Too true, I would be happy with a kitchen with a bathroom and a daybed...
What Does Your Kitchen Say About You?
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Too true, I would be happy with a kitchen with a bathroom and a daybed...
Sir_Loin_of_Beef
Chef Extraordinaire
My kitchen screams WHAT A FRIGGIN' SLOB!
jabbur
Master Chef
I can relate! The area around the stove and sink are decent but the other counters and table tend to be collection areas and I can't seem to keep up with the clutter that accumulates there! Not to mention that DH tends to bring stuff home and set it in the middle of the kitchen floor. The cabinets are not bad inside. They are fairly organized and mostly stay that way since I am the only one who puts things away
. I do have a nice walk-in pantry with lots of shelves. I have about twice the cupboard and pantry space I used to have at the other house but it sure filled up fast! Now I even store some things in the dining room which doesn't get used much. That's usually the things I only use at Christmas or special occasions. We're pretty informal and we tend to eat in the family room most often.
I hope my kitchen says, "Come on in and stay a while." Our kitchen is immense compared to the one Buck and I had, which makes me feel like a queen. This one has lots of counters, plenty of cabinets (in spite of the fact that Glenn built me a huge "pot locker" in the adjoining utility room), and lots of artificial and natural light.
I've decorated it with wallpaper and paint and fabrics that are soothing and, I hope, welcoming. I love working in our kitchen.
As for the organization, I've always been one to store my tools near the spaces in which they are used. I just can't abide wasted time and/or steps. As a result I can prepare a dish/meal relatively quickly and with little or no mess. Buck said I was nearly surgical in my food preparation I was so clean and tidy. I think that stemmed from having postage stamp-sized kitchens most of my life.
There is always, or almost always, something under the dessert dome on the pedestal on the counter, as well as some sort of seasonal dish on the kitchen table with candy of the "season." Also on the kitchen table is a set of salt-and-pepper shakers shaped like huge black ants. The grandchildren love them, along with a Buggs Bunny "candy hander" that dispenses M&Ms. The last two items are for the grandchildren, but I've seen their parents have just much fun with them.
Also, quite important, is the clown-shaped bottle of "Magic Formula" that sits on a display shelf with my pitcher and glass set of cobalt Fiestaware. Magic Formula is very critical to healing a perceived major boo-boo suffered by a grandchild. They don't know it, but all it is is green food coloring-tinted sugar water. You wouldn't believe how magic a teaspoon of it can be.
On one counter, near the microwave, a two-tier wrought iron stand holds fresh fruits. The deep window sill over the sink has a similar three-tier stand with onions, potatoes, garlic, etc. The same sill also has assorted plants I've clipped and set in water to root.
There are two corner, base, cabinets that are nearly useless and have been designated "black holes." That's where really, really, really seldom-used items live. I don't even bother pretending they are organized, just controlled clutter of big old pieces of Tupperware and similar goodies.
I love our kitchen and really can't think of any way I would like to change it.
I've decorated it with wallpaper and paint and fabrics that are soothing and, I hope, welcoming. I love working in our kitchen.
As for the organization, I've always been one to store my tools near the spaces in which they are used. I just can't abide wasted time and/or steps. As a result I can prepare a dish/meal relatively quickly and with little or no mess. Buck said I was nearly surgical in my food preparation I was so clean and tidy. I think that stemmed from having postage stamp-sized kitchens most of my life.
There is always, or almost always, something under the dessert dome on the pedestal on the counter, as well as some sort of seasonal dish on the kitchen table with candy of the "season." Also on the kitchen table is a set of salt-and-pepper shakers shaped like huge black ants. The grandchildren love them, along with a Buggs Bunny "candy hander" that dispenses M&Ms. The last two items are for the grandchildren, but I've seen their parents have just much fun with them.
Also, quite important, is the clown-shaped bottle of "Magic Formula" that sits on a display shelf with my pitcher and glass set of cobalt Fiestaware. Magic Formula is very critical to healing a perceived major boo-boo suffered by a grandchild. They don't know it, but all it is is green food coloring-tinted sugar water. You wouldn't believe how magic a teaspoon of it can be.
