Home sweet home

Well, the kitchen and house extension is finally at an end and Matt and Rowena spent the final week putting the finishing touches on the project!

The brand new Fisher & Paykel appliances arrived, including a double DishDrawer, double oven, fridge and four-burner stovetop. Matt and Rowena chose Fisher & Paykel for its aesthetic, which you�ll agree works well in their newly renovated home, but also for the range of choices to suit different budgets. At the top end Fisher & Paykel have The Designer Series of appliances, which take beauty seriously; then there is The Classic Series, which presents Kiwis with more affordable alternatives; and finally The ELBA series, which as Fisher & Paykel put it �just does what it should.� Matt and Rowena offset some of the purchase cost by selling their old appliances on TradeMe and they have gone for a stainless steel theme to add some colour to their kitchen. The double DishDrawer operates independently, has better ergonomics than a standard dishwasher, and has extremely efficient water usage, using as little as 1.98 gallons per cycle (7.5 litres). The double oven has many efficiency benefits too, including being able to use the smaller lower oven for a single smaller dish (it takes less energy to heat the smaller space) and being able to do two very different dishes at once.

Things to consider when choosing kitchen appliances include configuration, space and ergonomics. Oftentimes you will be hamstrung by your choices, especially when looking at an existing fridge cavity. But things like having the refrigerator above the freezer for those with bad backs, or even better having them side-by-side. How much fridge space do you need? A general rule of thumb is 12 cubic feet for two people and then 2 extra cubic feet for each additional family member. Ovens and cooktops will depend on how much of an entertainer you are. If you�re a really serious chef, you may want to go with a commercial-style oven, or perhaps more practically, at least separate the stovetop from the ovens so you can create multiple workstations to avoid kitchen clutter. Then there�s gas versus electric. Most serious cooks prefer the instant response and low running costs of gas, but some do prefer the even heat and lower set-up costs of electric. Then there�s ventilation to consider and whether you want a range hood or the pop-up variety. Mostly it comes down to preference once you know the basics.

While Matt and Rowena will continue to live in their house, many of you out there will be renovating with a view to selling. If this is you, it could be well worth considering employing the services of a home staging company like Home Base. The simple fact is that most of us accumulate furniture and decorative items over the course of a lifetime, and the sentimental value of that table you bought 12 years ago is not going to impress a potential buyer. Put simply � if you were decorating the house from scratch now you�d probably do things differently. Home Base can do either partial or full home staging and getting your house looking its best is bound to make it sell more quickly.

But because they�re staying, Matt and Rowena invited some friends round for a BBQ to celebrate their new-look home. The good people at Rinnai stepped in with a brand new six-burner BBQ and offered some tips on selecting a BBQ, which included: look for quality materials like stainless steel and cast-iron grills, look for a flexible shelf to allow you to cook at different temperatures, and buying quality will likely save you in the long run. It also pays to be observant when you�re standing round other people�s BBQs � look for things that might have gone wrong with certain models and materials, especially where the paint may be chipping away under heat stress. A powder-coated veneer is a good way to avoid this problem. The bottom line with BBQs is it�s all about quality materials.

In fact that statement could sum up Matt and Rowena�s attitude to the whole renovation process � they always made sure they used quality materials, and whatever they did complemented the existing house. They wanted the best they could get for the money they had to spend, and with some judicious choices and some good advice, they�ve definitely achieved that. The team at The Drawing Board would like to say a big thank you to Matt and Rowena for letting us help them through the renovation process � and also a big thank you to all our generous service and material partners. We couldn�t have done it without you.