Reveal what exists. Choose what needs changing.

A dark apartment, oak flooring hidden under an almost black finish and a kitchen to rethink. The challenge: distinguish what deserves preserving from what needs replacing.

Renovated kitchen with light units and integrated appliances
Vaucelles · 2019-2022 · Caen

My contribution. I defined the work, compared purchases, calculated the kitchen layout and carried out most of the fitting, with family help for sanding and assembly.

Personal projects and volunteer contributions, with no commercial activity.

The best solution starts with a diagnosis.

Beneath the dark finish, the oak could be sanded back. Keeping it avoided unnecessary replacement. The kitchen posed a different problem: allocating 232 cm among appliances without discovering a space shortage during assembly. Five configurations were compared in a spreadsheet before ordering.

See what sanding reveals
A dark finishThe existing oakSame material, restored surface
Illustration of revealing the underlying timber, to compare with the project photographs.

Before

Old kitchen with black worktop and splashback and red walls
The starting point.

After

Renovated kitchen with light units and integrated appliances
The photographed result.

The kitchen before and after renovation. Viewpoints differ; the layout spreadsheet, rather than photographic perspective, establishes the dimensions.

What this project demonstrates

Frame the need
Avoid replacing a recoverable material simply because its appearance is unappealing.
Compare before ordering
Five kitchen layouts and purchases compared across eleven retailers.
Learn from scheduling
Sanding overran: substantial finishing work was scheduled earlier on later projects.
Floor during sanding, abrasive discs and a visible cable route
Sanding reveals the existing timber. Additional electrical work precedes the floor finish.

Preserve and restore

Renovated living room with the retained light oak flooring
The flooring after treatment. This image shows the resulting finish; it measures neither work duration nor financial savings.

A visible result, a retained material

What I took responsibility for

I defined the work, compared purchases, calculated the kitchen layout and carried out most of the fitting, with family help for sanding and assembly.

Professional contributions

Professionals handled the wall-hung toilet and shutter installation. Shutter acceptance was documented in October 2019.

Concrete records, explicit limits

The photographs are visible here. The references below identify the personal records behind this account; these archives are not published in full.

  • Layout spreadsheet: a 232 cm run and five configurations compared before ordering.
  • Task schedule with actual versus planned work, purchasing comparisons and shutter acceptance in October 2019.
  • Photographs of the work and result, including those shown here. Tracking documents remain in the personal archives.

What this evidence does not establish

The records do not support a reliable total project cost. Sanding took longer than planned. This case illustrates a decision for this apartment; it does not imply that every timber floor can be restored.

The transferable skill: question the obvious solution, then verify whether a simpler alternative actually meets the need.