On one counter, near the microwave, a two-tier wrought iron stand holds fresh fruits. The deep window sill over the sink has a similar three-tier stand with onions, potatoes, garlic, etc. The same sill also has assorted plants I've clipped and set in water to root.
There are two corner, base, cabinets that are nearly useless and have been designated "black holes." That's where really, really, really seldom-used items live. I don't even bother pretending they are organized, just controlled clutter of big old pieces of Tupperware and similar goodies.
I love our kitchen and really can't think of any way I would like to change it.
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Aunt Bea
Master Chef
I envy you having a window over the kitchen sink!
To me that is one of the most important things in a home. I miss seeing the cuttings you describe, a tomato or two ripening and a few small pieces of colored glass to catch the light.
vitauta
Executive Chef
boy, she must drink a lot of coffee...and beer...Bavarian sauerkraut, 14 cans of it...cupboard top to bottom w/candles and potpourri ...spices and herbs helter skelter in cabinets, drawers and under the cake dome, some even in a spice rack...bowls and pots and dishes...she must be outsourcing those....
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
who is the she that you refer to, vit?
our kitchens scream "you need a bigger, single family house centered around a kitchen".
we have 2 kitchens in our 2 famly house, and even at that we have things, usually gifts like rice cookers, ice cream or bread makers, or mandolines that rarely get used because they reside in the basement for lack of practical space.
k.t.h., i'm quite envious.
and your magic formula is genious. i have to steal that idea.
our kitchens scream "you need a bigger, single family house centered around a kitchen".
we have 2 kitchens in our 2 famly house, and even at that we have things, usually gifts like rice cookers, ice cream or bread makers, or mandolines that rarely get used because they reside in the basement for lack of practical space.
k.t.h., i'm quite envious.
and your magic formula is genious. i have to steal that idea.
vitauta
Executive Chef
that 'she' would be 'me' of course.
Claire
Master Chef
One thing that makes me laugh at this thread is that when we bought this old house, I told the real estate agent that the kitchen was important. He showed us house upon house with newly remodeled kitchens. The cabinetry looked like it belonged in a high end dining or living room! They didn't look like kitchens at all. Then we looked at this old house (yes, I'm the one with a 160 year old house) and my husband fell in love with the dining room (very Frank Lloyd Wright - ish looking) and I just loved the kitchen. The real estate agent looked at me as if I was crazy. As in "THIS IS WHAT YOU MEANT WHEN YOU SAID KITCHEN WAS IMPORTANT???!!!" Of course he's an aging bachelor who probably never cooked a meal in his life. The kitchen is circa 1900, give or take. The cabinetry was put in in the 70s, but is older than that, so I assume the couple who had it installed "rescued" it from an old farm house. (the thing about living in a small town is that I've met and spoken to previous owners of the house dating back to the turn of the century). The old wood floors are uneven. Husband and I have had the wallpaper torn out, the the walls restored and painted a sunny yellow. The counters were all burned and scarred 60s linoleum, and we had them replaced with corian (yeah I know granite was "in" but sorry, not in my kitchen. Practical is the name of the game, and corian won). It looks like, and is, an old country kitchen. Not a decorator old country kitchen you'd see in magazines. My stove is electric, because the gas lines to that end of the house have been capped and condemned and I cannot afford, even if I wanted to, to have new gas lines put in place. Because of the way old houses just are, the main bathroom/laundry/mud room is right behind the kitchen sink.
And, yes, I have a hard time getting my guests out of the kitchen. I also have a hard time getting them out of my dining room. The kitchen is my domain, the dining room is my husband's.
And, yes, I have a hard time getting my guests out of the kitchen. I also have a hard time getting them out of my dining room. The kitchen is my domain, the dining room is my husband's.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
In New England many an old farmhouse has been restored and turned into a cozy little restaurant or tea room. They have a charm of their own. What I remember about the kitchen in the farmhouse we lived in when I was a kid, was the old soapstone sink. 
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