My kitchen renovation is still not complete. I have now been without a cooker for 3 weeks, and my sink has been gone for 2 weeks.

Our new kitchen has been installed, but not without some problems. First, there were the usual nuances of missing items. These small issues were easily and quickly rectified by the very helpful staff at Magnet in Stoke-on-Trent.

My Kitchen Renovation Challenge

My real challenge has been the sink and the cooker. Word of warning: if you are planning a small kitchen renovation, please ensure you are clued up about all the fixings and fittings that you might need. In our naivety, my husband and I believed that everything came included with the sink, cooker and hob that we purchased. Not so. The sink supplier, Franke, apparently decided fairly recently that they would cease to include a waste pipe that connects the sink bowl with the half-bowl that we chose. We did not discover this fact until after the sink was installed, our plumber came out to connect it, and discovered the missing item. Now I am waiting for him to fit us in for another visit, after he detours to the trade supplier for the part that we need.

As for my cooker, well it is currently providing a rather tasteful ornamental feature in our living room. We discovered that we may have accidentally thrown out some vital brackets for our hob with the packaging (whoops!), and have had to reorder the parts. They have arrived and are now waiting installation. After that we should, hopefully, be able to install the cooker. For now I am washing dishes in the bath, cooking food in the microwave, and repeating to myself: “It will all be finished soon… it will all be finished soon.”

Oh, and then there are the splashbacks…

Did you enjoy this article? Download your FREE copy of LGBT fantasy short story It’s Complicated (The Redcliffe Novels) and meet the werewolves of Cornwall, England.  Click here.