KITCHEN PROBLEM ROOM
When Janette Roberts moved to her two-bedroom cottage in Amersham, the previous owners had done lots of work around the property, but there was a common problem too – nothing had been quite finished off. Janette loved the pretty cream wood Howdens kitchen, but there was cornice missing on the wall units that made the room look unbalanced, and there was an issue with the sink area too. ‘There was a tiny circular sink with little separate circle drainer next to it and the wood in-between the two had so much water on it, that it was black and rotting. The oak work surfaces all around hadn’t been oiled and were in a terrible state too. The walls were marked, greasy and water-stained and on closer inspection it was all looking a bit shabby. I hated the worn brown floor tiles too so the kitchen felt like it could be wonderful, but it wasn’t!’ she explains.
Keen to deal with the problems before they caused lasting damage, Janette called on the services of her son-in-law Andy. ‘He’s amazing at DIY and offered to help me get the kitchen sorted. He said we needed to cut out the rotten wood by the sink and fit a larger one in the space so I chose my dream white ceramic style – it’s what I’ve always wanted and when he fitted it, he sanded and oiled all the worktops too. So now they look brand new and I’m thrilled. I chose duck egg blue brick tiles as a soft contrast to the cream units to protect the walls and we fitted them over a weekend,’ she says. Janette then made a trip to Howdens. ‘I’d asked the previous owners for all the details of the kitchen they’d fitted and luckily it was still in stock so I was delighted to be able to get some cornice, and also a matching door so I could have an integrated dishwasher to fit in the gap. Being able to match exactly meant I could finish the kitchen off properly and it looks so much better,’ Janette smiles.