The Kitchen

I've been meaning to take early morning pictures of our kitchen for several weeks now.  But early mornings are not a practical time to take pictures in our house.  I've also been meaning to clear things out of the kitchen to "stage" it for pictures, but we use this room constantly.  So that doesn't work for us either. 

Then I decided, why stage pictures?  Most "idea" kitchens don't look like they are used.  This is a real kitchen.  It's used all day long.  I remember all the things we had to remove when we were selling our old house - nothing on the counters or fridge.  Sure it made for good pictures, but it stopped looking like our kitchen.  And so today, I vacuumed the floors, tidied up a little bit (i.e. removed the crap from the table), and otherwise left everything in place.  Truth be told, I do keep a clean kitchen - seriously, dirty dishes do not pile up in my sink.  I learned long ago that it is easier to wash as you go, rather than let them pile up and have to do a full day's worth (or days' worth) at one time.  I clean houses for a living, so I know all about how important it is to wipe everything down each night.  BUT this is our kitchen, dining room, craft area, and favorite (most used) room of the house.  Stuff can pile up in here.  We don't have a pantry or excess storage space - so there's generally a case or two of beer in the corner next to the microwave.  The table usually has the paper, water bottles, and napkins on it.  And we're almost always cooking/baking something.  And so, I present to you a very tidy, but real, presentation of our real kitchen - complete with loved pictures on the fridge, appliances and such on the counters, and dishes in the drainer. 

 

 

The hallway is not technically part of the kitchen, but it's close enough.  This is a shot of the hallway and the kids' desk/craft area.  Most activities end up spilling over to the table, but when only one is working they do use this area for quiet work.  Additionally, it houses all of the craft supplies they have constant access to - paper, scrap fabric/yarn, pencils, markers, scissors, glue, etc.  Above the desk is another collection of their art and to the side is the beloved white board.

See, five minutes later there's already a cook book out and pizza dough in the mixer. 

 

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone's week gets off to a great start today!