Nailing the brief and the budget – Making your dream kitchen a reality

Posted 30 Nov '22

What would you prefer... looking through kitchens you LOVE on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest; flicking through glossy design magazines, watching reno shows, OR designing your own kitchen?

Dreaming about your ideal kitchen can be total fantasy – a mythical magical world of unlimited budgets and space where you imagine how inconsequential things like storage, cleaning and durability just don’t matter. This is fiction, so you don’t need to consider if something you love right now will be yesterday’s news in 3 months time. After all… you’re probably a multimillionaire and can just buy a whole new house.

OK, so back to reality. If you’re reading this article, you no doubt have a space in your home where a kitchen is; a kitchen that needs replacing or at the very least, something that desparately needs to rectified. So, as we like to say at Woodstock Cabinet Makers…

”We think it’s time we introduce you to Jack”.

Understanding the importance of budget.

 Jack had previously renovated Anastasia's kitchen and bathroom (real life happy client). Extremely happy with both quality and service, Anastasia successfully sold her home and moved on to building her dream home.  There was no doubt who she would call upon, to build her dream kitchen. From the concept of her new, incredible kitchen, Anastasia enlisted Jack’s help to create her family’s ideal bathrooms (3, including the powder room), laundry and even a luxury walk in.

 The reality of building a new home can be more like a nightmare than a dream.  There is a lot to factor into the overall cost. Knowing someone like Jack, who understands and agrees to budgets, insures against going over and therefore avoiding sacrificing something else in the build – something Anastasia and her family did not want.

Unique combination of timber and white laminate. 

Timber and white were on Anastasia’s wishlist when they discussed the brief. Although no stranger to working with beautiful and specially sourced natural timber products, Jack was aware of Anastasia's budget, busy family life, practicalities of the area and overall build scenario.  With recommendations based on extensive experience and expertise, the end result was spectacular.   The stunning timber laminate and gloss finish white laminate cabinetry, were combined with a character look Caesarstone for the benchtops.  Jack had accomplised her favourite kitchens from magazines and Pinterest, well within her budget!

When it came to the design, Anastasia knew her large family of five needed plenty of space to spread out as well as be together without getting in each other’s way. The extra long island bench top was definitely the right solution. Allowing everyone to enjoy each other’s company, chat and relax while more than one person could cook. But the benchtop needed to add to the space rather than divide it. It had to look great, after-all this was her family’s dream home.

The WOW factor was achieved using extra thickness for the benchtops while far less than the original marble surfaces they had their eye on – not to mention far easier to clean and maintain. A high-end designer look of floating or suspended joinery was achieved without the large expense.  This feature also defined the seating section for bar stools which meant no one was ever sitting directly in front of the section where you would ideally prep or serve meals.

 The huge walk in pantry was a must have, dividing the space allocated for the kitchen as well as providing a proper family-size larder. Storage for anything and everything could comfortably find a home in here, leaving The Home Edit Organisers, green with envy.  

Introducing a Day Pantry for the Cooking Connoisseur

A major challenge Jack was presented with was identifying how to have all the necessary condiments in one place close to cooking services.  Jack's idea was to build a separate pull-out day pantry was built within the rear cabinetry of the actual kitchen.  If you’ve not considered this before it is a total game changer when efficiently cooking for busy families. Stirring something on the cooktop and need a splash more oil – just reach over and it’s there. Sauce, salt, spice, pasta, rice… you got it.

No more wearing out a path to the butler’s pantry just to grab that one thing you need. You simply keep your essentials at your fingertips. It also works a treat for grabbing a buys breakfast or snack on the go!

Functionality Before Form.  

Everything else in the kitchen was the perfect fusion of form and function. Fridge on the far left so the teenage children could grab a drink on the way past; central sink in the island so Anastasia could work on dinner and look out upon her new garden or just watch her beloved dog Teddy lazing in the sun.

With his 30 plus years of experience, Jack had every detail (down to the smallest) under control. What a relief for Anastasia and her family whist building a new home, to have total confidence in such an important sector of the overall outcome.

Anastasia credits effective communication as the key for her project’s success. The combination of her visual inspiration with Jack’s experience, know-how and just generally being a true professional to deal with, is why she continues to recommend Woodstock Cabinet Makers to all her friends and family.

So if you’re serious about getting started on making your dream kitchen a reality then contact Jack and the Woodstock team today.