Kitchen - Part 6 and a bit

The kitchen was just about finished. On the Saturday (about the middle of July) Matt and Daniel finished off the last bits of the cupboards before the splashbacks went in. I walked out Sunday morning and stood looking. Nope. It just wasn't going to work.

In my original design, I had a line of shelves down the outside wall. In talking with Matt, we thought perhaps putting the microwave in the corner wouldn't work. Microwave are all hinged on the left, which would making opening it difficult. I agreed to move the end shelves around the corner to gain functionality.

When I looked at those shelves after they were installed I just didn't like them. When we put the microwave in place, we found that the looked-for functionality wasn't there either. The door banged into the rangehood. I lost my streamlines and didn't gain functionality.

We called Matt. He agreed to come out and change the shelves when he had time. I was perfectly happy to live with them for 6 months if need be—if they were going to be changed eventually. It wasn't a straightforward job. The plaster had to come down, reinforcements put in the wall to carry the weight safely, and new plasterboard put up, refinished and painted.

About three weeks ago Matt had a spare day to move the shelves. I was right. The shelves look much better where I originally planned them to go. And while the microwave is awkward, it's not annoyingly awkward. Mainly because I'm the only shorty in the family and I rarely use it. I am on the look out for a kitchen step that will live in that corner.

Shelves as originally installed

Moving the shelves in progress

More in progress