Renovating with a green footprint in mind

When my partner and I bought our first home a couple of years ago, I instantly started to imagine what I could do to improve the layout, the look and the feel of our own space. However, one thing was always certain, I didn’t want to rip everything out and chuck into landfill, and I wanted to reduce the impact that my renovation had on the environment. Yes, my kitchen was a lovely 80s, timber cabinetry, laminate bench top number, but I was certain to get a more modern look, I did not have to rip it all out and start again.

Just so you get an idea, here’s a before picture of our lovely kitchen.

Our kitchen: before

So, here’s five things that I did to reduce the impact of my kitchen renovation on the environment, and save money in the process!

1. Re-use the carcasses of the cabinetry

I knew I didn’t want to keep the solid timber doors in my kitchen, no matter how sturdy they were, they just weren’t the look I was going for. I considered painting the doors but I was informed that as they were real timber, the paint would seep into the wood grain and end up with a bumpy surface.

Instead, I decided to buy new laminate doors and drawer fronts, but keep the internal carcasses. The cupboards themselves were good quality and I didn’t mind the basic layout of the kitchen itself, I just knew would add an island bench once we knocked down the surrounding walls to open up the living room. By re-using all the carcasses, this meant a lot less rubbish going to landfill, and less money spent on new cabinetry!

2. Paint the splashback

Although the tiled splashback colour was a sad, washed out beige which I knew had to change, the tiles themselves were in great condition and could easily be painted. Each tile was divided into 12 x 12 smaller squares with grooves running through them. I knew that if I painted over them, I would get a sort of smaller, square subway tile look and I loved the idea of that.

I had heard great things from other renovators who has attempted to paint their tiled splashbacks and I was up for a challenge! So once I knew which paint colour I wanted I purchased tile primer and glossy tile paint from the hardware store and gave it my best shot. I was totally stoked with the results!

Here is a picture of my painted splashback, complete with the new door fronts on the recycled cabinetry. I get comments all the time and people are amazed it was a home job!

BTW the cost was so minimal too – just a couple of cans of paint and rollers etc, under $150!!

My painted splashback, teamed new cabinet doors (but recycled benchtops) helped give the kitchen a more modern look

3. Buy a second hand island bench

I have a friend who bought her whole kitchen second hand off the internet, and so I knew that there were kitchens out there, ready to be thrown away but that just needed a new owner to take care of them. After scouring the pages of gumtree and e bay, I found a few second hand kitchens with decent island benches that were the look and size I was going for. However, usually the problem was the owners did not want to sell the islands by themselves.

I was in no hurry so I kept looking, until finally the perfect bench came along. A lovely couple were selling their island bench by itself from their very new kitchen, as they wanted to replace it with an identical larger model. Complete with 2pac painted cabinetry, soft close drawers and Quantum Quartz (engineered stone) bench top, I bought the island for an amazing $1,100! (It was worth more than $3,000). We borrowed my dad’s trailer to pick it up and had to re-silicone down the bench top, but it was such an easy and satisfying purchase.

We managed to get a island bench colour which complemented the existing laminate bench top and so for now, we have kept the back bench tops to save money and recycle as much as we can. But the good thing is, if I want to replace the other bench tops to match the island in the future, I can match the engineered stone.

Additionally, I waited until I had purchased an island bench before I painted the splashback, and so I was able to tie-in the warm grey from the island cabinetry into my painted splashback to bring it all together (note in the picture below the grey doesnt look quite right – its is not that yellowy). I even replaced the handles on the island to match the same style as those on the back wall cabinetry, although they are a different size but this doesn’t bother me much. I’d rather slightly different handles than purchase a custom made island bench with the carbon footprint and price to match!

The contrasting island cabinetry allowed me to add another colour into the kitchen and tie this into the splashback

4. Re-use the appliances and sink

Appliances don’t last forever, however we figured since they were working fine so far and didn’t look too bad, we could get at least a few more years of life into these beauties. Saving money and reducing landfill for now, we will upgrade our appliances only when we they finally give out. Perhaps our kitchen doesn’t look brand spanking new with stainless steel appliances, but it looks much better than it did before. I will purchase new taps in the future and possible a new sink if we upgrade the benchtops, but will leave for now.

You will also see in the above and below pictures, I purchased a second hand cupboard off gumtree for our temporary pantry. One day when we have a bit of extra money we may install proper cabinetry along the back wall. However for now I am happy with my pantry, fridge, and my DIY shelf that I made from a plank of wood and spray painting two brackets blue! Up until recently I had never undertaken any DIY projects but now I have painted a splashback and made a shelf! Who would have thought…

5. Choose sustainable flooring

We knocked down four walls in our renovation and opened up the living areas to be open plan. In doing so we needed to replace all the flooring and didn’t have a large budget. The solution – we chose bamboo floorboards. A sustainable and budget friendly material. I love my floors and am so happy with our choice. Check out my other blog post on choosing sustainable materials for your renovation for more information on the amazing properties of bamboo and other products.