The Slicing Block: How You Should Not Reconstruct Your Own Kitchen

Give me a home decoration mag and I could absorb it from cover to cover.

I cannot get enough of those exquisite dining room tables, the spa-inspired lavatories and the kitchens that make you want to unharness that inner master chef.

I have read these sorts of glossies for many years, typically for pleasure, but always hoping that one day I’d be able to take the ideas off the page and re-design them for my family. So normally when I set out to rebuild my very own kitchen last year, I turned to my loving stack of ideas for some inspiration.

The options appeared endless – from chic slate countertops to vintage-inspired cupboards from swish parquetry flooring to industrial concrete finishes, and everything in between.

I ended up going for a country, agrarian style kitchen.

It’s the kind of design you would expect from nanna’s house, except my version would have updated features and modern amenities. No coil stove tops or laminate flooring for me! I like to refer to it as “old school modern”.

With my ideal kitchen all planned out I began to get to work and hired various professionals. I had a tapware guy, a cabinet guy, an electrician, and all types of other consultants doing their bit. While each guy was professional and tried their best to get the job done, the entire project turned out to be one big mess.

I did not realize how difficult it might be to schedule all the different professionals, get the timing exactly right, order all the materials on time, etc, for example. I entrusted everyone to build my kitchen, thinking I’d be able to relax and let them handle it. On the other hand, I ended up busy planning and coordinating all these different teams of workers, and trying depressingly to make it all succeed.

To be brief, my dream kitchen eventually changed into a reality – even though many months later than hoped for.

That’s the better news.

The bad news is actually that it took too much time, effort and running around to get it to happen. This reputedly simple job ended up turning into a no holds barred bad dream. I was consistently strung out, obsessing over all kinds of details, on the telephone constantly and just plain miserable. I have nothing negative to say of the blokes I worked with, however if I had to do it again, I’d definitely try to strip down the method by hiring one kitchen manufacturer to take over the full project.

That way I am able to get the kitchen I have always dreamed of, minus the headaches I never wanted.

If you're after a new kitchen and need a kitchen manufacturer or cupboard maker in Melbourne, see what dLook has to offer.