Spring Is Here And So Is Our New Kitchen

This post is in collaboration with Debenhams

When we moved it over five years ago, the kitchen we inherited was a tiny 2x3 metre space squeezed into a tower bay window with about 80cm of usable counter space, and not a single useable drawer of cupboard. With hindsight we should have spent time and money ripping it out and installing something cheap and cheerful, but with an 18 month old and another on the way, we didn't have the time or money to do anything about it. Then last year the builders came and ripped it out for us, and we relocated the entire kitchen, dishwasher and all, to the cellar. I prepared meals underground like a Victorian cook for a few months, and then we moved the kitchen upstairs to the new extension - not an actual kitchen, obviously, just a ramshackle collection of cabinets and wardrobe-door worktops, please may I. 

To be able to stand on my Moroccan cement tile floor, admiring my Ikea kitchen cabinets, plumbed-in sink, three ovens (well why not splurge after five years of a single oven that was too small to fit the Christmas turkey in) and new scaffold board worktops (installed today!) feels incredible. The novelty of storing our cereal boxes in an actual kitchen cabinet drawer instead of a random plastic box along with a load of onions and wooden pegs is almost too much for my sensibilities.

Pictures? Why, certainly. Here are some progress photos, starting with the roofless breezeblock extension from about this time last year. 

And look! Beautiful rustic plank worktops (hot off the press!) with delectable washing-up accessories (so close to not having to wash all our vegetables in the bathroom sink, oh the convenience) and pretty star lights and vases.

It's so lovely having everything feel all new and clean and fresh and Spring-like after years of living with a kitchen that just felt grimey despite our best efforts. 

Next up - finish, sand and oil the worktops. Fit the tap and induction hob. Fit the scaffold board open shelving. Hang the last couple of wall cabinets. Customise a cabinet to fit around the pillar so we can finish the peninsula. Compared to what we've churned through so far, we should knock this lot out in a week or so. Follow along on Instagram if you like, which is where I post most of my day-to-day renovation pictures. 

Debenhams provided me with a number of kitchen and home decor accessories as part of their Spring home 2017 campaign. All words and images are my own. This post does not contain affiliate links.