Last year we did some home improvements and completely refitted our kitchen. Believe me when I tell you, it totally needed it. Our old kitchen was exactly that, old. It was liveable but had minimal surface area and storage. The cupboards were hand made (which I loved) but very creaky and had limited life left in them.

Our old kitchen

We absolutely love our kitchen now. It completely fits with the age of our house and offers us everything we need as a family of 3. However, as our family grows there are a couple of things I would have done differently.

Firstly, I would change the tiled floor. At the moment our new floor is natural slate. Which means bumpy surface and sharp corners (you can see this in the photo above). Not ideal with a toddler running around. Luckily Lamb seems to cope well with the uneven surface but we still worry in case he falls on one of the raised tiles.

Secondly I would like a larger fridge (possibly a fridge/freezer). At the moment we have an integrated fridge which is just about the right size for us. Lamb is a fussy eater, so we don’t have loads of extra food for him, but as he grows up and will hopefully eat more, I’m sure we will find the fridge space more limited. As well as this, we don’t have a freezer in the kitchen. It’s in our cellar. Luckily for us we have a cellar, not something you come across these days. In our current kitchen we just couldn’t fit a freezer into the new design, so had to compromise and put it downstairs. Not a huge issue, but ideally I would love a large american style fridge/freezer that will hold plenty for our growing family.

Another improvement I would make would be to change my oven to a double oven. In our old kitchen we had a double and I loved it. Cooking a Sunday roast was so much easier with 2 ovens. While the chicken was roasting, I could roast the veg in the top oven. Or keep things warm in the top oven, while cooking in the bottom oven.

When we had our new kitchen designed we didn’t like the look of the double ovens available, so we went for a single oven. The one we have is great, but looking into the future I think it would be more beneficial if we had picked a double.

Finally, I would love to add some new small appliances to my ‘perfect kitchen’. I would really love a new microwave, but don’t have the money to buy a decent one. We love the one we have so are reluctant to replace it. It still works, it’s just in need of a little tlc. If we were to replace it we would definitely stick to the same brand, and perhaps buy a slightly larger one.

As our family grows I want to spend more time in our lovely kitchen. Making home made food, baking with the little ones. A ‘perfect kitchen’ is an key component to a happy house and I think with these minor changes I would definitely have the ‘perfect kitchen’. Saying that, I am not desperate for these changes. I can cope with my old microwave and small fridge, but there’s always room for a little improvement.

Alex x

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