Big day coming up – January 20th. And I’m not talking about the inauguration, I’m talking about a distraction from it. The 20th is the day we hand over so much of our work to someone else. (Choirs of angels singing.)
We are tired, and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. I will be largely absent here between now and then, and largely absent from my bed as well. I’m already yawning through everything, but I’m excited too. And stressed. But mostly excited. Until five minutes from now when I will again be mostly stressed.
I’m looking forward to sharing many more details soon, but for now, I thought I’d let you guys do the writing work for me! I’d love to know something that you would love to have in your kitchen – maybe something you’d do if you had more room or would tackle in a future renovation. Or it could be something you already have now that you couldn’t live without.
Here are two things to get the ball rolling:
Don’t laugh, but I want to install a large paper roll / cutter like this on the wall of the kitchen. Maybe even more than one. Not to write lovely menus on the wall – although that’s adorable, but I really would love a giant roll of parchment paper mounted like that. I guess I could write on it occasionally, but it would really be for using. I love the natural colored parchment paper, and use it for baking, roasting, wrapping, covering, etc. I put a roll in my shopping cart every three weeks.
And pot rails. Cue the pot rails. I can’t wait.
Sneak peek at the range as well.
Your turn.
The kitchen is my husband’s domain. When he is in it, he is territorial. We have a great room square footage wise, but very poorly planned. So the space is not well used and has limited counter space. If I could, I would like two things. A dedicated space for dishes and utensils. They are currently housed in a very pretty hutch in the dining room, so it always feels inconvenient to get them or put them away. I’ve also always wanted a hoosier for baking. I don’t have a truly dedicated baking space, which is my calling in the kitchen. I’m going to keep dreaming, and pinning on Pinterest so that when the day comes to kitchen renovate, I will be ready to carve out a little niche for myself…
We definitely need more zones in our kitchen. It’s really a one-person kitchen.
A gas stove!! We have never had one. We had them in the two air bnbs we rented for the first month living here and then the house we moved in sadly is electric. They completely re did their kitchen and it’s nice, but I wish they kept the gas stove!!
I also want to get a large wooden cutting board with a rim around it (for things like pesky tomatoes)
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Gas is the best, I would have a hard time adjusting to electric. And tomatoes are a hot mess every time.
the paper is adorable, so if one has great handrwriting (as I know you do), it will be ongoing art on the wall. at my house, it would look, well, as un-arty. that oven is enviable…as are the copper pots. that said, I’d say a warming drawer would have been nice. also a chef.
Oh, there will be warming cabinets! I’m just going to keep things warm for the hell of it. All the time. Wants some chips with your salsa? They’re in the warming cupboard. Wonder if I can put my gloves in there. Hmmm.
gloves! brilliant!
The base units would all be drawers, no doors. We had custom pullout drawers made for our lower cabinets and they are awesome. I just love the small one that holds all those small plastic containers that would otherwise be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. We also extended our counter about nine inches so that we could put stools at the counter. We never thought we had the room, but we just went for it. It totally changed the way our kitchen functioned, we should have done it years ago. Who knew that a 4′ x 9″ counter extension could have so much impact in our daily lives. It’s where my children ate their breakfast when they were young and now share a glass of wine when they come to visit.
We aren’t going to have any doors either. I can’t wait.
My parents did the same exact thing with their countertop. They eat breakfast there, and it’s the favorite grandkid spot when we visit.
This is really good to think about – I’m about to get into the finer details of the actual cabinet design, and we’re going to have a mobile island. I’d love to design it in a way to accommodate a stool or two – would be great for chatting at a dinner party too. Good idea.
One of the few things we opted out of during our reno was a pot filler at the stove. The more cooking we do, the more we could see ourselves loving that feature.
I LOVE our magnetic knife storage. It hangs on the wall. Got it at IKEA. Really love it. Also love our pot/pan open shelves, spice drawer with a rack that organizes all our spices and small items, no touch garbage drawer, and our open shelves instead of cabinets.
I love all of those things.
Pot filler – I can also see using one, but still lean towards not having one. I fill pots every morning to make coffee and oatmeal, but those are measured amounts, so it’s never seemed a big deal to measure water in cup and pour into pot. But I do see the benefit of having one for filling giant pots of water for boiling pasta or hardboiling eggs, etc. Still not sure I can’t just manage as we have since the sink is right next to the range. If I had to carry the pot across the room, I might change my mind.
I have heard that people like to fill dirty pots with water and let them sit on the range for awhile before washing them, so that could be nice too.
Good hings to consider.
A super-duper spice rack! I built one on New Year’s Day 2016 for myself and I’m filled with joy every day when I cook. It’s on the back of my antique home’s basement door and it’s very large – totally out of the way and perfectly organized for a visual person like me. Good luck with the reno! Can’t wait to see it.
I would love to see photos of it!
I have a HUGE kitchen (seriously almost the largest room in our house) and while it has a big wow factor, it is just too big. I have a number of empty cupboards and find myself using the same parts of the counter every day. This luxury has allowed me to realize exactly how I want my kitchen to function for the way I cook and the way we live. I would definitely prefer smaller and more efficiently designed. Having said that, I love the recessed nooks I see all over Pinterest that sit above your stove to house oils, spices, those things you reach for again and again. And to comments above…If I’m ever lucky enough to have a gas stove again, I will WEEP with joy as a I cook, and three cheers for that Ikea knife strip. GOOD LUCK in the coming months!!
I can completely see your point. I actually love how comfortable my kitchen is, and the footprint isn’t changing much. I am excited to have a larger range, a bit more counter space, and the walk-in pantry is going to be life changing, I think. I agree that having things at arm’s reach is so helpful. I have that now, but it’s behind cabinet doors, and that’s really not that handy.