The Refresh approach to kitchen renovations

When it comes to kitchen renovations, there’s plenty to consider and lots of moving parts to factor in. From plumbing and drainage to heating and electrical, there’s as much to renovate behind the scenes as there is on display in the heart of your home.

At Refresh, our approach to kitchen renovations means all of these moving parts will flow seamlessly. We kick start the process with a free, no obligation consultation between you and a local Renovation Consultant. This is an opportunity for you to discuss your kitchen renovation ideas, goals, visions, and plans.

In the deep south, our local Invercargill Renovation Consultant has overseen kitchen and full home renovations before and has significant experience in project management so you’ll be in good hands with Refresh at the helm.

How often should you renovate a kitchen?

The kitchen is one of the most complex of rooms in the home to renovate, for many of the reasons above. The number of moving parts you need to consider is greater than simply renovating a bedroom with light switches for example.

Therefore, how often you should renovate a kitchen depends on the time and energy you have as well as the extent of your budget. If your kitchen is feeling tired and dated, now will be a good time to give it a new lease of life. Does it need a functional upgrade or is an aesthetic makeover enough to achieve the contemporary kitchen design you’re after? Sometimes, the installation of a colourful splashback, the addition of drop lighting, and a new lick of paint on cupboard doors is all that’s required to freshen the space up.

If family members are growing up and you’re faced with more teenagers in the house, redesigning the layout to create an L-shaped kitchen can enable greater meal preparation space.

What's the average cost of a kitchen renovation in NZ?

It’s a little hard to determine what the average cost of a kitchen renovation in New Zealand is. That’s because every renovation project is so different. From family homes to compact townhouses, beach side baches to granny flats, the size, scale, and extent of the design chosen for the kitchen all contributes to a variety of costs.

Taking a look through the Refresh gallery of kitchen renovation projects undertaken by the team around the country will give you insight into some of the costs and intricacies involved in renovating a kitchen.

How long does a kitchen renovation take?

Have you ever tried living without a kitchen for any length of time? It will be quite a challenge given just how much and how often we use this room of the house. Our kitchen builders are aware of the inconvenience that can be caused when renovating a kitchen so try to keep delays and disruption to a minimum.

Installing a kitchen can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months but during the concept and planning phase of the refresh process, your local Invercargill Renovation Consultant will outline the timeframe of your project so you can prepare for those nights when Uber Eats are essential! 

Things to consider for your kitchen renovation

If you’re planning to renovate your kitchen and are currently looking through some new kitchen designs, here are some key elements to consider:

1.     The flow of the kitchen: how easy will it be to move around in the space

2.     Storage: is there enough? And if you think there is, add a little bit more!

3.     Island Benches: these are highly flexible spaces that allow for meal preparation, storage, seating, and conversation

4.     Appliances: where are these located in the kitchen design and do you need more than one fridge or dishwasher? That’s the bonus of a scullery!

5.     Functionality: don’t let design overtake function. It is possible to achieve both!

Work with Invercargill’s renovation consultants and you’ll be able to tap into their 3D visualisation services to find out what your kitchen design could look like before construction begins!

Kitchen renovation ideas

If you’re looking for kitchen renovation ideas, there’s nothing more inspiring than seeing what others have been able to achieve with their kitchen redesign.

Take this 1960s home in Invercargill. These homeowners improved their home’s style and functionality with features such as a large kitchen island, modern pendant lighting, plentiful cabinetry, new appliances, and a subway-tiled splashback.

Another open-plan kitchen revamp in Invercargill involved the installation of windows, the removal of walls, and a fresh splash of paint. The result was the transformation of a drab and gloomy 1960s home into a bright and modern living space, complete with cool white cabinetry punctuated with classic silver fittings and built-in appliances.

Further up the island in this Christchurch home, polished finishings contributed to this fantastic kitchen revival, which included a new connection between the entry hallway allowing for natural light, LED strips under floating shelves to create ambience, and updated white cabinetry to allow for blue subway tiles to make a subtle pop.

Another house in Burwood, Christchurch became a home with a flooring update and new kitchen. The bespoke kitchen design included both design features and engineered elements, including stone benchtops and a sage green subway tiled splashback.

Ready to renovate your kitchen?

If you want to start your journey to a new kitchen renovation or update your kitchen design to better reflect your lifestyle, get in touch with the Refresh team in Invercargill.