London House Remodel – PART II

Once the master bathroom was complete we started the kitchen re-structuring process.

We decided to open the brick wall between the dining area and the kitchen. We also got rid of the bathroom that was beyond the kitchen. It was an unusual layout, and hugely outdated. We wanted to rearrange to make better use of the available space.

Here’s what it looked like:

This door led to the kitchen. The wall came down eventually to create an open plan dining and kitchen area.

The bathroom, was straight after the kitchen.

The toilet was a very small extension to the bathroom.

So the next step was to demolish the little toilet extension and also bring down the wall between the dining area and the kitchen and also the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom to create one big space for the future kitchen.

We had to use steel beams to support the wall between the dining area and the kitchen but luckily the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom was just a partition.

Top view of the demolished toilet. Bricks were kept on the side to get re-used.

Demolished toilet extension in progress and use of bricks to close the opening.

Use of bricks to close the window the bathroom window.

Both window and toilet extension blocked with bricks.

Exterior of the bathroom window that’s in the process of getting closed. Existing bricks were used to match the rest of the house.

Once the wall was patched up, the contractors cut the opening for the doors to the garden:

Here are some photos of what it looked like when we were taking down the wall between the dining room and kitchen:

The wall between the dining area and the kitchen that we eventually opened.

View after the wall has gone and supporting it until the steel beam arrives.

While waiting for the steel beam to arrive to support the wall the contractors started working on a super cool feature!!! Stripping down plaster to expose the old chimney breast in the kitchen! Initially we thought that the chimney breast was getting in the way of putting cabinets across the whole wall and that we’d need to take it out but instead we had a better idea! To keep it, extend it out to make it as deep as the cabinet units and put double ovens in it! And that’s what we did! We kept most of the bricks from the walls that we took down and we used them for the extension of the chimney wall.

In the process of exposing the chimney breast.

In the process of extending out the chimney breast.

Chimney breast ready for the cabinet unit and double oven.

Steel beam in place and walls around it re-built.

Once all the construction work and plumbing was finished, we got an electrician in to install quite a few recess cans on the ceiling. And so the kitchen cabinet and appliances installation started:

One thing I’ve always take a lot of pleasure from when renovating a space has been to utilise every little corner that’s been available. I just can’t bear the thought of unused space! I’ve always seen it as an opportunity to use my design skills to create a truly special environment.

On this project, once the cabinets were installed, we were left with a small gap between the washing machine and the end pillar. We could have just frame it and make it look like a solid wall but I thought it would have been such a waste. So I asked the contractors to make a custom made wine rack. We also made it in such a way what the wood could easily come out anytime and use the openings as bookshelves.

Here’s what it looked like in the end:

And talking about utilising every corner and the opportunity to design… the next project was to use the space under the stairs, this was so much fun! I sketched loads of ideas to make sure I’d find space for everything I wanted to store in it, continually made changes, measured hundred times, ordered some modern pulls. Finally it was ready for the contractors to start building!

Here’s what it looked like before and after:

Share this: