Before and after - kitchen

We finally, finally found our stash of before shots - taken before any demolition or removal of old desks and shelves happened. They have eluded us for ages - filed away safely - so I'm a bit excited to finally have them back. Expect the before and after posts to come thick and fast now. Consider yourselves warned.

This is a picture of the bedroom that became the kitchen. There was no internal access to the room - only this door that was accessed via and grated gangplank over the internal courtyard.

The view out from the bedroom to the courtyard.

On top of this contraption custom built set of drawers was the previous owners mattress. Behind that back wall was the only bathroom in the house (now our upstairs powder room). 

There was one long, thin rectangular window letting light into the room. I think it is fair to say he would never have had a problem being woken up by the early morning sun.

This is the view back out to the courtyard now. The wall where the bench and louvers are is the wall he had his bed against.

(You know how I've said I am always rearranging? Well, I've since turned the outdoor table so it runs the other way. I think it gives us a little bit more space outside.)

The louvers let an enormous amount of light - as well as breeze - into the kitchen. Even without the glass doors to the courtyard the kitchen would be full of natural light all during the day. It's beautiful to be in.

I used to keep my cookbooks on the benchtops, but because we don't have huge amounts of bench space I decided they would be better off out of the way on a shelf. Until we put in our permanent kitchen, this wall was just wasted space so it was the perfect spot.

This shot gives an idea of the 'temporariness' of the kitchen. Nothing is built in and the oven and dishwasher just sit side by side. The wooden board on top of the dishwasher is a handy bit of extra bench space for when I'm cooking. It's surprisingly functional for all its temporariness, so we're no longer in a rush to get something built in.

The wall above the oven has seen several incarnations and this is the current one. Puddleduck quite likes to get the blackboards down when I am cooking and doing some drawing. Which suits us both. Actually, I suspect part of the reason I quite enjoy our kitchen not being 'final' is that I get to change this wall whenever the mood takes me.

Before and after - Bathroom

It's been a little while since I have done a before and after and as we finally discovered the photos we took before the strip out and demolition, I thought it was a good time for a bathroom before and after.

The agent described the room that became our main bathroom and ensuite as the house's kitchen. The basis for claiming it as a kitchen seems to be a strategically placed microwave and access to a sink just outside the room. It brings to mind contract law classes at uni when we learnt about 'mere puffery' in relation to the subject matter of a contract.

A more accurate description of the space is 'the panic room'. You'll see why in a minute.

This was the shelving that was dressed as the kitchen. To give the stylist who dressed the property for sale credit, the shelves were enticingly stacked with Le Creuset  pots as if to say "of course this is a real kitchen. It's full of fancy french cookware." Never mind that there was nowhere to actually cook.

This is the microwave that made the room a kitchen. Kind of them to leave it behind.

This is the ceiling in the room. It's padded. Yes, padded. Can you see the wiring in the top right hand corner? Now to be fair, I suspect it was used as a sound recording room, but you can see why I call it the panic room, can't you? Especially as the door couldn't easily have been knocked down to get into it from the outside.

This is the room now. Our main bathroom. No more padding on the ceiling and it's actually a functioning bathroom. As opposed to a non-functioning kitchen.

The vanity has replaced the shelves.

Instead of wiring as thick as your arm we have a shower.

And the bath now lives where the microwave used to.

Just a little bit different.