The Kitchen Dream/Reality


In our CONTINUING effort to organize … we took the center stacking unit out of our master closet and put it in the long closet in the room the two boys share. It’s a regular closet, just a double-long type. Our master closet is a small walk-in. All our closets were fitted out with wire shelving as part of the builders package. We do not like them.

We have found the new Closet Maid Completions at Lowe’s and plan on using some of those pieces in our master closet, when we can afford to start changing things out.

For now, removing the one piece from ours gives us MORE walk-in space and that’s grand. We can now actually stand in and see our clothing hanging on the sides of the closet easily. ๐Ÿ˜‰ There is room then too to fit baskets on the floor and not have to trip over stuff … laundry, etc.

The boys closet then, is more useful. For us, that piece in our master closet was a nuisance at best. Sure it held stuff, but wasn’t used rightly and we just couldn’t figure out how to make it useful for us.

For the boys, they each get two shelves to hold pants, socks, undies, t-shirts, etc. Frees up hanging space where the pants used to go. Free’s up all drawer space in the dresser in OUR room. ๐Ÿ™‚

Eventually we plan on putting in a whole closet organizing system for them too, but for now it’s an improvement with something that was annoying for us, so it’s a win-win.

Another helpful thing is that Frank moved the refridgerator to the other side of the kitchen for me last night. It’s on the side that USED to be the eat-in side …which was ineffectual for us, and I always have wanted to flip the kitchen around and do a few other things. Phase one of this was last year, we swapped places with the fridge and stove. Frank moved the electricity for it. That felt better. It was only a partial feel-right. The fridge had originally faced the backyard. I didn’t like it. Garage door was to the left if you were standing in front of the fridge looking at the fridge. It was down several feet, but was a walkway really. Whole counter next to it has suffered the same “seems like a walkway space” area fate.

When we first moved in, it seemed the kitchen was large. We soon found out it was a glorified galley kitchen. Take the garage door measurements out of the width of the kitchen, and it’s a tight squeeze galley. ๐Ÿ˜ฏ

So since moving the fridge I determined it would definitely feel more right at the opposite end of the room, which would mean it would face the absolute opposite way, looking down the room to the end where the door is.

We haven’t set down any plans on paper yet, but plan on removing all the cabinets and putting them elsewhere, rebuilding what needs that, new stuff where we need it. New countertops for sure. New sink too.

It’ll mean moving the plumbing and so the sink location will be around where the French Doors currently are. We’ll put sliding doors where the sink now is, there abouts. Not exactly there, but near, same as the sink near where the French Doors are now, not exactly there.

The stove then will be on a new portion of cabinet/counter, that extends into the kitchen. It’ll be a peninsula, bar on one side, stove and counter on the other. Hoping to create a true good triangular work space with proper spacing between the elements that count. A kitchen that has NO walkthrough. AMEN!

So were are partway there. The stove is in the middle of the room, sort of, hugging the sidewall at it’s back … transition means we don’t mind things being in wierd places. So I’ve cooked there since I moved it there to clean under it sometime after swapping places with the fridge before, and I left it there for a cooking session, and loved the position, it felt great. So it’s stayed there ever since ๐Ÿ˜‰

Now the fridge is in the right general area. I still have stuff to move out of the end of the kitchen, where my bookcases and stuff have been, what I’ve been TRYING to organize for a few months now …

Once that’s cleared out, then I’ll put the small kitchen table that’s been a desk more often than a kitchen table, next to the fridge, and it’ll simulate countertop for a bit.

Our objective is to get a great kitchen, that works. It’ll have room at the sliding door end for a nice round table, for instance. It’ll have plenty of room really. It’ll just have built in good function with all we do, and it’ll also open up into the room next to it, which will increase light into THAT room, thank goodness, and just be a really nice main floor, finally.

We will install wood flooring too. All of this we hope to do on a shoestring, doing as much of the work as we can ourselves, and that includes the cabinets and installing anything new.

I plan on keeping the ones we already have, repainting them, and painting the interior for the first time too. They have always been untreated inside, and white enamel on the outside.

They will be white inside, with buttercream top cabinets, and a rustic blue distressed finish on the bottom cabinets. Countertops will be some sort of buttery color. Bullnosed edges. Maybe tile backsplash. And new will be a white Cast-iron deep double bowled sink and new faucet too.

We need a new dishwasher. We had to junk our old one already. We want a new stove too. That will come in time. I’d also like a veggie sink somewhere.

So that’s our doings. Not that we are doing much. Just still de-cluttering and mostly dreaming of the changes, with just moving that old fridge finally. :laugh:


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