Just Ask
… aand you shall receive. A fine reader requested that I take some photos of my kitchen. I have mentioned/complained about my kitchen here on the blog, so it would be cruel for me to deprive you of photos. So here is where I write about more than you could ever want to know about my new apartment’s kitchen:
Let me preface this post by saying that this kitchen is far from appearing in any type of shelter magazine. I am simply sharing with you my feeble attempt to take a very pathetic kitchen space in a rental apartment and make it functional. It is far from ideal, but it works for two people who cook A LOT, everything from fancy dinners to morning breakfasts. Mostly, I hope everyone realizes that even if you find yourself in a space that you dislike/is ugly/is small, you can cheer it up if you make some smart decisions and perhaps some lifestyle changes.
This is it. I was not exaggerating when I told you it was teensy tiny.
This is a back door that we don’t use, so we covered it in some open shelving from IKEA. Super cheap. SUPER HELPFUL. Also, this is only about half of our pots and pans; we only kept the essentials.
A basket over the fridge holds baking supplies and bread.
Shelving again. Not only is it supremely functional, but it adds some visual interest.
We tried to take advantage of this useless door and optimize the wall space for storage. It works! Plus, I get a crash course in open shelving which is great because I’ve always loved it.
Again, we added some IKEA shelves to put all sorts of supplies. Also, this hanging dish rack is gold since we don’t have room for a countertop one.
This is the only workspace, which means that only the espresso maker is allowed to stay on there. Coffee drinkers live here, so it’s essential, plus it’s kinda pretty. Also, can you spot the shell?
I kid you not, this shell makes me smile every morning.
It looks like a shell buried in sand, yet it is a measuring spoon. This is truly my favorite part of the kitchen. I’m weird, I get it.
Here’s a larger shot of that space. Those baskets up there hold things we couldn’t fit in the cabinets.
Now let’s talk about organization. Obviously it’s tricky in this kitchen. Since we have verrry limited cabinet space, all of our dishes are in the living room in here:
We also don’t have a pantry so our food is in the upper cabinets. Excuse my labeling attempt:
Also, notice we don’t have a microwave. There’s just no room — that’s what I mean by lifestyle changes. Honestly, I don’t really miss it. Spices are here:
So, there are some definite cons to this kitchen, like the limited space, the color of the cabinets (definitely not my style), the vinyl flooring, eww. The fact that the fire alarm goes off every day. The ugly cabinet knobs.
But there are also some pros believe it or not! The pros are the brand new appliances (this dishwasher actually cleans dishes, as in, don’t have to pre-wash them), gas oven (it’s small but it boils water SO FAST), good natural light, NO UGLY FLUORESCENT LIGHTING HURRAY! I hate that. I actually happen to like the pendant lamp … not so much the popcorn ceiling though:
ANYWAY, I bet that’s about twice as much information as you needed. You’d have been happy with just some photos, wouldn’t you? Also, raise your hand if you totally skipped the words all together and just looked at the photos?
(Source: betweenyourears)
