Monday, March 08, 2010

Open home - My Kitchen

I've had a few days decluttering and moving the office from upstairs in a cluttered little room to a bigger room downstairs. This is only a temporary thing but more of that another time.
The decluttering bug must have stuck, when I was doing my housework today I thought how nice and tidy everything looked until I saw the kitchen. I have no idea who makes it messy but everyone of course deny's all knowledge and protest quite indignantly that they only tidied it a minute ago! Do you believe in fairies? I do, it's them little beggers who are making it a mess! Wait 'til I catch 'em, they'll get a right flea in their ear.
My kitchen isn't anything special really, I make do with it as there is too much going on for me in the rest of house for me to even think about doing anything with it. One day maybe I'll have the kitchen I dream of but for now I have to make the best of it. It works fairly well, my main gripe is the L-shaped bench top is a bit of a pain, when the dishwasher front is down for loading you can't move freely in and out of the kitchen! "Get rid of the dishwasher!" I hear you cry! "Not a bloody chance!" I reply. It's the only thing the fairies can't get at!

My Kitchen - View from the family room, overlooking the dinner table, the door to outside is on the left.
Another view of the same area from a different angle. The sideboard holds my nice dinner service and some other special things. In the drawers are table mats, spare cutlery and tea towels. To the right of Clyde(dog) is the door that takes you to the family bathroom, our bedroom, my soon to be craft room and the temporary office. In the hallway is loads of storage and access to a downstairs utility area with a spare fridge, upright freezer, a WC and the furnace for the hot water. I'll show you these next time.
The kitchen, works fairly well, it's just that L-shaped bench I don't like. I do however like the breakfast bar with the stools underneath.
On the right hand side, I keep my bread maker and now the toaster too, the wall cupboard has glassware in, this needs sorting. That's a job for another day. The tall thin cupboard has cereal, sauces, jams etc in it. Then there is the fridge, above that is the 'goodies' cupboard, all low calorie of course! Then there is the big pantry, the little cupboard has a food mixer, cheese graters and a spare knife set and too be honest I couldn't tell you what else, it's too high for me to see into properly. All my cookbooks are now on the top of the bookcase.
The cooker - It has a gas hob and an electric fan oven. I like this combination, I've always cooked on gas! :D The little alcove on the right hand side of the benchtop hides away the saucepans. In the cupboard underneath are chopping boards and large baking trays. In the left hand cupboard are the frying pans, wok etc. On the benchtop there is a set of knives. The corner shelving is what I've rearranged today. Underneath is a big corner cupboard that has casserole dishes and other oven dishes and the slo cooker. There's other stuff too but I can't be bothered to list them.
This area was driving me mad, it was so cluttered and untidy and just seemed to spread it's untidyness around (them fairies again) The microwave was on the top shelf and had things shoved on top and down the sides. Underneath was the twirly spice rack, some cooking books, the toaster and other rubbish. So it got de cluttered, I reckon it looks heaps better, not so ugly now. The top cupboard has the booze in, so the most important cupboard in the house!Down the left hand side of the kitchen is the sink! Yep it is! That's a sink. The small cupboard to the right has sandwich boxes and containers, mixing bowls and cake trays. The cupboard under the sink has the usual cleaning stuff and all sorts of things long forgotten at the back. We could even get to Narnia through the back I reckon. To the left is the dishwasher and above that the kettle and above that the cupboard opens upwards, a bit of a hazard, I'm ok I can walk right under it, but tall people can get concussion if they don't look where they are going. Everything for making a cuppa lives in there.
Looking back towards the dining table and the family room. The corner cupboard holds the crockery, platters, jugs etc. In the drawers you'll find the cutlery, other utensils and general useless stuff that hardly see the light of day, but one day I might just need those spare bottle tops, bits of string, bags ties...........................

13 comments:

  1. I also have all the tea-making stuff above my kettle. It's so handy!

    When we placed our island bench, I made certain that there was enough room between the open dishwasher door and the island bench so we can still walk past. Every time I slip past, I'm thankful for my foresight!

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  2. I would like an island bench too, it's going to take a bit of shuffling around to do it though. Better get the upstairs finished first eh! :D

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  3. Beautiful kitchen - thank you for sharing with us.

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  4. Lovely tidy kitchen : )
    I love my kitchen but it has areas that become dumping ground that drive me MAD!!! Papers, books, letters, hair bobbles, dolls, toy cars, sonic screw drivers (Dr Who fairies in this house) and all sorts of strange little plastic bits and pieces that have forgotten what they were ever part of but like to gather in piles just to annoy me!

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  5. Thanks Laura x
    Aileen I must confess to you right now that my kitchen is usually like that too!!(But not with th elittle toys, we're past that stage) I call those little piles, nests!! They usually have unpaid bills, pens, Joe's tool, bits of paper, books...the list is endless. I'm hoping that will stop now the office is functional again!

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  6. LOVE you kitchen! So nc and tidy...I'dbe embarrased to show mine off right now! So, the corn cabinet....could you share a glass!

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  7. Anonymous4:29 pm

    Your kitchen is fabulous. Thanks for sharing pictures.

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  8. You have a great kitchen! You got me inspired to clean up my kitchen from clutter. With home schooling and the fact everything from screw drivers, bills and broken toys get put in the kitchen it gets cluttered quickly..

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  9. I think we all have kitchens like that most of the time. I'm just waiting to see how lond it takes for the little 'nests' to reappear!! :D

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  10. I have kitchen envy. My kitchen is teeny tiny and seriously fugly. The lino is chipped and peeling, the bench is cracked and ORANGE, none of the woodwork matches and I recently discovered a toadstool growing out of the wood in the corner of the window (see, we have kitchen fairies too!).

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  11. A toadstool!! lmao! You really do have that indoor-outdoor flow! :D

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  12. Sue, I love your kitchen, and that part of it is painted blue, as blue is my favorite color. I've also enjoyed reading your blog by the way, and will stop by again to see what's new with you.

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