At last!

Finally, after 12 long years I've actually got a kitchen to call my own. I've lost count of the times I've painted over tiles, cupboards, floors even to try and improve some hideous set of units in the houses we've lived in to try and make a space feel more like home.

Woody was reluctant it has to be said. He'd have put up with our old, sad, rotten, leaking, broken kitchen forever but I'd reached my limit. I last did it up a couple of years ago but it really was beyond repair. So I went to Ikea and bought a bargain new kitchen that we can just afford and a couple of weeks back it was fitted.

All I wanted was something that when I cleaned it, it actually looked clean! There are no fancy, cheffy touches, just nice simple cupboards, with lovely deep pan drawers and proper lighting so I can actually see what I'm doing.

The Ikea fitters were superb and we didn't have to call or organise anything apart from buying our tiles and new flooring. We arranged for them to fit those too as well as a brilliant little plinth heater that warms up our galley kitchen really quickly and meant we could get rid of an awkward radiator. This meant we also got to have a fridge freezer in this end of the room rather than in the dining end which was always a hassle.

I love the tiles. They're the same as we had fitted in the bathroom last year but in here we chose a light grey grout because I didn't want to get fixated on it discolouring. It looks great!

I can't tell you how happy I feel to have a proper kitchen with appliances that work (and don't smoke or smell!) where we can gather as a family and enjoy where we are. Tomorrow all the family are coming over for a big Sunday lunch and I can't wait to cook for them and feel a tiny bit proud.xxx