Small kitchen renovation Perth, Before & After.

Designer: Studio McQueen

There’s an art to designing small kitchen renovations…

I wanted to run through the design process and budget breakdown for this small kitchen renovation perth. There’s an art to designing a small kitchen renovation, every square centremetre is a priority. To be honest I love designing small kitchens, there’s more of a challenge and it’s an opportunity to amaze my clients what can be  achieved in such a small footprint. This warm contemporary style
kitchen is 14 sqm. Let’s run down what we started off with, what needed to be removed and the process to getting this beautiful kitchen finished.

Exsiting Images and where to start…

The main pain points from the clients were they felt the Kitchen was very outdated. They hated the corner brick pantry which is a typical project home builder inclusion. There wasn’t enough storage space, especially for larger platter items and casserole dishes, timber trays- which you can see from the existing photos (all was on display). The client felt it was hard to keep the kitchen uncluttered. They also disliked the original island bench which had an upstand, which just isn’t practical and felt too small to sit at with stools and was never used.

Existing Images

Moodboard | Brief board:

After the in-home design consultation, I always like to build a collaborative Pinterest board together and from these images we create a visual brief board. This is just an overall idea of finishes and design aspects we are trying to achieve within the home overall. Originally the clients wanted to do Ensuite, bathroom & Kitchen. But I was quickly able to rein in there hopes once I knew there overall budget, so we opted to just work on the Kitchen and the bathrooms can be a later stage.

Next steps.. Defining the floor plan layout | 2D plans:

Next process is drafting up the existing kitchen space & layout, deleting the brick pantry and assessing what space we have available. Also working out firstly where the fridge is coming and overall best efficiency to designing the layout. In this particular design the clients requested extra storage, smart storage options. 

Corners are also a pain point to any kitchen design, they need the right attention as to not waste corner spaces.

2D plans & 3D Concept & Walk through:

While 2D plans are great for builders and trades to get quotes and work out sqm meter rates. I’m finding clients need more of a 3D visual to completely understand all the detailing needed to pull of their kitchen design.

Designer: Studio McQueen

About the Concept:

In my concept, I proposed we deleted the brick pantry and build a concealed walk-in pantry on the left-hand side and relocate the fridge to the other corner of the kitchen. We increased the island width from 800mm wide to 1000mm, deleted the upstand, and created a space for a casual dining area or a breakfast bar.

We increased the overhead cupboards to sit under the bulkhead, with plenty of shelving for storage. Also created an x2 Asko oven placement to also create a flexible cooking triangle. Everything is within arm’s reach and there’s plenty of food prep space on the island and on either side of the cooktop.

Pantry Design:

The walk in pantry we used custom concealed sliding doors to open up the door panels. Then allowed for a mini width benchto run in the middle to hold any appliances, with open shelving above and drawer shelving below. The trick will organised shelving is the shelves can’t be too deep, 250- 300mm max. Most builders whack a 600mm pantry in the corner, and what happens is you can’t see what you have in your pantry and it becomes frustrating pantry space to use. The clients are also keen wine drinkers so  we allowed for a wine rack to one side and the other side we allowed for baking tray storage.

Completed Photos:

While 2D plans are great for builders and trades to get quotes and work out sqm meter rates. I’m finding clients need more of a 3D visual to completely understand all the detailing needed to pull of their kitchen design.

THE DESIGN:

Finished photo’s are pretty close to the concept the main change we made was bulking up the Island stone thickness from 20mm to 60mm thick with a mitred edge. This really did elevate the design to the next level.

Designer: Studio McQueen

Designer: Studio McQueen

Designer: Studio McQueen

Designer: Studio McQueen

Design Details:

Cabinetry: Base cabinets in Flush panel Polytec ‘Palace Teak’ in Woodmatt and upper cabinetry in Polytec ‘Black’ Woodmatt finish
Stone Benchtops: Eddison Stone Calcatta enginnered quartz stone.
Handles (to Base cabinets): Hafele 200mm Polished chrome lip pulls, Overheads -push to open with finger pull below, Pantry handle: Kethy Timber Oak.
Sink: Franke Kubus Granite Single Bowl
Tap: Abey Kitchen mixer Black
Oven: Bosch Built in mulifunction Oven
Combi Microwave Oven: Bosch Compact Combi Oven Microwave
Vintec Wine Fridge: Undercounter 20 bottle Vintec bottle fridge

The Budget:

Budgets are a big thing when it comes to kitchens because the nature of our Australian kitchens, they live in open plan areas. So what happens when you update the kitchen area you need to figure out can you match the existing flooring? In this case we could as the clients already had some tiles in storage that matched and we did have to source some other slightly different ones, but we strategically placed these in the walk in pantry or under fridge area.

Here’s a breakdown on costs based* on 2021 prices

Appliances: (falmec range hood, Asko Oven & combi oven, bar fridge, franke sink and tap, owners used existing fridge) $6,956

Cabinetry: supply and installation & Engineered Stone benchtops 20mm tops and 60mm to Island $25,377

Electrical labour: $2,950

Plumbing labour: $1,540

Tiling supply and labour: $2,300

Painting labour : $2,100

Total Kitchen: $41,223

(not incl demo & builder works from builder to remove pantry and build in a bulkhead as these cost were not separated down and the client got the builder to complete other works.

I Hope this was helpful in understanding the kitchen process and what to allow for in your kitchen budget. Get in touch if you’re looking to renovate your kitchen soon.

For more interior design inspiration, have a look at these posts:

Defining a Timeless kitchen >>
Which Kitchen benchtop to go with? >
Choosing a renovation contractor or Builder? >>