Upcycling the kitchen

RECYCLE, reuse, regenerate – these are the bywords for my home as well as my garden.

After several weeks of painting the bright blue, orange, lime and grey feature walls a more sedate cream, I’m feeling more at home.

At the moment the floor man is finishing off sanding and sealing all the living and bedrooms but the kitchen and laundry have a nice wood-floor look vinyl. 

 

As I have downsized into a cosy old 1950s renovated clinker-brick former housing commission house, it’s been a fun challenge to work out where to place everything.

In the last couple of years, I decluttered my life which involved several massive clean-outs with around 66 per cent of my stuff going to various op-shops, friends and the tip.

This was a good move as my new home has about half the floor space and a quarter of the kitchen storage space I was used to.

 

So rather than renovate the perfectly good kitchen, I have given some bookcases another coat of paint and put them to good use to hold jars of dry goods, cookbooks and the mix-masters.

(No doubt I'll eventually put in wider bench-tops and a dishwasher, but so far the rubber gloves and sink are doing the job!)

The chairs came from an op shop at a ridiculous cheap $68 for the six (and I’ve seen similar versions in online retro catalogues for $140 each) and the table I bought seven years ago from an op-shop in Sydney for a song.

 

Hanging above is an art deco brass lamp from my first apartment in Hawthorn - I love it but as the ceilings here are lower than its previous homes, I placed it over the dining table so none of my guests will get concussion.

 

Scouring opshops and garage sales and spending less is so much fun and it allows you to create a home which reflects your real life - not something dreamed up by some marketing person for a faceless furniture store.