29 July 2012

The Sickness Continues!

I slept in today - if you can call passing out on the sofa and waking up at 11 am "sleeping in". The last thing I remember is watching an infomercial for some blender of doom. It was late, I couldn't sleep, it could have been anything really. I noticed a slip of sunlight through the curtains and thought it would be nice to make a cup of coffee for Elvis before he headed in to work this morning. Only problem with that is... he was already at work for 5 hours before I managed to stumble in to the kitchen and see the clock.

I'll tell him I thought about it... it's the thought that counts, right?

I cleaned in my sleep. No, I didn't clean the house while sleeping... my dreams were about cleaning and what I wanted to get done. As motivating as it's suppose to be, it was a little saddening when I realized that I actually have to DO them now.

My focus has been the kitchen. The wall cabinets are now shining in their "Yes, they are Ikea cabinets" white. I am going to make Elvis clean "his cabinet" because even on a step-ladder I can't reach it and I am not adventurous enough to dangle over the stove. The difference between the cleaned cabinets and that one is amazing...

Yes, I used vinegar and baking powder. I think I am addicted to it. The bubbles... THE BUBBLES!

I decided to move some appliances around. There isn't a heck of a lot that I can do because there aren't many plugs available. I have more appliances than I have room for and I need to change them around from time to time.

The coffee pot, crock pot, microwave and toaster over get the most use, so they have a permanent home in the valuable real estate known as my counter. The Kitchen-Aid is on the butcher block because it's the only other place I have a plug and it's too tall for the counter and too heavy to lift.

WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN
(well, parts of it)

The largest crock pot and coffee pot are on the small bit over the dishwasher, next to the sink. I don't know what to do with the coffee, sugar and creamer. Eventually I want to get them in to the cabinet above, but for now, they are going to stay where they. Yes, that IS an odd shaped cabinet. It's a corner unit so it's triangular. It was the only design that would give me the storage space and still allow me to have some head room. Since I am short, I had them installed at 16" instead of the usual 18". It's still too high for me, but I can get to most of the first shelf and the front of the second. The dishwasher is original, oddly it was black. I know black isn't an unusual appliance color now, but it was back in 1977 when the condo unit was built. It's on the list of things that need to be replaced. It may be old, but for now, it's working. The frugalista in me can't part with it yet.

The microwave and toaster oven are on the counter that makes the L from the one the coffee pot is on. (Pardon the crumbs in the toaster oven, I hadn't cleaned it when I took the picture) I think corners are a waste of space, especially when you are short and can't reach in to them. Originally I had the microwave sitting kitty-corner. It looked okay but it took up a lot of space and things managed to hide behind and beside it. The toaster over use to be next to the coffee pot because I was lugging the crock-pot out almost daily. There is another corner cabinet above the microwave, next to it is a double door dish cabinet and then an over the stove/vent cabinet. The stove is on the right just out of the picture. The bottom corner has a swing door and 2 wire lazy-susan racks. Next to that, cabinet at the bottom right corner of the picture is a triple drawer unit.

That's the end of the official counter space in my kitchen. I will post more pictures later and eventually a picture of the whole thing.

I know I should be thinking up some wonderful dinner for Elvis tonight because he got stuck doing mandatory over-time today (his day off) and will come home exhausted and starving from a hard days labor... but, I'm thinking pizza. I know, I know... but, I just cleaned the stove!

1 comment:

Helen said...

You have beautiful counter space vs what we've got! I should write a similar post and share my kitchen with you :)