Renovation Project - Budget kitchen in France

Renovation Project - Budget kitchen in France

The kitchen is in place and it is time to make the new doors, these are made from a pack of floorboards, Unfortunately they are new floor boards, but if they are only oiled they will age quite quickly.

This is one of those kitchens that will improve with age rather than having to be kept pristine constantly.

John measures the cupboards again so that the doors will be an exact fit.

The floor boards are laid on the floor and cross bars are screwed into place, these are now heavy doors so heavy duty hinges must be used to prevent them from dropping.

Once they are all in place we realise that they don't open and shut well, this is because they are so thick.

John adjusts them sightly so that there is an even gap around each door, this prevents the doors from grinding on each other.

All the doors and the work tops are given 3 coats of Dutch oil (this can be bought from IKEA and gives a great colour and wood protection) a kitchen like this does not need varnish as it would look too new and shiny.

John then cuts the old dresser top down a little and fits this above the sink unit, it looks perfect, we had intended to throw this out as it was so old but we could not have bought or made anything that goes as well with this kitchen.

A big tip is to never throw anything away until you are completely finished, it is amazing what can be recycled (though we are not sure what can be done with the unit from beneath the dresser).

We had also got some bits and pieces from IKEA to add above the sink as the kitchen was too small for a draining board. These modern pieces go really well with the old style kitchen.

Never be afraid to mix old and new.

Most things in this kitchen are new but you would never guess it from looking at the finished piece, the sink unit is also from IKEA, but fits in perfectly.

If you take your time to look around you can usually find everything you need to give the perfect look at a fraction of the cost you would pay for a kitchen to be installed.


At this point we are considering hiring ourselves out, give us a house to live in for a period of time and we will throw a kitchen in for you, I have always fancied living in America for a while so we are open to offers..............