Kitchen Envy :: Not so much

Every time I'm out doing a demonstration or talking with people I hear "You must have a fabulous kitchen."

No.

If you've asked me that and it seemed like I was stifling laughter, it's because I was.  My kitchen stinks.  My old one didn't.  My old kitchen was awesome.  But it represented a lot of hard work and money.  My new kitchen is - well - new.  Not technically, but new to me.  I have yet to be able to do anything to it because when we start on the kitchen it's going to cause a domino through the rest of the house and we're not quite there yet.

So here's a little tour of what I'm working with ::

The house is a late '50's house with mid-century modern elements throughout.  Sadly, the kitchen was remodeled in the early '90's with maddening results.  The cabinets are really cheap and on plastic glides, which mean the kids can break them really easily.  The countertops are a delightful "blue sparkle" granite which is beyond hideous.  The appliances are just new enough to not require immediate replacement - but just old enough where they don't really work with one notable exception :: the oven.  I am so lucky that the oven works great.  What would I do if I couldn't bake??

Here are a few charming details ::

Lucite cabinet doors + handles.  They wobble :: Drawer fronts that lead to nothing.  ::  The only three prong plug in in the kitchen.  Every appliance seems to require it. ::  Double ovens!!  :: Shelves we installed to create some sense of storage :: The fridge.  It's side by side which means there is no space is either the fridge or freezer.  Lars loves the ice/water feature however...  ::  The top of the fridge is massive for storage.  The top of every cabinet is filled with cookbooks.  It's not the most convenient to get to them, but there's a stool near by.

Why am I sharing this with you?  Because it lends itself perfectly to my Point of View (I've been watching too much Next Food Network Star) - if I can do all of the things I do in this tiny and highly un-functional space then you can too.  It's not glamorous, there isn't enough counter space or storage, but has still produced a few dozen recipes.

For reference, here's what it looked like when we took possession ::

That large cabinet that's blocking you from seeing the kitchen is what came down immediately and was replaced with the Ikea shelves.

We'll start remodeling as soon as the new baby is here and we are feeling somewhat more comfortable with our new FIVE person family...