Feature Friday: An IKEA Kitchen Makeover

Today I am delighted to introduce you to Eva. Eva is the editor of her own blog, The Multitasking Woman offering inspired living for the everyday multitasking woman. Eva shares fabulous posts on motherhood, stress free living, health, relationships, career and living, such as Top Tips for Moving House, Parenting Taboos, Suffering from Busyness (yes it really is a thing!). Eva is also a freelance writer, digital campaigns manager for a parenting magazine. When Eva isn't lost in words in her digital space, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading her favourite magazines and gardening.

I shared a post on Facebook one day about an Ikea Kitchen and Eva piped up that she had recently installed an Ikea kitchen in her home. Eva was so kind to take some photos and let us step inside her home and so, here we are, its Feature Friday home tour time once more and this week, we are stepping inside Eva's 100 year old workers cottage.

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Eva, it’s so lovely to have you here with us – tell us a bit about yourself and loves!

Hi Ashlea, thanks so much for having me. A bit about me, I always seem to be crazy busy juggling motherhood, a business, friendships, marriage, a home...you name it!

I am the editor of my own lifestyle and parenting blog called The Multitasking Woman which has been running since 2012 (originally The Multitasking Mummy) as well as a freelance article writer and a digital campaigns manager for a popular South East Queensland parenting magazine. When I don’t have my head in the digital space (which doesn't happen often enough) I enjoy spending time with my husband and 4 year old son (soon to have a daughter in July 2016), I love reading my favourite mags with a good cup of tea or coffee, I love pottering in my garden and I tend to dream A LOT!

I know you once lived in a big modern home and sold up to buy your 'Oak Dale' home. We would love to know a little more about your home.

Yes, we made a HUGE tree change from a modern house to an old one in May 2013.

We always had the idea that we would like to find a house that was in good condition, had charm but with renovating potential so we could put our mark on it. And we found one in Oak Dale, an almost 100 year old Workers Cottage in on of Ipswich’ old central suburbs. I’ve done a bit of research on the house and have found records dating back to 1919. During my research that’s when I discovered it’s name, Oak Dale, and decided to give her her name plaque back. There’s a huge old oak tree in the front yard which I’m pretty sure has been there as long as the house has. 

Oak Dale was somewhat dated when we bought it but it had been well kept and has had some renovations done previously but most likely more than a decade ago. We saw huge potential for a new kitchen, a deck and to add on an office as well as other smaller projects to give it a bit of a face lift like getting rid of the horrid looking Axminster carpet (I know, I know, it’s expensive stuff but the flower patterns just did my head in!)

After living in the house for about 2 years, we decided it was time to start doing what we’d planned to do which was rip out the old kitchen, relocate it, cut a big hole in the back of the house top put triple stacker timber doors and add a brand new deck as well as turn the original back landing into my home office. We’ve almost finished, just a little paint and floor polishing to go.

What made you want to downsize and move homes?

We built our modern brick home back in 2008, your typical 4 bedroom brick home with the rumpus room, family room AND loungeroom. We thought it was a great idea at the time and then our son came along, we’d saved enough for me to be off work for a year (I unfortunately didn’t get paid maternity leave by my employer so had to fund my own leave) and when that money ran out it was an EEEK moment, I wasn’t prepared to go back to work full time and so we had to make a decision. The decision was to get a much smaller house and smaller mortgage.

Although we had a very modern home, I in particular had always loved the charm of old Queenslanders. Not long ago I had visited my friend in her ‘new’ house and absolutely fell in love with the suburb we now live in. It’s the best decision we've ever made and I just love the character our home exudes, it’s just so different to our old house, you just can’t get the same feeling in a modern brick home. 

I know you have recently completed a kitchen renovation, can you tell us more about that? 

The old kitchen was definitely not the original kitchen, that was originally in my sons room with an open fireplace which I wish was still there. The kitchen we removed had probably been there since the 90’s when they added an extension to the back of the house which would have originally been the back verandah.

The kitchen we pulled out was your typical 90’s melamine beige colour kitchen with plastic rectangular handles (see photo). There was an old gas chef oven and cooktop which I could never cook a perfect roast in. It was fine for a couple of years, but not ideal. We really wanted to go with the style of the house and get a country style kitchen because to me,  having an ultra modern kitchen in a 100 year old home doesn’t match. We also love our original pressed tin ceilings in our front loungeroom and bedroom which was our inspiration for the pressed tin splash backs which we got from Restoration Station. 

