My new kitchen - a mini "tah-dah" moment

 A sort of mini "tah-dah" moment, as the kitchen is 3/4 finished.  Just waiting on the electrician to come back and finish off and today I start to fill in old holes, rub down and smooth over rough edges where the old tiles went up a little higher, and then I can start painting.  Most of the kitchen will be Ivory, nice and neutral, but the wall at the other end of the kitchen, where we eat, is going to be a sort of mid Teal-ish blue to tie in with a colour within the splashback.  I didn't want to have the paler turquoise.  Colours are hard to see properly on-line and when Tam found this, we thought it was slightly greener - as in Verdigris, but it is definitely  turquoise which we already have in the bathroom.  So . . . watch this space for the finished thing.  I still love it, especially when the sun is shining on it.

It was an absolute delight to know we wouldn't have to keep setting the alarm for 7.30 (builder arrived at 8.15) but of course, I still woke before 6!  Today will be a Polyfilla sort of day, but I hope to be able to paint some areas.  Two different colour blues and a yellow at the far end of the kitchen!!

First before . . . definitely in need of improvement as it dated from 1996, doors were falling apart, knobs falling off and the tiles NOT to my taste.  We still have a lavender roller blind for the moment but that will get replaced later.

There was a two foot wide gap between the cooker and the unit we had to butcher to get the new and larger cooker in.  You can see the scorch marks where we had to cut through the counter.  Modern kitchens come with a stack of drawers instead of drawers at the top of each unit, so I've had to do some re-arranging, but it's worked out ok.

The crowded area which is where we make tea.

The beginning of the end for the Old Kitchen.  What a MESS!

Now, that's a bit better I hope you will agree. I just wanted simple Shaker style units. The tiles are several different blues together with brown, and they are called Wightwick - which of course tied in with visiting Wightwick Manor 3 or so years ago. I didn't chose them for the name, but it's nice to have the connection!

I chose a single bowl ceramic sink and drainer.  The counter top is a lovely stormy grey with a little brown in it too.  It's called Purbeck (another coincidence, as I used to do a lot of walking in the Purbecks when we lived in Dorset.  It reminds me of a stormy sea. There are little narrow infills either side of the cooker, which pull out and have mesh baskets in them, so I have stored pills and potions in one side, and small empty (new) storage jars in the other, which are waiting for me to get creative in the autumn, to make little gifts for Christmas.

This is the Aged Copper splashback.  Tam found this and we went with it as the tawny brown ties in with the browns in the tiles.  The turquoisey areas looked more Verdigris (greener) in the photo on line, and each design differs so we have less brown than the one shown at Premier Range splashbacks website. My first choice of paint for the wall behind the settle, at the other end of the kitchen will now be a mid-Teal colour which also appears in the splashback.  The rest of the kitchen will be neutral in Ivory.  We love this but I know it won't be to everyone's taste.

Now I have useful storage beneath my wall display cabinet.  The cat food lives in here, and room for plenty more besides!

There is also a matching full height larder cupboard in the Utility, which also gives me plenty of space for storage.

BTW, little Ghengis is totally healed now - in fact, 8 days in the big wound had closed up and just had a tiny scab on it.  We were able to take the "donut" collar off after just 4 days! He didn't lick it but DID remove the puckered scab which had formed and was holding the edges of the wound apart.  He's a little Trooper, bless him.

Right, this won't do.  It's bin day and I need to get cracking with the Polyfilla once I've got Keith's newspaper. Watch this space.    Quick glimpse of hand-sewn quilt I am trying to get finished:

I'm working on squaring it up now.

Oh, and before I forget, we went to view a suitable Mobility Scooter in Llandod yesterday and have bought it.  Just need to wait for the ramps I bought yesterday evening to be delivered so we can collect it.  This is an expensive model when new, which does go on grass but this chap has been struggling to sell it (lots of them about on Facebook Marketplace) and people tend to go for the cheaper ones. Glad we didn't go down the Tramper type route as they are VERY hefty (but go cross-country!!)