When we bought the house in April 2025, renovating the kitchen wasn’t part of our plans. Not because it was new or particularly modern, but because it had a rustic charm that fit in well with the aesthetic of a stone house in a village in Ourense. It had that traditional warmth, and on our first visits, it seemed perfect just as it was.
But it’s one thing to see a kitchen and quite another to use it.
It only took a couple of weeks for us to realize that its design, although beautiful, didn’t fit in with our daily lives. The first major obstacle was the wood-burning stove: it took up a lot of space, and although it’s a beautiful feature and very typical in old houses in Galicia, it was useless to us. We didn’t use it, nor were we used to cooking that way. Its presence was more of a hindrance than a help.
We decided to put it up for sale on Wallapop.
Then came the modern shortcomings: there was no dishwasher, no ceramic hob or oven, and not even a space designed for a microwave. The sockets were poorly distributed, storage was limited, and the countertop, although made of good material, was ugly. To make matters worse, it worked with gas, something I am no longer used to and which I found less safe and practical.
There was one aesthetic detail that also bothered me: the tall cabinets had glass doors, leaving everything stored inside in plain sight. It may seem like a minor detail, but for someone like me, who always leans toward minimalism, there is nothing more uncomfortable than seeing a shelf full of things every time you walk into the kitchen. I prefer clean, closed surfaces without visual noise.
So, even though we knew it needed to be renovated, we also felt it was a shame to get rid of it. The cabinet doors were made of chestnut wood, a noble, resistant, and durable wood, which is nothing like the Formica cabinets found in many modern kitchens. That quality made it somehow harder for us to make the decision to start from scratch.
Even so, everything led us to the same conclusion: for the kitchen to work for us, it had to be completely redesigned.
The first step was to ask for prices. The first person we asked was the one who came to solve a moth problem in one of the kitchen cabinets. As he was a carpenter, I took the opportunity to ask him for a full quote for the replacement. He told me it would be around €7,000.
So far, so good, but the problem was the way he sent it to me: a photo of something handwritten, with no breakdown, no details, and no professional format. That lack of formality made me suspicious. With my experience in Porto, I learned that when someone sends you a quote like that, without clarity or presentation, they will probably end up scamming you.
However, when I asked for other quotes, I was surprised to find that they all exceeded €10,000, so that first option no longer seemed so unreasonable. Besides, from the beginning, this man had been very nice to us: he gave us moth poison for free, was always available to answer questions, and was very friendly. That trust and closeness made us finally decide to give him a chance.
At the end of July, after seeing other kitchens and gathering more ideas, I called him to come back and take measurements and make a significant change to the original design. Initially, I had thought of placing the oven under the ceramic hob, as is done in many traditional kitchens. But then I decided on something more modern: a column on the right-hand side where the oven and microwave would go together, at the perfect height to use them without bending down.
As for the color and style, I had the idea of a black kitchen with green tiles. However, this option was ruled out because the carpenter did not do tiling work, and finding a mason available just to lay some green tiles was impossible at the time. So, we finally opted for black cabinets and kept the stone wall as it was.
On another visit, the carpenter brought us samples of the stone for the countertop, which was another key detail of the design. We had considered many ideas: wood, which we ruled out because of humidity; another material widely used in shopping mall bathrooms, which we ruled out because the carpenter couldn’t cut it; and finally, we chose black marble, which blends perfectly with the black furniture and adds elegance and durability.
By the beginning of August, we had decided on the final details: the kitchen would be matte black, and we agreed on how we would divide up the purchase of appliances: the carpenter would buy the sink, faucet, and range hood, while we would buy the oven, dishwasher, and ceramic hob. The microwave, which we already had when we bought the house, would have a space reserved for it in the column designed by the carpenter.
The IKEA episode
Out of curiosity and looking for something quick, we asked IKEA for a quote. I imagined it would be faster thanks to their automated system, but it turned out to be quite the opposite:
- When the kitchen had marble details, IKEA could not do the installation.
- If the wall was made of stone, they wouldn’t install it either.
- They don’t include plumbing or electricity, and depending on the location of the house, they don’t deliver the furniture.
- In addition, we had to check if the local store had agreements with professionals to complete the installation.
