Kiss the Cook~Our New Kitchen

Hi! I'm back. I do realize and am a little embarrassed that it has been almost a year since I last posted. I really fell off the wagon and didn't really think I had a lot to post about or rather wasn't ready to post(talk) about. I could have filled my blog with stories of my kids and their activities, but most of us are doing the same sort of things and quite frankly isn't that what Facebook is for? My little family has been through a lot and I "think" I am ready to share our story. I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do on many levels and will bring you up to speed in the coming weeks. However, I didn't want to miss Kelly's Tour of Homes this go around as we are in a new home. We sold our previous home extremely quickly and are now "renters". We have never been renters in our 19 years of marriage, but here we are. Let me say the phrase "Less is More" speaks volumes to me these days.

Isn't that island to die for?? When I walked into "the rental" I just held my breath and prayed that our Big Daddy would go for this house and think that "the rent" was something we could manage. One of the things that I am most proud of is that I have not purchased much for our new place. I have actually only purchased 2 things for this kitchen and that was the barstools. I knew that we would really put them to use and bought them 50% off at I O Metro.

This little hutch was something that I bought ages ago in Canton. It was made out of old fence pieces and was supposed to be a potting table, but I bought it, painted it, had a cute cushion made for it and used it as a changing table for my boys in their nursery. I had still had it in my youngest room and we had games and toys on it. One of the fun things about moving is getting to use your stuff in different area. Some people are really great about moving their stuff around in their house, me not so much. It takes a move for me to shake things up!!
BONUS!!! It had a desk for me!!! I was so excited!!! Big Daddy knew he couldn't say no!!!

This rug was the "other" purchase that I made for the kitchen. Clearance at Target for $20.00. It's not perfect colors, but works for me!!! You can also see on through to the butlers pantry, pantry, and dining room. I am going to post the dining room and family room in the next couple of days. Like I said, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Looking into the butler's pantry. I have a ton of dishes and love to see them all displayed in the doors. I especially love the plate in the top window. It is from the church that I grew up in.

We used to use these at our monthly fellowship dinners. A couple of years ago when my sister and I started to really collect white dishes our mom was able to get us each one of these from our church. My sister Cindy and I were both married at 1st Christian Church.

OK, I now have to preface the next part of this post...It is all about the pantry. I would not normally post about my pantry, but my sister worked like a dog to make this little closet of heaven look so cute! All along this journey of selling, moving, etc...I could see God's hand on every aspect of this basket turn over!!! (Literally if you could see the baskets I have and "HAD".) THAT is another post!! Anyway I was blog stalking one night during the weeks of our move and right before we moved all the pantry items I ran across a blog where a very clever girl had "re-mixed" her pantry and WAS INSPIRED!!!!!!!! I don't dare tell you her blog until the end, because mine pales to her's!!!

The crazy thing has a glass door. I am thinking I want to get a vinyl monogram for my door to soften things a bit. Plus since it is a rental I can easily remove it. My inspiring blogger also has a vinyl lettering business as well. Maybe I will figure it out and get something ordered.

One of the things that she suggested was putting things that you would use together, together. All the baking things in one basket, all the spices together, all the coffee/tea/filters together. Another tip was putting heavy things like cans down low. I thought that was clever!!! I would have thought to put my can goods more at eye level, but they are cute!! Basket of food are cute!!

One thing I wish I could have done was paint the walls, but I am thinking I might paper the back walls with scrap booking paper and double sided tape. If I get around to it, I will do another post on it!!! I promise!!

You would think it is hard to keep it all straight and looking cute, but not so much. The only thing I see that happens is that when I unload the groceries it takes just a few extra minutes to empty the snack like items into the basket. I used to just dump them into my baskets.

I use the picnic baskets and other baskets to store things in as well like koozies and lunch boxes.

OK, this is a little bit of a kitchen tip that I have learned during my move. Did you know that if your facet is the American Standard that they have a LIFETIME WARRANTY??? SO if your sprayer button doesn't work any longer on your sink then they will send you new facet for free!!??? If your facet is all torqued like this one, they will send you another one for FREE??? HOT DOG!!! I'm sorry they won't replace your "gold package" just because it went out of style, but they will replace something that is broken.

I also dig the little sponge holder thing that I got at Target. I was used to having one of those tilt door things in front of my sink to hide the sponge, but didn't have one here. Plus I was getting grossed out with it just laying in the sink all the time. It's a good thing!!!

That is about all I have about all of this for now. I am already 3 days late on this post, but I do want to give a shout out to my sister and niece for all their hard work getting us moved and organized.

OK, as promised check out House of Smiths and see Shelley's amazing pantry re-mix!