Here are some of the ways that we have upgraded our kitchen. Maybe there are some ideas here that could help you organize your kitchen, raw or cooked, as well.
It all started with an original model unit, circa 1972. This was the model. Can't you tell?
Yep! those are orange/ bronze fishnet drapes! Along with shag carpet throughout. Fantastic idea for a kitchen area by the way... not!
We had the single kitchen unit replaced and redesigned in stainless steel. A fridge/ freezer is under counter with a cooktop above in the top. A small bar sink with trash underneath and a row of drawers and some open shelving and we are a little more up to date. A pantry closet to the right holds a small microwave/ oven but that's it for kitchen space.
This was fine for a vacation condo but when we decided to move in full time, we quickly needed more space.
A quick trip to Ikea followed by a not so quick assembly time and we added a free standing island cabinet and a stainless steel storage cart for more counter and storage space. This helped with more counter top for the water filter system and the food processor and also for storage of bowls and other kitchen necessities.
But we quickly filled up the little pantry. The spices alone took up a whole shelf.
So we took to the walls.
A little indent behind the curtain gave me 4 inches, just enough for some shelves to hold the jars of raw staples, nuts, seeds, dried goodies.
I LOVE this! It's so much better than a deeper shelf in my opinion as I can easily see everything. If necessary to de clutter, I can pull the curtain over it and my little"pantry" disappears.
Making a little board to cover the cooktop provided much more needed counter space. I just pulled off the knobs and drilled a couple of holes in the back of the board so the pegs for the knobs would have a place to go and the board could sit level. We have a BBQ outside (which we have not used in over 2 years now) in case we need to cook, plus an electric wok. Neither get much use but we are not without options.
For the spice rack, I purchased some plain steel straps at Home Depot and screwed them to the wall. The jars are from Ikea and about 4 ounces (but who can tell with Ikea?) I wanted to have room for a whole spice jar without needing back storage. I glued heavy duty magnets to the tops.
NOTE: This is the one thing that needed modification. The jars had a foil top on plastic so the magnets eventually pulled off ( usually in the middle of the night. ) I have since replaced them with magnetic backed Ikea metal tins with the clear covers. I would prefer glass and this can be done with little Ball jelly jars with the metal lids- as long as they are good and clean before using epoxy to attach magnets.
What else?
The fruit basket hung from the ceiling helps a lot! Especially with all the produce that comes into the house.
The pantry door painted as a chalk board helps with the question, "What is there to eat?"
We can see it from the sofa or anywhere in the room for that matter. With an under counter fridge it's sometime hard to know what's in there.
Oh Yea! The Aero Garden!
We were given this Aero Garden Classic 7 pod unit with the herb packet as a sample from a business show and I loved it. So easy to grow things hydroponically from the little seed bundles they sell. It almost worked a little too well for us.
We could not keep up with the herbs it produced. It was prolific! If we had a little more space, where I could dry and store the herbs or even freeze them, we would still have it. We finally had to give it away. The other draw back for us anyway was that it has it's growing times where the light needs to stay on, which in a studio is a little tough. Plus it was back to back on the counter with our water and it created an algae problem. ;-P
In a bigger place with a dedicated kitchen or place for it, I'd get it again for sure. I especially would love to try growing the lettuce greens.
Bye for now,
