Kitchen's Kitchen

Finally moved the table back in there after the last of the paint was dry. Took advantage of the painter popping back to do a quality inspection of the job and to determine whether any last bits of touching up were needed - the answer to that was no, they did a great job.

Adding the painter to recommended trades: http://hallisseybarnet.com/ would give 9/10... no real reason not to give a 10, but I do like to imagine everything can be improved upon. The key to the paint job... meticulous prep, they took on the kitchen walls, woodwork, hallway, bathroom, ceilings in all of those rooms... and spend a good 3 days just working on the surface first, masking, filling, sanding, etc. I've had bad painters in the past, it's good to see what good painters look like.

Anyhow...

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And yes... I replaced my kettle with the Alessi.

The induction hob and that Alessi kettle are so good together that boiling the kettle on the hob is twice as fast as an electric kettle and it's way more satisfying hearing the whistle and then pouring from this.

There must be a better cable solution for radio 6 music!

The things on that shelf aren't staying there... I haven't quite put everything away and found a home for all things yet.

Hilarious! The man spends twice the annual average salary on a stunning kitchen, lives off glorified pot noodles for a month, makes and documents hundreds of decisions along the way and the first comment is about the cabling of a flipping radio.

Looks incredibly smart to me! How much are healthy kidneys going for currently? I'd like six of those chairs...

Looks great. All details thought through, great quality materials and sounds like you've had the right tradesman in to implement it.

How were your stress levels out of 10? Sounds like it's been pretty calm in your posts.

How were your stress levels out of 10? Sounds like it's been pretty calm in your posts.

Pretty calm.

The only frustration I experienced was with Harvey Jones. Their communication was poor and at one point I did write a terse email to kick them into action. I was already double my first idea of budget by this point and I wanted to get an idea of remaining costs as I knew I would come close to emptying the bank fully and if I needed credit then I wanted to know. But for several months Harvey Jones would not give an indication of what was happening, who was going to be working on the worktop, the price range, anything I needed to consider... nothing, full radio silence, and at best my emails would be acknowledged but then yield no actual response. I snapped, but not in an angry way... in a very calm way, a "I am becoming stressed due to the costs, and this is fully from your behaviour as I only need you to set my expectations"... after that things were smoother (ignoring their failure to order knobs and handles which I solved by throwing money at the problem).

So yeah... pretty copacetic throughout I'd say.

Pot noodles and eating meals made from a kettle... meh... I was homeless and rough sleeping for over 2 years in my youth, frankly being in a warm, comfortable house, and with a Deliveroo Plus account means this stuff was a breeze, it was kinda fun to go back to basic stripped down existence for a while and now I get to appreciate what I have even more.

And for the record... the money was worth every penny.

Whilst the project was triggered by the poor state of things, I loaded the project with a goal... could I make this room that I liked the least, that was too brightly lit and had harsh cold surfaces and a rotting wood worktop, into the room that was most pleasurable in the house? Could I make it such that even on a bright sunny day the light is natural and soothing, the materials interesting, the tactility of everything a delight? Could I make this the room I want to sit in every evening, to cook in, to delight in building my skill at cooking and baking? Could this be "the room"?

Answer: Yes.

It's a wild success from my perspective, I love being in the room now, and it's a real joy to cook and bake in there, and to eat and drink, to listen to music and just be.

PS: On that count the photos do not do it justice... the colours are slightly different and softer, the reflected light from the walnut and brass warm and welcoming, the sound is nicely dampened and soft... it's a real pleasure being in there.

Looks really good. I like the way the hob reflects the splashback.

After getting an induction hob I planned to get a kettle for the hob but a lot of the time we switch the kettle on and walk away which doesn't seem that practical for one on a hob.

"The door is ajar"
"The door is a jar?!"

I planned to get a kettle for the hob but a lot of the time we switch the kettle on and walk away which doesn't seem that practical for one on a hob.

The whistle is very very loud... and it only takes 60-90 seconds to boil, so chances are you are not far away by the time it whistles.

Amazing work, really nicely done. The doors, worktop and grey appliances work so well together

I'm disappointed the kettle doesn't tell the hob to turn off.

It does using a proxy.

I am that proxy.

and the first comment is about the cabling of a flipping radio

Everything else looked great - I just identified the cheapest fix that would have maximum impact. McKinsey would charge a lot for that kind of service ;-)

Yeah the whistle broke in our Alessi kettle as the builder would put it on the hob and walk away for an hour while he carried on working. Really pissed me off, luckily the kettle come with 2 tuning pipes, so easily fixed.

WOW! looks amazing!!! love it!

Yay! And all without hiring Dov! :)

Fantastic outcome, much kitchenvy. :)

Stunning really! Maybe a rug, Persian or similar, under the table and chairs would add some more texture and warmth?

and house plants, copious amounts thereof!

I’d have made a terrible job of it. That looks great. Definitely not my work.