Project list
Sign in to your account
With project lists you can...
Please sign in or create an account to use Project Lists
By
Home owners: Rufaro and Primrose Chakaingesu
Location: Reservoir, Melbourne
The project: Kitchen renovation
The budget: $2500
Rufaro’s top tip for renovators: ‘Don’t expect to get things right first go – the first time you do something is probably not the best version of it. Just keep powering on.’
As far as first homes go, Rufaro and Primrose Chakaingesu’s apartment in Melbourne’s north was pretty standard. ‘It was a small little unit at the back of a few units, and it was in a state,’ Rufaro says. ‘The backyard was absolutely atrocious, and the kitchen didn’t have much going for it.’
Despite Rufaro having zero D.I.Y. experience, Primrose recognised the potential in both the apartment and her husband. ‘Primrose got me a Ryobi drill from Bunnings in 2019,’ says the graduate architect. ‘She planted the D.I.Y. seed and that seed just kept growing.’
Rufaro used the drill on odd jobs around the house, slowly building up confidence by doing a fence and a deck before he was finally ready to tackle his most ambitious project to date: the kitchen.
‘It just never felt right,’ he says. ‘The cabinets felt plonked in and there’s an awkward angle that’s less than 90 degrees from the sink to the oven, which made the space even worse.’
The project was always going to be a budget kitchen renovation so remodelling wasn’t an option, but Rufaro knew a bit of creative D.I.Y. would dramatically improve the space. ‘The bones of the kitchen were okay,’ Rufaro says. ‘I thought if we could upgrade everything around the awkward angle, it would feel more user friendly.’
Before starting, Rufaro did a lot of research to get kitchen renovation ideas. ‘We were watching a lot of D.I.Y. videos, especially on the Bunnings D.I.Y. Advice page and the Bunnings Workshop Community,’ says Rufaro, who is known as @diy_hausdesigns in the community. ‘I’d see people painting tiles, getting new benchtops, adding little trims – it was all stuff we’d never done, but we thought we’d give it a go.’
Rufaro’s must-fix list included replacing the benchtop, painting the tiles and cupboards, and updating the appliances. However, as often happens with renos, the job he thought would be the easiest – the cupboards – turned out to be the most challenging.
‘A lot of research went into painting the cupboards because it was a new thing for us,’ he says. ‘First, we removed the doors and painted them white – we thought they looked great but when we put them back up we went ‘... uh … no’. They needed more so we decided to add trims and make them shaker style.’
Adding the trims was the most time-consuming aspect of the whole job. ‘Getting them to look right was a lot of work – a lot of glueing and sanding,’ Rufaro says. ‘By adding the trims you increase the depth of the door, which can cause problems with the hinges. I had to get the trims thin enough and then keep adjusting the hinges. It was really finicky.’
Having an awkward space on one side of the kitchen inevitably meant there was another offset space on the other side, next to the fridge. Rufario found the perfect solution: an in-built wine rack, which ended up being one of his favourite parts of the finished project. ‘I didn’t want the fridge to have this weird empty space next to it,’ he says. ‘So, I thought, we love wine. Let’s make a wine rack. It’s a snug little fit but it added a bit more warmth to the room.’
To make the kitchen feel even warmer, Rufaro added under-bench lighting beneath the kitchen cabinets. ‘I put a bit of timber under the bench, which had cutouts for little sconce lights that you plug in and operate with a remote control,’ he says, noting that by not wiring in the lights, he saved money on electrician bills.
Being cost effective was a priority on this job and Rufaro estimates the whole revamp – including appliances bought on sale and professionals to install the benchtop – came in at around $2500.
The kitchen reno was done during a Melbourne Covid lockdown so luckily Rufaro had loads of time to work on it – although he thinks it took about three months.
To see more of Rufaro’s projects, visit the Bunnings Workshop community. You’ll find projects including a backyard makeover, breakfast bar, laundry renovation, and before and after snaps of his kitchen makeover.
Asbestos, lead-based paints and copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber are health hazards you need to look out for when renovating older homes. These substances can easily be disturbed when renovating and exposure to them can cause a range of life-threatening diseases and conditions including cancer. For information on the dangers of asbestos, lead-based paint and CCA treated timber and tips for dealing with these materials contact your local council's Environmental Health Officer or visit our Health & Safety page.
When following our advice in our D.I.Y. videos, make sure you use all equipment, including PPE, safely by following the manufacturer’s instructions. Check that the equipment is suitable for the task and that PPE fits properly. If you are unsure, hire an expert to do the job or talk to a Bunnings Team Member.
