Before and After: A Melbourne Kitchen Gets a Gorgeous Transformation

Alanna and her husband Jesse purchased their tiny, two-bedroom Melbourne cottage when they were in their early 20s. The kitchen hadn’t been updated since the 1980s and was so small, the couple couldn’t comfortably cook in there together at the same time. Not to mention, “The materials were laminate on top of laminate with a horrible, red/brown laminate finish,” Alanna writes.

The couple knew when they purchased the house that it had renovation potential; once their family started growing, they decided it was time to consider their options. 

“We looked into selling and moving, and knocking down our home (which I did not want) and building a cheap display home,” Alanna writes. Ultimately, they decided to extend and renovate. “In my gut, I knew that I could turn this little cottage into a beautiful, modern/traditional family home that would last us years to come,” she writes.

The couple hired a local builder, who spent eight months completely removing the existing kitchen and creating a much larger, open-concept kitchen and dining room for approximately $20,000 in Australian dollars. (That’s less than $14,000 in US dollars.)

Alanna and Jesse chose every detail and fixture in their new kitchen. They went with drawers instead of lower cupboards, which means they can spend less time moving things out of the way to get what they need. And they picked white, shaker-style cabinets because they wanted to keep the room light and airy and make sure it didn’t look dated anytime soon. “When planning your bathrooms and kitchens, don’t just go with the trends, as they don’t last long,” Alanna writes. “You don’t want to replace a kitchen every five to 10 years. You can replace tapware and door handles in an affordable way if needed.”

Now the room is the hub that the couple always wanted it to be. “Our kitchen overlooks our lounge and dining room straight into our backyard,” Alanna writes. “I can see the kids eating, playing, and doing their homework whilst cooking at all times. When we have friends over, we often congregate around the kitchen and chat.”

Thank you for sharing, Alanna and Jesse!

This post originally ran on Apartment Therapy. See it there: Before and After: A Melbourne Kitchen Gets a Big Transformation — Literally