Ellie’s budget-friendly kitchen build
Is your kitchen renovation overdue & your budget running low? With Ellie's (@sevenpalmtreehouse) help, you'll be ready to kick-off plans in no time 😌
After moving out of her flat and purchasing a new, beach-side bungalow, Ellie got stuck into kitchen renovations. Gutting, extending, ordering a DIY kitchen – you name it, Ellie’s just done it, all whilst keeping within budget. Ellie sat down with a latte in hand, to tell us about her bungalow and kitchen diner project, even covering the lessons she learned along the way ☕A bungalow, but bigger 🏠
“The area that we live in is mostly bungalows, which is great as they have so much potential for loft conversion and it’s exactly what we did!The overall vision never really changed from the moment we viewed the house. We knew we wanted to open out the back to make a kitchen diner space and to convert the loft to add the space needed.”The kitchen diner project 🔧
"The kitchen diner has definitely taken the most planning. Our kitchen in our previous flat was fine but it was just a boring white one that was there when we moved in."Knocking down walls
"The new kitchen is in the same place as the tiny old kitchen. We had to knock down the old conservatory (that came off the original kitchen) and replace it with an extension of the same size. The wall between the two was then knocked down. The dining side of the room was originally the living room – the wall between that and the original kitchen was also knocked down and the whole open plan space was formed! We knew we wanted plenty of light in the room so we went for 3.6m bifolds in the dining room and a square window above the kitchen sink."Deciding the layout
"In terms of kitchen layout an island was a must for us, fortunately there was enough room to fit a 1.7 x 1.2m island in an L shaped kitchen. We also knew we wanted to have no high wall units but open shelving instead. The layout took a few attempts to get it right but as soon as we evened out the tall units (they’re either side of the kitchen) we knew it was the one!"Hunting for the right green 🎨
"Green is my all time favourite colour, I’m so drawn to it every time. I've always had my heart set on a green kitchen and I couldn’t wait to design it from scratch, it’s actually a really tricky colour to find - most companies seem to do sage green or a dark forest green.Initially we were actually going to go for a forest green colour but then we saw a more olive green and loved it. We had heard great things about DIY kitchens and knew they colour matched so we decided on Farrow & Ball Bancha to colour match to. There was a 3 month lead time on the kitchen as it was a bespoke colour, which meant we had to get the kitchen end of the room plastered, before we could order to ensure the measurements were right. It was a bit of a weird way of doing things as the plumbing and electrics weren’t first fixed at this point but it was definitely the right thing to do in terms of timing, I think we would still be waiting for the kitchen to delivered!"Plumbing & Electrics
"When it came to plumbing and electrics, it was pretty straight forward. Wall lights and pendants over the island were a must, so we worked out the measurements of those (it took a while to decide!) but we love it now it’s all in place."A work in progress
"Whilst the kitchen was on order we arranged our appliances delivery and the worktop fitting, we went for a white carrara quartz which compliments the colour perfectly.The kitchen was delivered at the start of July and it’s all sort of magically come together since then. There’s still plenty to do in the kitchen diner space, especially the dining end but it’s all a work in progress and we’ve got loads of plans!"
Brass details: A no brainer
“In terms of the hardware it was always going to be brass, that was a no brainer! I wanted a mix of handles and knobs. I decided on the hardware really early on, probably before the kitchen was even ordered. As soon as I saw the SWIRLED range I was drawn to the contrast of the swirled edges and the flat smooth top of the knobs and handles. We also live by the sea so I’m always near the beach and sea – they remind me of the waves!The hardware compliments the new kitchen absolutely perfectly. The combination of SEARLE, SWIFT, the worktops and the olive green creates a really calming yet classy space. I feel like I’m in someone else’s posh kitchen! They even go perfectly with our brass sockets/switches and lighting.”
How to fund projects 💷
"We’ve funded this renovation mainly from our savings, we saved a lot while we were in our previous flat. We also got an interest free credit card each which helped with buying materials. I’d definitely recommend these, they are great as it’s in effect borrowing for free which is rare – just make sure you can pay it off in time before the interest free period ends! The rest of the reno' (mainly decorative and internal things) will now be funded from our monthly salaries, things will slow slightly but we are just going to do what we can when we can now."5 Tips for saving money on renovations
"Doing as much of the work you can yourselves, within reason of course! We gutted the entire house ourselves, knocked down our old conservatory, painted the roof tiles, tiling and lots of other bits.Project manage the build and order materials yourselves, it’s time consuming and you do need to be organised but it’s definitely worth it.EBay – It’s great for things you wouldn’t usually think of to get from there, all of our radiators are from EBay and it was the cheapest by a long way.Source things separately where possible, this especially works well for kitchens. We sourced our kitchen cabinets, worktops and appliances separately to ensure we got the best deal we could. It worked out around half the price of original package quotes we got from kitchen companies.Get rid of as much rubbish as possible yourselves. Again, time consuming and not a great job but saved us thousands. Skips are so expensive, we only had 2 for the whole build – we took absolutely everything else to our local tip/recycling. Fortunately James and my dad's cars have good boots that we could get a lot in, our entire old roof went to the tip – felt, battens everything!Eventually we are going to build a patio at the back of the house so we’ve kept a lot of the rubble at the bottom of the garden ready to use as hardcore, otherwise we would have had to re-buy it all."
Looking back…
We’ve learnt SO much throughout the home renovation, it’s really amazing how many building facts I now know!! Here’s what we’d change if we could go back: I would definitely seal the concrete floor downstairs, we’ve had to live with it for a while whilst we wait for flooring and it’s just so dusty!We should have decided on a kitchen diner paint colour and got it done before the kitchen was fitted really. It’s not the end of the world but there’s a lot more to cover up now when we do get to painting!The bathroom was hard work! We ended up having to knock down a wall we didn’t think we had to originally so we could have actually made the bathroom bigger, but by the time we knew the wall had to come down it was too late as the layout was all planned and in place.
The finished kitchen in all its olive green, glistening brass glory 🌟
Satisfying DIYs
“Why DIY? 100% for the satisfaction you get from it! It’s amazing to look around your house and know you’ve built or created something in that space. You can also create really unique pieces that no one else will have! I love a good upcycle.”Oat milk latte Break ☕
“My go to is always an oat milk ice latte with vanilla syrup. When it’s colder I’ll have exactly the same but hot! During the renovation we lived on Greggs as it was on the way back from the tip – which we were going to ALL the time!”Must-follow accounts
"It’s got to be Instagram but I do love Pinterest too, you can find literally anything on there! Three Instagram accounts I love are:" @iamhayleystuart
Old school hits 🕺
“We always always have the radio on in the background - all the old school songs on KISSTORY keep us motivated! ”A huge thank you to Ellie for joining us for a TEA BREAK. Why not follow her bungalow renovation journey over at @sevenpalmtreehouse?
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