Odette, your 1967 galley has more good options than it's showing you

An honest preparation guide for a dreaming-stage kitchen in a house that predates the open plan - including the one test to book before anyone touches that wall.

“Two people cannot pass each other in there. The cabinets are original 1967 - a shade of orange I can only describe as ambitious - and the oven door and the fridge door physically collide. I keep fantasizing about taking the whole dining-room wall out, and I have no idea if the house will let me.”

- Odette, on the kitchen she has now

The wall is the right dream - and the first question

Knocking through to the dining room is exactly the move that fixes a one-cook galley, so don't let anyone talk you out of wanting it. But in a house your age, that wall gets a vote: it may be carrying load, and a structural engineer can settle the question in a single visit - before you fall in love with a layout that depends on the answer. The other thing 1967 asks of you: homes built between the 1950s and 1980s often carry asbestos in sheet flooring or insulation. That's not a reason for alarm - it's standard for the era - but it is an absolute test-before-you-disturb situation, and it's the reason your demolition plans wait for a lab result, not a free weekend.

Your starting position, honestly read

1967

House era

Test-first territory - asbestos in flooring and insulation was common into the 1980s

Dreaming

Stage

The only phase where changing your mind is free; every decision made before demolition saves multiples later

6 / 10

Hands-on appetite

Enough to earn real jobs - painting, hardware, possibly demolition - once the era test clears you

Where kitchen money actually goes

Every dollar

Structure & systems30%
Labor30%
Finishes30%
Contingency10%

Your sequence, from daydream to demolition

Phase 1

Scope & budget honesty

Name what you actually want - a two-cook kitchen - and let that, not the orange cabinets, define the project
Set your true ceiling number and carve out the contingency cushion before you spend a cent of it in your head
This is your this-month work: it costs nothing and shapes everything after it

Phase 2

Design & decisions

Lock the plumbing and electrical layout before any finish shopping - moving the sink on paper is a pencil line; moving it after demolition is a plumber
This is the phase people rush and regret; finishes are the third of the budget where control lives, so decide them deliberately, not in a showroom rush
What NOT to buy yet: appliances, tile, the tap you've bookmarked - nothing until the layout is fixed

Phase 3

Permits & approvals

If the engineer says the wall is structural, approvals likely apply - timelines vary wildly, so start earlier than feels necessary
Line up the professionals now: structural engineer first, asbestos testing alongside

Phase 4

Build

Where all that preparation pays out - the fewer decisions left, the faster and calmer this goes
Plan life without a kitchen: a microwave-and-sink station somewhere else in the house saves the household's sanity
Your hands-on jobs slot in here: painting and cabinet hardware are genuinely yours

Decide these before you call anyone - including us

✓Where the sink, hob, and fridge will live - layout decisions come before any finish shopping, no exceptions for kitchens
✓Whether the dining-room wall comes down: book the engineer's one-visit answer instead of guessing
✓An asbestos test on the existing floor and any insulation you'd disturb - 1967 means test first, always
✓Your real ceiling number, with a contingency cushion you don't quietly raid for upgrades
✓The 'while we're at it' list - write every temptation down now, so it can't ambush the budget mid-build
✓One cook or two? The door-collision you described is a layout problem before it's a style problem - solve it on paper
✓Which jobs you're keeping: at 6 out of 10, painting and hardware are yours; demolition is a maybe, pending the test

⚠ Our DIY line, no exceptions

A 6 out of 10 is a good place to be: painting, hardware, and sometimes demolition are genuinely yours to take. But anything involving water, gas, structure, or electricity goes to professionals - no exceptions, however satisfying the videos make it look. And in a 1967 kitchen, 'sometimes demolition' means 'after the asbestos test says so.' We'd rather cost you one weekend of sledgehammer enthusiasm than surprise you mid-swing.

The house gets a vote - let's go hear it

We never quote numbers sight-unseen, and you shouldn't trust anyone who does. A Feasibility Session puts one team in your actual kitchen: whether that wall can come out, what 1967 is hiding underfoot, and a sequence you can plan your savings around. Bring the checklist above - arriving with those answers started is how dreaming-stage homeowners become our easiest clients.

Book a Feasibility Session

Every renovation has surprises; the good ones are the surprises you scheduled. You're at the one stage where every decision is still free, which makes this the best possible moment to get honest about what the house allows. When you're ready, a Feasibility Session is how we begin every project - one team from first sketch to final coat.