Customer stories
Before & After
Rachel’s Contemporary Open Plan Dream Space: How she created a social hub and a kitchen all in one, and on a budget…
Rachel and her family had been renting a property in London for 20 years, so when it became time to buy their first home, they knew it needed to be perfect and completely their own. Tailoring the house to suit their needs and desires involved quite a hefty amount of renovation work. They faced this head-on, and with the help of Rehome, were able to create a space that can be loved for years to come, all within their budget.
The house that they moved into had a small kitchen, and with a family of 5 and 3 baking-obsessed kids, they knew that one of the top priorities was to transform this space into somewhere that could double as a social hub for all the family. The structure of the house was redesigned to accommodate for a bigger kitchen, with what was originally the hallway becoming part of the new kitchen, and the entrance of the house being moved to the side of the property.
After they had completed all the nitty-gritty renovation work, the time had come to look for a kitchen large enough to fill their glorious new space and start on the arguably more fun part of renovating - the decorating. Rachel knew she wanted a contemporary kitchen with an island big enough to host their guests and their family baking sessions. Rachel said, “I grew up in the kitchen baking with my mum, and I wanted a space where my daughter could bring her friends round and bake, without the hassle of worrying about the kitchen being ruined.”. This presented a brief of a big kitchen that was both stylish and good quality and could be easily wiped down without wearing too much over time.
They began their search by visiting various showrooms and soon found a kitchen that they liked. Without realising the cost of a kitchen this size when buying high street, they were quoted £90k for a modern kitchen with a veneer front that would need to be replaced after a few years of wear and tear. An obvious shock to the system, the next few months were spent searching for better quality for less money, which became an increasingly difficult feat the more places they visited. They began to lower their expectations and felt that maybe the kitchen they had dreamed of was simply too out of reach. This was, until someone eventually suggested to them the idea of buying an ex-display kitchen. Buying ex-display is a great idea for many renovators in the same position as Rachel, as it enables you to achieve a luxury and quality-built kitchen, often with a big-name brand, for a fraction of the retail price. The kitchens are used by showrooms for demonstration purposes and have very little use, so no one would ever know they were pre-owned. The same can be said for kitchens that are sold from new-build properties- often, buyers will move in and replace the kitchen straight away, leaving behind barely used cabinetry and appliances, which (spoiler) is exactly what Rachel ended up purchasing from Rehome…
After ex-displays had been suggested to them, a quick Google search led them to Rehome. In the beginning, they were unable to find something suitable, but after seeing the savings opportunities and the quality of the kitchens on our site, they realised the benefits of waiting for the perfect kitchen to come along. The beauty of Rehome is that we are continuously updating our website with an array of kitchens and other interiors that are added daily. Rachel set up one of our ‘Kitchen Alerts’, something we suggest to anyone who either isn’t quite ready for their kitchen yet or hasn’t found exactly what they’re looking for yet. The kitchen alert asks you for your kitchen preferences as well as budget, and then informs you when something that meets your criteria has been added to our website. In Rachel’s case, a few weeks after setting up the alert they received an email telling them that we had added a large contemporary kitchen within their budget to our website.
With plenty of storage, enough cabinetry to accommodate an open plan layout, and a stunning, high-quality design, Rachel and her family knew this was ‘the one’, but wanted to be sure it worked in their space…
Our advice to anyone buying a pre-loved kitchen is to plan out visually how you plan to reconfigure the kitchen ensuring to match the kitchen measurements to your own, but Rachel has her own advice for you- ‘I found paper cut outs to be too flimsy when planning the reconfiguration of the kitchen, but cereal boxes worked perfectly, granted my family may have thought I’d gone slightly mad in the process. Work out the right amount of units and measure them against your space to scale.’. We love this approach, and it is a great way to ease any nerves you may have about buying a bespoke kitchen that was originally built for a different space. Rachel was slightly reserved too, and after measuring the kitchen and planning out the reconfigured layout, paid a kitchen designer a small fee to go through her plans and make sure it all made sense and would work in her space. Rachel recommends doing this, even if it is just for peace of mind, and says that it was worth it to have the knowledge of simple things like not putting a freezer next to an oven, which she wouldn’t have known otherwise. The money that was saved by buying pre-owned Rachel was able to spend on little things like this, ensuring that the kitchen was perfectly tailored and suited to her space. Brand new, the cabinetry alone would have cost in the region of £65,000, but with Rehome they were able to secure the kitchen for a fraction of the price at £24,999…Some of the cabinetry even still had the plastic wrap on!
With the help of a kitchen installer, and some slightly overwhelmed builders who Rachel managed to ‘bribe with cake’, the kitchen took about a week to install. Once it was installed, they were able to get to work on the rest of the renovation and updating the kitchen to better suit their interior tastes. Rachel’s other pearl of wisdom is to not ‘get stuck on the details of the kitchen- as long as you like the style and the quality then everything else can be changed’, and we couldn’t have put it better ourselves. Reconfiguring is not the only personalisation option when buying a pre-loved kitchen, you can also choose to repaint the kitchen, like Rachel did. She opted for a reputable local painter and transformed the kitchen into a timeless yet modern dream space, just like she wanted. They even took it one step further and sent the paint colour to a paint matcher who was able to provide them with a matching leather paint for their chairs (that were also bought pre-owned from a charity shop). We love this touch, and feel it adds an extra sense of cohesion to a large open plan space like this one.
The space is beaming with originality and character, with the kitchen at the heart of it. Rachel and her family, while doubtful at first, prove that buying pre-loved really is a no-brainer as you achieve so much more from your renovation budget. When asked what advice Rachel would give to anyone thinking about buying a pre-owned kitchen she said ‘Don’t be scared, be bold. There were a few afternoons before the kitchen arrived where I thought ‘what on earth am I thinking?’, but it was so much better than I could have ever imagined.’. We love this advice, and here at Rehome we are always on hand to give you help with any queries you may have, even after purchasing a kitchen. Rachel and her family even offered to open their doors to anyone doubtful, for a cup of tea and a slice of cake and some reassurance of how well buying a second hand kitchen works…
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