The result: we were told that we could be without a kitchen for weeks, which was unacceptable. In addition, the final price was more expensive than the carpenter’s initial estimate. We concluded that IKEA, although fast in theory, was not suitable for our case since our carpenter could have the kitchen ready in a week.
A detail about waiting times
It should be noted that finding people to do work on the house—whether it’s masonry, carpentry, or any other trade—is really complicated. With this carpenter, for example, we had to sign up for a waiting list in April, and he wouldn’t be available to start on our kitchen until early September. So, to give you an idea, any minor work you want to do on your house involves months of waiting.
Since the carpenter was going on vacation for the last two weeks of August, we had agreed to talk again on September 1, and he himself wrote to me on August 31 to ask when we could go to the house in Ourense to give him the key and finalize all the details.
As we all were in a hurry to start the work, and it just so happened that from Friday, September 5, to the following Monday was a holiday in Rivadavia, we had to organize ourselves quickly. That way, he could take the measurements in time and pass them on to the marble worker so that the kitchen countertop would arrive as soon as possible.
So, even though it wasn’t in our plans—because we were planning to go to Ourense on Friday the 5th and spend the weekend there—we ended up having to move the trip up. On Tuesday, September 2, we first stopped by his workshop, where he showed us the cabinets he had almost finished and even the range hood.
The truth is that he gave us a very good impression again: you can tell he is competent and responsible. From there we went to the house together, gave him the keys, showed him how to turn the water on and off, and without wasting any time he set about dismantling the kitchen. I thought that those old cabinets, even though they were made of solid chestnut wood—and therefore quite expensive at the time—would end up being discarded, but luckily for me, my neighbour Julieta wanted them, so I gave them to her.
That same day, we took down all the kitchen cabinets that Manuel dismantled and left them in the garage. We also took the opportunity to dismantle the wood-burning stove that I had put up for sale on Wallapop, a veritable hulk of cast iron that must have weighed about 300 kilos. The big challenge was to get it down the stairs without destroying ourselves in the attempt. Diego and Manuel tried first, but it was impossible for the two of them to move it. I had already spoken to Julieta so that Ricardo and his son could come and give us a hand, but it was half past two and they still hadn’t arrived. So, Julieta called another neighbour, who is also a firefighter, and thanks to him we managed to put together an improvised team: Manuel, Diego, the firefighter, Julieta, and me. Between us all, with a lot of effort, we made it.
When we finished, Manuel left, saying he would come back the next day with the plumber. We, on the other hand, returned to Porto that same night, because without a kitchen there was nowhere to wash a plate: even if we ate a simple sandwich, we had no way to clean up afterwards. So, the most practical thing was to go back.
The next day, September 3, we saw on the security cameras that the carpenter was back at the house working, and to top it off, Julieta started taking the old furniture out of the garage. Everything was going quite well, and little by little, the kitchen renovation was taking shape.
On September 4, the carpenter sent me photos of how the kitchen was coming along. Now all that was left was for the marble worker to finish the countertop.
On Wednesday, September 10, I asked the carpenter how things were going with the marble worker, since the only thing missing to finish the kitchen was having the marble countertop ready. He told me that the marble worker was starting that very day. Later, on Friday, September 12, he sent me some photographs showing the kitchen almost finished, and he told me that the only things left were the plumbing work and installing a power outlet as I had requested.
According to what was agreed, those tasks would be carried out on Monday, September 15. However, I informed the carpenter that, since I was leaving on a trip on September 19 until the 30th, I would not be going that week to the house in Ourense, as I had matters to attend to in Porto. I also told him that I would go on the weekend of October 3 to personally verify the final state of the kitchen work and to pay the remaining balance.
Finally, on September 19, the carpenter told me that the kitchen was finished and sent me the photos.
On the weekend of October 10, we were able to go to the house in Ourense to continue with the pending tasks and verify that the kitchen work was perfect.
Although the renovation has been a long process full of decisions, the effort and wait have been worth it.
Having a complete and functional kitchen felt like a luxury.
On the other hand, Manuel couldn’t have been more professional and competent. I was amazed because he even applied the silicone impeccably.
At the end of the year, my neighbor had some free time and installed the green tiles I had wanted from the beginning.
Kitchen price: 6,263 euros
Appliances (oven, stove, and dishwasher): 1,050 euros
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