The original kitchen - dated beige colour and minimal storage or bench space

The original kitchen was on the opposite side of the room to where the new one is now. The wall the original kitchen was on had double hung windows that looked out to the backyard. After we ripped out the old kitchen, we ripped out this entire wall and installed triple slider timber doors from Woodworkers which now open onto our new deck.  The new kitchen is now on the opposite side of the room. Where you see the oven and pressed tin splashbacks, that used to be a window which we filled in. 

The location of the to be installed kitchen

Prepped and ready for the new kitchen

The window area that would eventually become the stove, pressed metal splashback and rangehood

We’d always been eyeing off the FAKTUM kitchen in IKEA, it was the style we loved and knew would suit the house. My husband did all the installation himself, except the stone benchtops which were custom made and fitted. He’s done an amazing job with it and I think anyone that’s handy and knows a bit about carpentry can do it (oh, and you need a lot of time).

Now, all that’s left to do is finish painting the walls and ceiling and sand an polish the kitchen floor. We replaced the floors with hoop pine to match the rest of the house which still has the original floor boards (see photo). We couldn’t figure out why the previous owners, when they put on the extension to the back of the house, used ugly modern thin floor boards that didn’t match the original ones! Some may not have noticed, but I surely did!

Installing new floorboards to match the original floorboards in the rest of the house

What made you choose an Ikea kitchen? Would you recommend it to others and would you do it again?

Initially we chose IKEA because we loved the FAKTUM style. To have a professional kitchen company design it and put it in would have been beyond our budget. I would totally recommend an IKEA kitchen, it looks stunning and you would never know it was a DIY kitchen at all, the quality is great. 

What does the word home mean to you?

Home to me is family, it is memories, it is where I’m my most comfortable, it is my inspiration, it’s where I relax, it’s a place that reflects who I am and is more than somewhere to eat and sleep. My home brings me a lot of joy.

Describe your homes style?

I’m still trying to work out my home’s style considering I’m still working on the baby’s room and we still need to complete furnishing the family room off the kitchen, but I’d say at the moment it’s a mix of modern and vintage with a country twist. I have my modern leather couches with a rustic old coffee table that’s been shabbied up in the front lounge room. My bedroom consists of a timber frame bed and side tables that have been painted in Old White chalk paint and shabbied. We still have modern looking TV cabinets from our old house that I tell myself don’t really go every second day, but at this point they’ll just have to do. I like to pull everything together by having little vintage and shabby accents here and there like old books, vintage tins, a vase of roses, old tea cups...but I like to bring some colour in too, particularly with chalk paint.

Favourite part of your home?

At the moment it has to be the kitchen/family area. It was always our intention to have the kitchen flow onto a room which then opened out onto a big deck via the huge timber sliding doors. It’s all just like one living area and where we spend most of our time. My favourite time is in the morning when the morning son gently shines in over the deck and into the room, the perfect spot to enjoy breakfast and listen to the birds.

What do friends say when they visit your home?

On first impressions they usually say WOW because they know how drab it used to look and the way it’s transformed the space is quite amazing. The next thing they look at and love is the pressed tin splash backs, they really have a wow factor and I’m so glad we kept them raw. Originally we were going to have them powder coated white!

Thanks so much Eva for showing us inside your home today and sharing with us your home and it's story!

        connect with eva, the multitasking woman

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HAVE YOU EVER DOWNSIZED FROM A MODERN HOME TO A SMALLER HOME?

EVER THOUGHT ABOUT INSTALLING AN IKEA KITCHEN?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF EVA'S KITCHEN RENO?

They have done a fabulous job haven't they? I love the detailed cabinetry and the pressed metal splashback. I am so glad they decided to keep it raw and not powder coat it white. I love the raw metal look!

I hope you love seeing inside real homes each week. I am always on the lookout for new homes and renovations to feature. If this sounds like something you may be interested in, then get in touch. I'd love to chat!

Have a wonderful weekend x

Linking up With Some Grace

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