Yesterday I cleaned my kitchen. I clean my kitchen everyday, but today I worked on those clutter piles, those odds and ends that wait to find a good home and now have clean counters.
What is it about a clean kitchen that inspires me and makes me calm and relaxed? I was positively giddy last night, enjoying the vast expanse of a spotless kitchen. And I wasn't cleaning for guests or an event, which makes it even more fulfilling. The cleanliness is for us! And it is simply elegant!
Welcome to the tour of my kitchen.
For larger views of all my pictures, click on the links throughout the post. Through the entry hall you will find the kitchen, in between the dining room and family room.
We've been in this house a year -- the anniversary of our move is tomorrow. My kitchen is not beautiful, but is spacious, lots of counters and functional. There are things that need to be changed -- it's quite a 1980s kitchen. I dislike the wallpaper. I don't like the color of the cabinets, nor the knobs. The appliances are original to the house, breaking down and soon to be replaced. The lighting is fluorescent and awful.
There is no backsplash. The floor is a fake-ceramic-tile-pergo-type flooring. It's not yellow as it appears in the pictures. But I want wood floors.
These are just minor ascetics and projects that will be tackled one by one, time, energy and money allowing. But I don't look at the wallpaper much. I have very little wall space..we fell in love with the kitchen view. I have a
picture window with backyard views of nature at all times and natural lighting from the bay windows. My "room with a view" is cheery and uplifting. I don't need much to decorate this kitchen. If it's clean, all eyes go to the beautiful outdoors. That, to me, is my simple elegance. Who needs to improve on nature?
The floor space in my kitchen is expansive. The
U-shape is nice and open, but it is a lot to walk across doing prep work. I've seen other similar kitchens with islands. It works, the Cook isn't crowded, but you lose that open airy feeling. The other major drawback? My son couldn't set up his cars, trucks, trains!
I have few upper cabinets. Most are lower, so I have the dishes accessible to younger people. Drawers are shallow and few, so the utensil crock stays on the counter. I bought that crock for my husband before we married when he moved to Virginia, and the design includes the name of our little town. The other items that remain on the counter: paper towels, water pitcher, bananas, toaster oven, microwave (for now), ring holder and outside thermometer. I'd love to keep everything off the counter, but for now this assortment is manageable and not too cluttered.
My elegant touch this month is to have a basket of fresh vegetables from the garden. Nothing is as inviting to me as homegrown juicy red tomatoes.
We're a family of 3, so we continue to have our meals at the
kitchen table. There's a hummingbird feeder on the window...and last night was the first time one came to feed. We're hoping there will be many more to come. The table is quite small, so if another person is added to our numbers, we'll need another table. The dining room is off to the right of the kitchen. It's carpeted, so family meals aren't relaxing if I'm figuring out how to clean the spills and crumbs. It's also a bit awkward because there is no pass through, nor a close counter to hold food or plates. It's quite a few steps to the closest counter from the dining room table. When dinner with a toddler only lasts 20 minutes or so, I don't always have the energy to be toting all the food and plates back and forth from the dining room.
But we do break the monotony of the kitchen table by eating on the
screened-in porch. This is right off the kitchen and family room. When the weather is nice, we're outside. It's one of our favorite places to be. We just finished painting the deck and porch, which makes time out here even more enjoyable. The next step is to find some outdoor shades that fit (and aren't expensive) so we can shield ourselves from the setting sun to make dinners even better.
The refrigerator area is my weakest spot. I do keep baskets and my son's cooler on the top. The wine rack is a waste of space. If you really enjoy wine, you don't want to keep them in the warm kitchen. Look closely and you'll see that all the bottles are actually empty. Project procrastination -- I'm saving the labels, but since I can't find my label remover at this moment, the bottles are just sitting there. We hope to replace the fridge sometime soon, but it works. We have our LeapFrog letters and farm which keep little hands busy. All the magnets of Penn State and Steelers football are also there for my son's enjoyment.
The microwave is temporary. How long is temporary, I'm embarrassed to say. My built-in microwave caught on fire last Thanksgiving. My maternal grandmother had died a few days before, so my mother is letting me use her old microwave until we get a new one installed. I want to put one over my stove. I had that in my other house, and it was convenient and off the counter. Where my built-in microwave sits I want to replace with a double oven.
The pantry is small and cramped. There is a small mudroom to the right off the eating area that we plan on adding shelving units to house both extra food items, toys and school supplies and the notorious shoes and other paraphernalia. Since I have 9 foot ceilings, I'm going to use all the vertical space I can.
Trackbacks
Simple Elegance in the Kitchen
Meredith has commenced the first The Fair of Loveliness of Simple Elegance in the Kitchen. So inspiring! I'm loving the peek into the kitchen, the heart and hearth of the homes. Now I can imagine my 4Real friends sipping their tea in their lovely kitc...
