Create a European Style Cottage Kitchen on a Tight Budget

If you’ve been following the renovation of Blackbird Cottage for a while, you will know about our problems with finding a kitchen within our budget. What began with an inspiration board showing a more vintage style, ended with something I never thought I would own. A freestanding kitchen constructed with European antiques. So how did we create a European style cottage kitchen without spending massive amounts of cash? How was that even possible given the price tag of quality antique furniture in Tasmania? Designing and creating the kitchen was not as hard as you might think. But it did take time and planning. Here’s what I included in our European style cottage kitchen and a cost breakdown so you can see you really CAN have a dreamy kitchen on a tight budget.

European Cottage Kitchen Inclusions

I should begin by saying we chose this style of kitchen because of the ridiculous cost of flat pack, off the shelf kitchens, Even if we installed and painted such a kitchen ourselves, the price was too high in my opinion. People said ‘that’s just what you have to pay,’ but I could not fathom why. These kitchens are not even wood!

We got three quotes. The quotes were for cabinetry only. We had already purchased our appliances. The. first, from a big hardware chain, was over $15000 AU. The second, from a local kitchen company who are more bespoke but still not designer by any means, was $17500. The last quote was for a custom kitchen but with no extras, flat doors and a modern style and made from plywood and timber veneer. It was $28000. I have no doubt that kitchen would have been well made and very beautiful. . . But it was veneer. . . And plywood!

Determined to prove that gorgeous bespoke kitchen cabinetry was possible for less the $15000, I began to brainstorm and research. My first idea was to buy readymade timber kitchen islands and customise them to suit. We chose two from Early Setller, along with a pantry cupboard. I liked the idea but we would have ended up cutting one in pieces to house the sink. I couldn’t find a solution for either side of the oven either. Then I came up with the idea of buying antiques and repurposing them to suit our needs.

Bingo, We were off and running.

How We Built the Kitchen

The first thing we did was to make a plan. Firstly, we measured up the floor space and marked out where the sink would be. We already had an alcove for the fridge, so the only other thing to worry about was including a dishwasher somewhere. We decided to leave the microwave out of our kitchen. (It’s still in the shed) So far, we have not regretted this decision..

Once the layout was basically sorted we went shopping for pieces to fit. Our first purchases were the English pine buffet and French Pine cabinet for the main wall. These fit perfectly for length and depth. Standard bench depth in Australia is 600mm, so we wanted that for our benches so save on cutting of the stone. This would also make the kitchen appear more modern too.

I scoured Facebook and found two kitchen hutches for sale. One we cut and used to house our sink. A frame was built inside it to hold the sink as it’s very heavy. The second solved our problem of what to do next to the oven. Instead of putting small cabinets on each side, I suggested we put the oven to the side and slot the entire hutch next to it. This gives us a large useful prep space. Both the hutches were quite shallow, so the carpenter cleverly packed then out from the wall using shelving from the ops of each hutch. Now we could all standard bench width all the way along and tie the cabinetry together. Should we ever wish to install a traditional kitchen the benchtop is easily removed so the pieces can be used again.

Our other challenge was raising the height of the benches. People in the nineteenth century were shorter than today and we needed an extra 100mm of height for comfort when performing kitchen activities. We achieved this by adding a timber shadow line under the bench in the same colour as the cabinets. I didn’t like them to begin but now I dont notice them. In fact, I sort of like the way they delineate the old and new of our European style cottage kitchen.

To complete the build of our European style cottage kitchen, the carpenter built a rangehood frame for us. Gavin then used the back of the hutch we used as a bench to clad it. We used the decorative timber from the top of the hutch as a finishing piece around the bottom of the rangehood. To balance this large piece on the wall, we added two shelves. These were constructed from a plank of framing timber cut in half. I sanded it, stained it with coffee and sealed with a coat of matt, clear varnish. We attached them to the wall with custom brackets from Etsy.

Here are the items we purchased to create our European style cottage kitchen

• A French pine cabinet to be used as a pantry
• English pine buffet for storage and counter space
• two traditional antique pine hutches for counter space and housing the sink.
• Framing pine for shelves
• Blackwood table base for the island
• French cheeseboards for table top
• custom woven rattan pendant
• brass wall sconces
• Arctic White Mirostone counter tops (installed)
• Sink
• Tapware
• Window hardware
• carpenter hire for 2 days to build bench seat and range hood frame

The total cost of these items was around $12,700. We also paid $4000 for tiles (including the bathroom) and $3000 for tilling (including the bathroom) If you’re only thinking about cabinetry, sink and tapware, this it VERY affordable. As you can’ see it’s around $2500 less than a flatpack kitchen. If you sourced freestanding pieces from FBMP or auctions you could do it for even less.

Adding the European Kitchen Touches

We didn’t start out wanting a kitchen like this, but I absolutely love the style we ended up with. I also love the custom look we’ve created. Nobody has a kitchen like ours. Even if you copied this idea, (which I hope you do and contribute to saving these pieces from landfill) your kitchen would not look like mine. It will be dependent on your budget and the pieces you source. To create a kitchen like this, you must be committed to spending time sourcing your pieces. It took us about a month to collect everything we needed. Then it was a matter of putting it all together and adding finishing touches to the styling to enhance the look.

What we owned to create the look:

• freestanding Chinese cabinet
• A large antique dresser/hutch for storage and display
• plate rack made by Gavin
• appliances (fridge, oven, dishwasher)
• Storage jars and vintage frames
• Vintage china and cannisters

What I Purchased:

• French antique decoy duck (very extravagant OTT purchase but I love him)
• rattan table lamp from Beacon Lighting
• Set of vintage art prints seen on the shleves
• Brass wall sconces
• new cake stand

The total cost for the complete kitchen Including the appliances, lighting, fabric for the nook, chairs and a few styling items was around $25000. If we had used the ktichen quotes we would have added at least $4000 to that. Which just proves it can be done!