room, a playroom and a dining room again, the lounge has had a little attention, even Roy’s Man Den (a large workshop out the back complete with sofa and dart board) has been done out. The one place that has had very little in the way of anything is my kitchen.

I adore my kitchen as it is, and you can probably see why from these photos. I have a Belfast sink, wooden worktops (which take more looking after that you’d think), white Shaker-style cabinets and my personal favourite, the original bread oven. Sadly this doesn’t work however is fabulous when it comes to offering storage; the top section makes a brilliant bread bin!

k5

Despite the kitchen looking great here there is an under-stairs pantry (no door which is a shame), a decent space between the pantry and the bread oven and by extension a separate utility room that leads off from the kitchen which in itself is a generous size. The utility room is being renovated (read as mostly ripped down and rebuilt) at some point which will make it significantly better looking and with a new flat rather than slightly sloped concrete floor better for shelving and storage too.

What I really am looking for just now is some help on the kitchen design front. I’m looking for ways to brighten the space which most of the time doesn’t get a lot of light, to add a pop of colour without taking away from the traditional charm and to find a way to make the most of the existing space as well as the walk-in pantry and the space between (not big enough really for a table and currently has a bin there but it seems wasted somehow, perhaps something wall mounted?).

As you can see from my Pinterest “Kitchen Love” board I’ve already started pulling together ideas and will be visiting Homify for more inspiration. With spring on the way (hopefully) now seems like the ideal time to start planning and getting started so today I’m asking if you have ideas for me. Do you have a similar kitchen? What colour / touches would you add without cluttering it up? I’m excited to get started but right now am not quite sure what I’m getting started with.

Hopefully before long I’ll be posting before and after pictures!
k4

Written in collaboration with Homify.

 

Property: How the Other Half Live 

Thirsk in the sunshine, is there anywhere more lovely? We don't think so!
Thirsk in the sunshine, is there anywhere more lovely? We don’t think so!

There are two things that you may (or may not depending on how regularly you read the blog) know about me. Firstly, I live in Thirsk, North Yorkshire and secondly I am a properties tart. By properties tart I mean that I love to trawl through properties to buy and rent online, purely to nosy inside and see how the other half lives. This hobby or pastime if you can call it that started with looking at houses comparable to my own in size and location and now I like looking at the dream houses, the houses in different areas and the more unique properties. I know I’m not the only one who likes a good nosy on Rightmove!

My Pinterest boards also reflect the interior projects and designs I would enjoy if I owned one of the dream houses on my mental list (fairly modest ones) as well as those which I aim to do here at some point.

Living in rural-ish Thirsk (Think of James Herriot, the vet and Thirsk Races) we seem to have a fairly high property value compared to some areas. Rents and house prices appear to be at all all-time high and people are buying and selling fairly quickly. We’d always known in the past that if we moved areas that we could potentially get more for our money size and room-wise, although our house is far from shabby. The problem with that is that we don’t want to leave our lovely town and also, moving areas now wouldn’t necessarily offer the property upgrade it once would as the market seems to have evened out in many (but not all) areas.

Living near Harrogate and York, having excellent links with the North East and more Thirsk has always been fairly attractive for businesses and commuters yet retains its rural charm. What we didn’t realise but do now is that as expensive we feel our property prices are, they are nowhere near as high as some UK much sought after areas!

Realistically it depends on what you are looking for as PropertyRescue.co.uk state that the average (England and Wales) property prices stands at approximately £184,682. That’s ok if you want a two, maybe three bed semi up here (North) but what if you want to live how the other half live? I’m talking gated properties and key locations such as Chelsea or St John’s Wood (if I was to live in London it would be St John’s Wood).  Have a look to see what kind of price tag you could expect to pay for a swish pad in or around London for example. If you were to receive change from a million pounds (a million pounds!?) you would be fortunate it seems.

In real terms if I sold a property in one of those areas I could buy straight out four 3-4 bed really quite lovely  houses here. That’s a heck of a difference when put side by side. I think for now we’ll put off buying something in Kensington or Westminster as while many would pay the ultimate price for a three bed apartment there I am more than happy enjoying the rural, community feel of our lovely local area in my own three bed yet much cheaper house.

It makes you think though, doesn’t it? The grass may not necessarily be greener on the other side for us however it depends on who you are, what you want and how much you are willing to spend on a property to get exactly what you want. Thankfully we are very content for significantly less and are content to limit ourselves to browsing such properties online.

Would you like to live in one of those homes? Does the price make your eyes bulge like they do mine? I’d love to hear.