If you’ve been following my blog, or have stumbled upon a post or two, you’ll understand that my Englishman and I have taken on a labour of love in renovating an old 1920’s bungalow.
We both work full time and have other passions (including food blogging, growing food and making music) although renovating has certainly been a big part of our past 18 months as we’ve transformed our humble abode into its former original self. When I first blogged about our new place to call home I remarked that if it were human it would have a twinkle in its eye!
Our intention from the start was to bring the bungalow back to its original glory: high studded ceilings with original beams exposed; restored and oiled matai floors; and lovingly scraped and oiled wooden windows – along with some ‘creature comforts’ (also known as essential works required to bring it into the 21st century): underfloor, wall and ceiling insulation; rewiring; reroofing; new ceiling and GIB throughout; new plumbing, bathroom and second toilet; new kitchen; installing handcrafted cedar panel doors throughout. And that was just the inside!
All the hard work has now been done, albeit the painting in a few bedrooms and hallway, and sanding their respective floorboards (which needs to be the last in the top-down interior work). In the scheme of things, it’s just the fun bit to go!
So, I thought I’d show and tell the work we have completed. Here goes:
Old kitchen becomes new bathroom
Dining room and built-in verandah gets a new kitchen!
Old bathroom becomes new scullery off kitchen
Renovated lounge
and a tidy bedroom, to say the least!
I proudly say that our home is full of character still, but no longer whistles in the wind. It’s a cozy bungalow oozing personality. What we have rediscovered is our definition of a renovation – which is not a coat of paint and a new throw, but a rejuvenation from every pore.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our DIY to date. It sure has been rewarding.
February 15, 2018
Wow, love the renovations! I love the non-traditional layout.
How do you find one row of cabinet space in the kitchen working with the scullery?
I’m just wondering, as I have an old 2.5 bedroom two-story villa where the downstairs is a front lounge with opening to a dining room then from that is a small closed-off kitchen (probably same size as your old kitchen). The whole lounge-dining space is much too large for a house that could only fit 2-3 people – and we hardly use the dining room even though its the same size as the lounge – it feels like wasted space. I’m thinking of moving the old kitchen to the dining room – but the dining room has so many doors the kitchen would end up a bit non-traditional and just one wall of (very tall) cabinetry and a small island come dining table. The old kitchen could become a ‘scullery’ (lots of cabinetry+ the laundry) off the new spacious kitchen area. But I’m worried that having a slightly disjointed space might be awkward to use? How do you find it? I think it will suit our space as originally the dining room was the kitchen (where the big stove would have been and a kitchen table) and the small kitchen was a scullery.