The Kitchen Project. Before.

By now you may have noticed that I am easily distracted. I lovingly refer to this problem as Adult ADD. This would explain why I am beginning a new series, The Kitchen Project, before doing anything with the aforementioned "series", The Nightstand. I'm going to do it. I am. But, I don't have it all together yet so in the meantime I'm going to share with you the progress of my kitchen update.

This is my kitchen as of yesterday...notice the bag of recycling, papers and junk on the countertop and, if you look real close, a filthy floor! The basket on the island os overflowing with fruit and snacks and chip clips and heaven only KNOWS what else.

As you enter into the kitchen the sink area is on the right. Notice the crowded counter top and the sink full of dishes. Typical day at my house. My husband and I are trying to find a new sink we agree on. He wants stainless, I want porcelain. He wants single bowl, I want double bowl. His argument for the single bowl is a good one...but the idea of having two bowls, one open for use and one for the inevitable dirty pot or pan I just can't seem to ever get rid of...this is what works for me. And I can't help but remind him that I am the one who uses it the most and cleans it the most. Therefore, I think I should be able to choose what I want to look at for the next however many years we'll be there...don't you think?

Now, if we pan around to the left...we'll see the biggest problem area in my tiny little kitchen. Are you ready? It's a bit scary...so if you are squeamish, you may want to close your eyes. Ready? OK...I warned you...

This, my friends, is the area behind my island. As you can see my hutch is overflowing. Literally. You will also notice that this is the pet feeding center. Dog food in the big bag, cat food in the plastic bucket. Dog feeding area on the floor, cat feeding area on the hutch because if we don't do it that way, the dog will eat ALL of the food and then the cat will get very irritated and bat the dog around with her paw. It's not pretty.

Eventually this whole space will be replaced with a beautiful white pantry in a hutch style. I am so excited about it as it will provide some much needed storage space. And it will look neat and orderly doing it. It will have enclosed cabinets along the bottom to store my larger appliances such as the Kitchenaid and Cuisinart and even my new (to me) food dehydrator! This is going to free up my counter space immensely...this alone makes me one happy woman.

The top will hold serving dishes and platters, cookbooks, a few little things the boys made in school...all in the two middle cabinets that will have glass doors. The outer two cabinets will be solid doors and will house pantry items such as canned goods and baking supplies. It is going to be amazing and I can hardly wait for it to be a reality.

The stove area is quite small, as you can see. Fortunately, once the storage hutch is built it will house much of what you see on these counters...platters, cookie sheets, the Cuisinart. The crocks will stay on the counter since they hold my utensils. But it will be a huge improvement once the BIG stuff is stored away.

This project has been a long time coming. It's almost unbelievable that we are actually going to DO it. It's been a tough decision as this is not our forever house...at least we would prefer it wasn't. So these improvements are for us while we are still here as well as for resale improvements for eventual sale. But, if it turns out that we live here forever, I'll be OK with that. There was a time that I wouldn't have been. But I can honestly say that I could live with that...happily. Especially with a cute, spiffed up kitchen.