Kitchen Addition, Wellend

Homeowner, Barb, has lived in her 1910’s Victorian cottage in Welland for quite some time. She has always loved the location and had no interest or intention of moving, however the structure and design of her home was becoming an increasing issue. 

When we met Barb, she had been using a makeshift kitchen for the last 20 years. There was also an outhouse laundry that was no longer structurally suitable, making it not only a hazard and an eye sore but a complete waste of space.

The highlight of Barb’s home was the large backyard, perfect for her love of gardening and fruit trees, from which she makes the most delicious jams. However this beautiful garden was no longer making up for the severe lack of storage and functional space in the home. Barb was also caring for her elderly mum more frequently, so it was extremely important that the back of the home was easily accessible. Eager to fix these issues, Barb approached a draftsperson to help her with some plans.

Barb then found ZJ Building through a recommendation of a friend, who happened to be a past client of ours. She had her own council approved plans, but by this point, had lost a lot of motivation and didn’t know how to continue. The design process with her draftsperson took far too long and Barb felt she was left out of the loop. She knew if she wanted to make changes to her plans she would have to start the process from scratch all over again. Being afraid of wasting money and time on the design phase again, Barb decided to go ahead with the original plans. 

Zak then met Barb on site, looked over the plans and delivered a Preliminary Building Agreement to put together a fixed price quote. Zak then organised the joinery design and selection meetings for the kitchen which rekindled Barb’s excitement about the project. 

Since Barb’s beautiful home had some historic features, making sure the transition from old to new was top priority. The original brick size and colour was matched using Little Hampton Old Red bricks with a stretcher brick plinth (the little ledge you see at the bottom of the exterior walls) along with matching lintel details.We made sure that every little detail of Barb’s home was replicated, including the posts that held up her new carport. An existing post was removed from the original part of the home (reinstalled later) and taken to a machinist who matched the design perfectly to recreate new posts to erect the carport. 

Western Red Cedar vertical sliding windows with traditional golden hooks were installed in the kitchen to complement the Atmosphere Red Gloss Structured tiles from Beaumont Tiles and the island benchtop was created using recycled marble! All of these elements, big and small, helped create a seamless transition from old to new and updated a space that’s truly sympathetic to the period of the home.

Barb now has the space that she truly needed, without compromising on size. She is now able to enjoy a modern laundry with ample storage, a proper kitchen, bigger windows and more natural light. And best of all, Barb’s mum can now easily get around the home and comfortably stay with her whenever needed.