Renovation of small flat

[RosieD]

Renovation of a flat with custom cabinetry, screening and furniture completed with the assistance of professional tradespeople.

• The project
• Tools and materials
• More inspiration for your home renovation

The project

We renovated a small flat on a very tight budget. We had to do most of the work ourselves, and used trades where necessary. We had a cabinet maker help us with installing the kitchen hardware, but the rest we did ourselves (making the cabinets, sourcing materials, measuring, design and shop drawing, cutting, installation, finishing, etc).

I think it was worth it, as we saved a lot of money doing it this way, but it was more of an investment in time.

Making the cabinetry took quite a while. Many, many weekends in our friend's shed, as we were renovating a flat, so we had little space on site to work with. Form plywood was used as it is easy to work with, strong, termite resistant, readily available and cost effective. The black colour is a nice contrast to the white walls and provides a water-resistant finish. We used an entire palette of the stuff for the whole apartment (50 x sheets).

A custom made puzzle board, made from Victorian Ash with legs salvaged from the side of the road (an old chair).

A special cat bed by the window for our furball with a nice garden view.

A timber screen made from Merbau and cut on 45-degree angles and routed to form an interesting "bamboo like" pattern.

Turned out great.

The screen has proven to be very useful for hanging hats, coats, plants, umbrellas and whatever else. It was a lot of work. 

Tools and materials

Materials used in the project:

• All cabinetry carcasses: Form plywood
  
  
• Sliding cabinet doors: Bunnings plywood with Feast Watson Liming White to finish
  
  
• Decorative timber screen: Merbau timber battens
  
  
• Wall paint: Dulux Wash & Wear Natural White and Harpoon
  
  
• Timber benchtops: Victorian Ash
  
  
• Appliances

• Handles 
  
  
• Tiles.

More inspiration for your home renovation

Community member Belinda took an old weatherboard house and completed a comprehensive cottage transformation, including new kitchen and bathroom.

Workshop member helsbren created much more room for food preparation in a rustic farmhouse kitchen renovation.

Get more great ideas from Bunnings Workshop community members from our Top 10 most popular renovation projects.