Kitchen makeover.

We have long been wishing for more storage space in our tiny kitchen. For three years it has been a struggle to fit our groceries into the limited amount of drawers and cupboards. When we moved our dinner table into our new extension, we were left with some space in the kitchen and decided to build a small island with a worktop and lots of storage. We found a base cabinet in IKEA with four pull out drawers, big enough to accommodate tins and jars.

We put it on high metal legs, as we are all tall and the worktops by the sink and hob are a little bit too low to be comfortable. Please ignore the peach coloured wall without a skirting board under the unit. It is another job on the list. Now we are looking for two second hand bar stools to go along the back. It will be a lovely place to sit and chat with a cup of tea or coffee.

As the new cabinet did not have a proper back, we bought some tongue and groove and nailed it on. We are happy with the colour, a mix of wood stains and linseed oil. It took a few days for it to dry completely but it was worth it. We now have a washable, durable surface on the back.

For three years we have had a very small kitchen table and that meant we could never sit down for a meal, all six of us. We are very happy now, when we have a bigger table in the extension, where not only all of us can fit, but a few friends as well. We were left with the lovely old table top from the little table and decided to use it on our new kitchen island. It was in three pieces but we did not need the middle bit so it will become a shelf in time.

Our new island has completely transformed our kitchen space. It feels very luxurious to have all the storage space we need and a comfortable worktop. We can now also see more of our fire place, which was partially blocked off before. There is room for two or three people to cook, wash up and move around freely. All in all, we are delighted.

It has been very windy for two days and our daffodils were being blown to shreds in the garden, so we decided to bring a few in along with some larch branches. Usually we like to leave all the flowers in the garden for early bees and bumblebees, but we could not resist to bring in a few too brighten up our new kitchen space. We picked up the old teapot for one euro in a charity shop as it has a few bits missing from the inner rim. We think it still looks lovely with flowers in. The hen for storing eggs was thrown out by someone a few years back and left next to the glass recycling place in town. The base was cracked in two places, but we brought it home, cleaned it up and glued it back together. We think she is lovely and adds a special feel to the kitchen.