Adding a kitchen scullery for extra storage

Set on seven bush-clad acres, the home has a beautiful outlook over the city, and the homeowners were keen to make the home’s kitchen area more functional and user-friendly.
The Refresh Renovation’s builder was approached by the homeowners at the North Shore Home Show last year.
“We discussed renovations in a general nature, and I asked them what their priority would be,” he says.
“They had a lovely kitchen, but lacked storage for their larger appliances, so decided that a scullery would really improve their way of life.”

Creating a scullery

The initial brief for the renovation was the creation of a scullery space behind the kitchen in the split level pole house. It sounded simple, but as with most renovations there was a flow on effect. The logistics of a new scullery meant that a bathroom would be moved, an upstairs bedroom extended and the laundry relocated; but without changing the footprint of the home.
The kitchen is located on the lowest of the home’s three levels, and in order to get a full height scullery, the bathroom above needed to be moved. The ceiling of this bathroom was eating into the space of a bedroom on the third floor and its relocation would enable this room to be extended.
“There was a laundry across the way from the bathroom on this level, and the bathroom was moved there.”  
“The creation of a scullery sounded like a small job, but it ended up being bigger than Ben Hur,” the renovation builder laughs.
The scullery space was created and located at the back of the kitchen. This area formerly hosted a small pantry, but there was room to extend floor space by building into the dirt bank behind. The scullery that replaced the pantry would have space for all the couple’s kitchen needs.

The bathroom renovation and bedroom extension

While Refresh carried out the remodel of the bathroom, the homeowners chose the bath/shower, toilet and vanity themselves.
The bathroom features an Athena bath and shower unit, plus a Parisi toilet and new vanity.
The homeowners are delighted with the new bathroom, but equally thrilled with the extended space that’s been added to the bedroom upstairs.
Previously, the bathroom ceiling took up space in this room, which was small and featured a mezzanine. The relocation of the downstairs bathroom meant that the floor space of this bedroom could be extended and the mezzanine removed.
“The bathroom ceiling was taking up about half the potential space,” says the Refresh Renovations' builder. “Removing this allowed the room to be made a lot bigger.”
But it’s the longed for scullery that has made the biggest difference to the daily life of the homeowners. The kitchen area opens out to a dining and family space, but before the renovation the space wasn’t large enough to the meet the homeowners’ needs.

The newly updated home

Small appliances were stored in the living space; the homeowners had to trundle from kitchen to family room if they wanted to make their breakfast juice.
The new scullery means that there is now a space for everything; this makes for a tidier kitchen and more efficient living.
The homeowners lived in the home while the renovations were taking place, often joined by their granddaughter for a night or two.
It was a big project, but executed efficiently, completed in five months. At around $150,000, it’s provided the homeowners with a reinvigorated space that allows them to fully enjoy life in their home.
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