Kitchen With (Lots of) Stuff

I swear that you can cook in 4′ by 9′ of kitchen. Remember my plan? Here it is.

I do believe NO ONE has ever fit more kitchen stuff into a space this small ever before. Well, perhaps they have, but holy moly, there’s stuff in every square inch of this kitchen. You can’t even see the stuff under the sink. But everything is easily within reach while cooking. I’ve got spices and pans and spoons and bowls and everything. It’s truly excellent. I tried to make it look decent too.

I was cooking black bean tacos here. The main issue with this kitchen is not the space, actually, it’s that TERRIBLE STOVE. The top of it tends to slide around. You know, completely OFF. Which is not optimal when cooking. And three out of four of the burners won’t lie flat enough to cook on, even with water in the pan weighting it down. We’re discussing this with the landlord. A repairman came and took a look and said it looks like I need a new one. I agree.

Anyway, if you think I can’t cook a five-course dinner in here, you’re wrong. I would. Just for the challenge. To see if I could.

Here’s some more pictures. I was having fun taking them. By the way, if you’re reading this via email, you can’t see the slideshow via email, you’ll have to visit my website to see them.

Craft-in-a-Closet

So in my November Schedule I was supposed to talk about my efforts to organize my house on Thursdays. Last week I was rudely interrupted by a potential burgler, but I’m going to make good on my anal-retentive instincts and return to the original schedule.  So another MAJOR hurdle for this place was Where In the World to Put the Craft Supplies. My junk took up 75% of our last spare bedroom, but here, I have no craft room. Ergo: closet.

I was inspired by this Lovely Designs craft closet, this closet office with curtains, another whole ream of small space ideas, some other stuff I probably forgot, and of course some wall-mounted craft stations. (If you didn’t click on those links, you should, because that’s some pretty crazy creative stuff there.)

This, I promise you, will eventually Look Much More Decorative, but right now? I’m really super pleased with the basic construction. It has lighting! It has shelves! I can close the door so the cat doesn’t attack my stuff!  The shelves are drilled into concrete, so I’m pretty sure this will be one of the most stable sewing desks I’ve ever had. It’s also the best lit. My dad installed an outlet for me in the closet when he helped us move.

There’s more craft junk than this, of course. The rest of it I put on shelves with a table underneath. So this is the (somewhat) before. This is one end of my living room.  Jeff had just hammered holes into those concrete walls and we put up the shelves. Those boxes are my craft/art supplies. The door on the left is the closet I just showed you.

So here’s the shelves after un-packing. There’s still tool junk, a dog bed, it’s kinda messier than I like, and there are some cleaning supplies there that I don’t know what to do with (hey, it’s an apartment-in-progress), but this is mostly it. There will be a screen between this stuff and the rest of the living room eventually.

So did anybody spot my owl mascot?

Sunday Evening Post

I keep making these posts at a few minutes to midnight. I guess that’s what happens when you’re trying to move into a new apartment, eh?

The place looks totally different than it did Friday night (for better, I should add). I should absolutely show you Jeff with the hammer drill we rented. This is a serious piece of power equipment. It’s a mini jackhammer. Since neither of us is macho – we’re both computer nerds – Jeff doing battle with the concrete walls was really something today. We won. If you had any doubt, you don’t know how stubborn we both are.

We’re also contemplating Mr. McScruffy. We don’t want Yorkie #2. Having a dog just like Audrey would be heartbreaking. Yet we loved certain doggy things about her, and certain terrier traits. We’re still thinking about it, but we will go visit Mr. McScruffy next weekend to see what we think.

Anyway, this is a sample conversation this evening that illustrates just how worn out we are at this point:

Jeff: You have the drill?

Me: No.

Jeff:  Why not?

Me: ‘Cause.

Jeff: You should always have the drill.

Me: Huh?

Jeff: The drill.

Me: What?

Jeff: Are you paying attention to me?

Me:  I don’t know. What are we talking about?

Jeff: The drill. Have you seen it?

Me: Didn’t you have it last?

Jeff: I don’t know. You find it. You’re supposed to have it.

Me: What? The drill?  Okay. But I don’t know where it is….

And on and on it goes … At this point, if you’re a praying person, or a good thoughts person, we probably need a little of both.