Trackback by: Family Food for Feast and Feria | Monday, August 14, 2006
Comments
So neat and elegant! Coincidentally, although our kitchen is much smaller (and decidedly not neat and elegant) we have an identical refrigerator corner with microwave and wine rack to the side. Unfortunately our wine rack gets used for storing assorted clutter :(.
Posted by: Kathryn | Saturday, August 12, 2006
Jenn, I love your kitchen. There are so many windows! And your screened porch is just lovely! I would be remiss not to mention that a Browns magnet would look a bit nicer than that Steelers one you have hanging on your fridge! :) LOL!
Posted by: Rebecca | Monday, August 14, 2006
I love your elegant touch for the month. Will you post one every month? My mother just gave me bags of tomatoes. (I know what I'm having for lunch! A grilled cheese and tomatoe sandwich.) I going to find a basket and copy your idea. Your views from the kitchen and your screened-in porch are lovely. I agree, you can't improve on nature.
Posted by: Cheryl | Monday, August 14, 2006
Kathryn, how funny that across the Pond you would have a similar set-up. I exercise restraint on the wine rack...it is too easy to add things in there. But now that ds' reach is higher and onto more things, I probably will be adding more misc. items in there!
Rebecca...Browns? Them's fighting words! LOL My father and his father were die-hard fans. Poor Browns. I just happened to have married a Steelers fan. I was an Oilers and Cowboys fan, so look at our mix-up.
Cheryl, I was thinking that little elegant touches are partially seasonal, liturgical and/or monthly. I don't do candles right now because I have a climbing toddler, so perhaps not exactly monthly, but touches will change.
Thanks for the compliments on the windows. It truly cheers me having the view. For someone who gets blue easily, especially in the winter, this was a huge selling point. I need Vitamin D all year roun!
Posted by: JennGM | Monday, August 14, 2006
Fab windows, Jenn! With that view and the porch, I don't know if I'd ever be inside! LOL! I wonder if you could roll and store kitchen towels or fabric napkins in the wine rack? Or placemats, if you use placemats...I'm with you on the Vitamin D intake, my dh moved us as far south as he could and if you ask he'll tell you it had everything to do with the sun and me!
Posted by: Jennifer | Monday, August 14, 2006
Jennifer, We are on the porch almost all the time when it's great weather. Ds loves to play with his toys. It also has a fan, so I can kick up a breeze when Mother Nature doesn't.
As far as your suggestions for the wine rack -- BRILLIANT! I don't have a home for the placemats and napkins and that would be a lovely touch.
Posted by: JennGM | Monday, August 14, 2006
Jenn, I think your kitchen is beautiful!!! With the windows and that view, it has everything it needs to be a dream kitchen (IMO)! Plus, it is so SPACIOUS! I love it!!! I understand (from personal experience) how hard it is to wait for time, energy and resources to provide for the changes you described in your post. It does take so much of those things to take the space you're given and make it truly your own! One step at a time, though ... Until then, enjoy the beauty of living simply and elegantly, bathed with abundant sunshine!!! :0)
Posted by: Kristin | Monday, August 14, 2006
Kristin, Thanks for stopping by and your generous comments! I agree with you that the kitchen has the potential for a marvelous space. And it's great even now...just needs a few tweaks. Come on over for a cuppa and give me some inspiration!
Posted by: JennGM | Monday, August 14, 2006
Jenn,
Your kitchen is beautiful and those windows are to "die for". :)
I'm wondering if dh could do something like that with mine when we remodel. And the floor is really pretty. I thought it had more of a greenish tint than yellow, but the camera can deceive.
Will you be putting in a backsplash? I've been debating if I want tile or not.
I love the deck and it's nice to get a variety of ideas. I'm still twisting my dh's to make me one. :)
I also love the idea of "little elegant touches are partially seasonal, liturgical and/or monthly." What inspiration!
Posted by: Cay in La. | Monday, August 14, 2006
I meant to tell you that I love the St. Bridget's cross in your kitchen. We have one hanging over our front door in our living room. It is one of my favorite crosses.
Posted by: Rebecca | Monday, August 14, 2006
Cay, thanks for stopping by. I can't tell you how nice it was to get so many comments in one day. I definitely want to do some kind of backsplash. My wall is ruined, and tile or something would clean up easier. I don't know if I should tile first and then install the microwave, though. I'm eager to start a project!
The floor is indestructible, but it does show dirt and marks easily. The only thing that doesn't leave streaks when cleaning is the Swiffer Wet Jet...I got one after my aunt said the same thing with her Pergo.
Posted by: JennGM | Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Thanks, Rebecca. I bought that handmade St. Brigid's Cross in Ireland, so it is extra special to me. I read somewhere that it is appropriate to hang in the kitchen, so that's where I've put it in my married life.
Posted by: JennGM | Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Your kitchen is gorgeous! Those windows are amazing!!
I can imagine how wonderful it is to have the sunlight streaming in...
Ouiz
(I'm Irish, and I love your St. Brigid's Cross too!)
Posted by: Ouiz | Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Post a comment