Get Organized: Tackling the Kitchen

The cliche "a place for everything and everything in its place" could not describe my kitchen more accurately at this very moment.

Saturday, on the other hand, was a different story. I don't have before pictures of my cabinet and that's a good thing, in case I ever run for President.

One of the problems that had plagued the kitchen since move in day was the abundance of storage--and how could that be a bad thing? It's a bad thing because the previous tenants envisioned it, and their space solutions created nothing but problems. Bulky built-in Lazy Susans in the cabinets took up more space than they were worth, and what was worse, I couldn't even remove them without dismantling the cabinetry. They compromised the height inside so much that standard spice jars couldn't stand up, and small things I placed on them (pudding boxes, just about the only thing that fit) fell over like dominoes and out of sight. I could never find spices, which always led to many profanities just before dinner and burned sauces, and that was just the beginning of it.

Coffee cups fit much better in this space!

The pots and pans didn't even fit in the kitchen cabinets, so all were regulated to the broom-closet-turned-pantry (previous tenants' brainchild, apparently, and there is nowhere to store the mop and broom).

I could go on and on, but it was a disaster. Canned goods and boxed goods and what-have-you ended up whereever they would fit, and that was just generally "anywhere but the kitchen counter", and I never knew what I had for ingredients, so dinner was whatever ingredients I picked up from the store that same day. (I'm a big fan of grocery shopping every other day, since there are three grocery stores within 5 minutes of the condo, and one within walking distance.)

I finally had it with the kitchen and decided the best way to tackle its organization was TO TAKE INVENTORY. Break out the notepads and pens!

Here's just some highlights of what I found:

• 3 jars of Peanut Satay Sauce
• 7 boxes of cornbread mix (I had JUST bought two because I thought I was OUT.)
• 7 cans of black olives
• 3 containers of ground white pepper
• 9 cans of chick peas (I like to call them garbanzo beans because it's fun to say).

So to avoid this nonsense, the inventory notebook is now consulted before making out my shopping list.  

And then, there were the cookbooks.

Several months ago, I purchased a wicker shelf at an auction, intending to put my life's work of journals on it, but it wasn't aesthetically pleasing in the space where I put it.

No, it didn't stay in my car all this time, but it did inspire me to buy an SUV.

No. It's bad enough my headboard is also wicker.

GAG.

Anyway, bookcase is now in a more suitable place!

It freshens up the kitchen and gives more storage though I was just complaining about having too much storage.  More workable storage, and that's important.

A Simple Before and After!

My mom found this bench at a yardsale back in October, and figured I would appreciate it. (My mom is made of awesome.) I had just spent a week looking after the cat when she went on vacation and she wanted to get me something nice. Intending to surprise me with the bench, she accidentally broke off a handle when she was trying to clean it. This was good, because it gave me an excuse to immediately go buy the awesome $1.50 knobs I had just seen at Michaels the week before. (Another thing you must know about me: total Michaels junkie).

Before:

Broken pull on the right makes this a sad yardsale bench.

After:

Happy bench!

Close-ups of ceramic knobs:

These knobs are just awesome.

Things we learned today:

• Breaking parts off of furniture is not always a bad thing.
• You can find fun furniture at yardsales.
• My mom is awesome.

Welcome to Rose City Abode!

If there's two things you must know about me in this introductory blog post, it's this:

1. I love old houses in an unhealthy way.
2. The only time I find pink acceptable is when blossoming cherry trees are involved.

If you would have told me when I was in high school that the first place I was going to live once officially leaving my mother's was going to be a rented 1973 condo with rose carpets, I probably wouldn't have spoken to you ever again.

Seriously. Like never.

Somehow, that's exactly what happened in December 2010. I found a 1300-square-foot condo for $900/month with heat, hot water, and sewer included--in Connecticut, which seemed just as unlikely as moving to such a new place last renovated in the early 90s. Remember those southwestern Adobe patterns in pastels, Santa Fe nouveau? That was happening in the bathroom upstairs.

I can't make this stuff up.

And lo, I packed up and moved to Norwich, CT, "The Rose of New England" in a week. (The "Rose City Abode"!) All of my furniture had been picked out to match the space I had come from--a 99-square-foot room with 70's wood paneling...I could almost hear the same echos of disgust--but at least that old room had blue carpets, and blue is my favorite color. (Yes, you read correctly: 99-square-feet! There will be a future post about that too.)

Rose wall-to-wall carpets in every room of the condo, save the bathrooms, entrance, and kitchen.

The living room. 

 Up the staircase. 

 This bedroom.

 That bedroom.

ALL THREE BEDROOMS.

The horror!

As a renter with no intention of blowing any part of my budget on something that's not mine, I wasn't going to change a thing. The carpets stayed. The bathroom stayed. The doctor's office wallpaper in the master bedroom stayed. I just decided to decorate around it. My couch was sage green. How could I save this from nose-diving off the cliffs of gag-me girly?

Despite the fact I had been living in a room that was 9'x11', I had been stock-piling furniture in storage for years. Just as I love old houses, I love old furniture.  I also had some decor from a booth I used to have at a local indoor flea market. In fact, you could have argued that more stuff in my booth was not-for-sale, just eye-candy designed to draw attention to the stuff I was selling. I had a huge floor vase thing full of peacock feathers that I would sell individually, but when I left the flea market I had about 30 left of 100.

This $40 art deco sideboard doubled as a counter at the flea market, and the peacock vase is in the corner.

I had moved in 10 days before Christmas, and not only did I decorate, but I hosted Christmas dinner for the first time ever, and a housewarming party.

Christmas 2010

For having lived in the space only ten days, I didn't do a bad job! Objects of note:

• The tablecloth was imported from India, with hues of black, greens, pinks, and blues, to match the furniture, carpet, and peacock feathers.
• Yes, I used a cedar chest as a coffee table, but we're not all perfect.
• I wonder if I will ever see this room so nice ever again.

Now that Christmas is upon us again, I can't believe that I've co-existed with pink carpets for almost a year.