Welp, we’re starting to dig our way out of the mountain of boxes we’ve lived under this past month or two.
If you could call a garage, storage shed, and back room full of still-taped-up boxes digging out.
We’re loving our new (tiny) house in this mountain village. We love the comfy cozy of it. We love the paned windows. We (I) love the colored walls (because chalky white got old REAL quick in all of our previous rentals and base housing).
Mostly, we love the fluffy white stuff falling gently just outside our front door.
We’ve lived in SoCal for the past… well, seven years for John, and whole entire life for me. The novelty of snow? Huge. We’re taking bets (not) on how long it’ll be before it wears off.
The only (slight) difficulty presented is in the relative itty-bitty-ness of this new house compared to our last house.
For example:
This is a (very bad) picture of the kitchen in our old house:
See the island? See the extra-tall cupboards? There are actually even more cupboards hidden on the left that this (very bad) picture doesn’t show.
The point? The kitchen was purty much gargantuan.
And wonderful.
Now this is the new kitchen in our (tiny) mountain home:
There are not any hidden cupboards in this picture. Whatcha see is whatcha get.
See? Angle Two.
Adorable. But teensy.
(And messy. But unless you want me to come searching through your junk drawers–don’t lie, you know you got ‘em–we’re not talking about that.)
SO.
This weekend my mom, my mother in law and I have been getting the kitchen unpacked. And organized. And set up. All of which is great, except for the part where the new kitchen is less than a third the size of the old one.
The decisions? Headache-inducing.
To pack away? To take to the thrift store? To keep? To stash in the garage?
I’m happy to say that, as of last night and minus the pizza boxes currently sprawled across the counter top, the kitchen is done. I feel moved in, despite the eleventy billion book boxes stacked in that back catch-all room.
(The books are another story altogether. But unless you want me to raid the books you’ve bought but never had time to read–don’t lie, you know you got ‘em–we’re not talking about that one, either.)
So, here’s my question:
If you were downsizing to a kitchen almost a quarter the size of your old one, what five kitchen items (beside plates, cups, silverware and such) could you just not live (cook, bake, eat) without?
Mine are my glass Pampered Chef mixing bowl, Kitchen Aid mixer, my fruit basket, a sharp knife, and a little dish washing pan scraper plastic thingie.
(I know, so technical. But unless you want me to rifle through your brain for better vocabulary words, we won’t discuss the technical words, either.)
Cute kitchen! I’m loving that wall color. My list is similar to yours. Definitely my kitchen aid, good knives, a pyrex glass bowl, a good cutting board, and my sheet pan(s). I have a severe kitchen item collecting habit, so I constantly must purge. Rips open the heart, but I survive every time. ;)
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We have had that happen before! One solution is to put a dresser in close proximity of the kitchen – makes extra counter space and a place to stash kitchen items.
A pot rack is your friend – you can get a great, inexpensive one at Ikea AND they have accessories (paper towel rack, baskets, spice shelves) that can hang right off it too! Mine is hanging over my kitchen sink because that’s the only place I could put it.
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My Pampered Chef apple corer and slicer thing, tea kettle, crock pot, my great big honking quisinart blender, and my super sized soup pot. I could cook my kid in that thing.
Not that I would (most days), but still, it is rather large!
Oh, and the grain mill that will be arriving at my house most any day now!!!
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I’m probably not a good example because we’re undergoing the same thing and I refused to get rid of much of anything. But things I use all the time are good cutting boards, stand mixer, crockpot, and two good Henckels knives.
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I have one of those little dish washing pan scraper plastic thingies and it’s amazing! Really good for washing stoneware since you can’t use soap. And yeah, the Kitchen Aid is a must have, along with a big mixing bowl, cutting board and good knives.
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Kitchen Aid, cutting boards, knives, good skillet and good pot. Oh and baking pans!
I think maybe you should look into one of those “ceiling” hangers for your pots/pans? That would save space too.
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You’re hilarious. :)
The new kitchen *is* small. But I love the buttery yellow wall color. And the cabinets are so pretty.
I couldn’t live without my Kitchen Aid, my sharp knives, bamboo cutting board, mixing bowl set, and a cookie sheet.
Oh, and how nice that you have help unpacking!
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Toaster, crock pot, microwave, pitcher full of utensils and…I’m not sure. If I say red KitchenAid mixer, does that mean one will appear in my house? Because if so, then that’s TOTALLY on my list. :)
I have a tiny kitchen, too. One of my friends calls it a “one-butt kitchen,” because when two people try to work in there at a time, we just bump into each other!
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I love the Pampered Chef dishwashing-scraper-thingie!
Crock Pot, for sure. Can’t live without it, and I’m guessing yours will become a fast staple in your kitchen, what with the snow and all.
Also my KitchenAid food processor. I love that little thing.
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Five can’t live without kitchen things:
french press
kitchen aid mixer
electric kettle
blender
the husband (can he count as a ‘kitchen thing’?!? he’s awesome in the kitchen)
Have fun settling in! :)
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LOL! YES, I totally know what you mean about the books. I ask myself everytime I’m at the counter buying another book. “Why am I buying this book it’s just going to end up on the book shelf of never read.” But I still buy it!!
I can’t give one advice about the kitchen because well um “AHEM” I CAN’T cook…sniff…but I am going to start trying maybe ahem soon or not…will see!
Ginger~
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Awwww! Loved seeing a pic of your new house!
I couldn’t live without my cookie sheets (use ‘em for everything), Pyrex mixing bowl set, knife set, electric mixer (don’t have a kitchen aid yet :( ), and my dish towels. I have tons of them, but I use those lots, too. :)
Love you! Miss you heaps!!!
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Kitchen aid is definitely a must!
I’m trying to think of some space saving tips for you…hmm, can anything go on top of the cupboards? you know, those things that don’t get used that often (like the huge salad bowl for when company comes or the turkey pan)
If the cabinet doors are sturdy enough you might be able to do a spice rack thing inside the door.
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I reckon after 15 years of extra long winter the white stuff may loose a little appeal. ;) For me, though, it was always the darkness and awful wind more than the snow.
And downsizing kitchens seems to be what happens nearly every time we move. I have five usable cabinets in this place and am a itty bitty worried what the next place will be like if the tradition continues. ;)
I cannot seem to be with out a good blender/mixer, a very sharp knife (no serrated edges) a wooden spoon and a pan of sorts.
Of course, I love my glass mixing bowls and would rather have a couple kettles and a skillet to choose from, but I really don’t have to have a lot to get by.
BTW…the billion and a half boxes? They’ll sit there as long as you let ‘em. :)
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You still have more cupboard space than me! Which is probably why I, uh, store food items in the linen closet… don’t ask where I store the extra linens. ;)
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Your new kitchen is huge compared to mine. And our last house had a huge kitchen. When we were house hunting, I said I wanted a big kitchen, but somehow that didn’t happen. Anyway, we are in the process of building an island to help with all that. I currently have stuff stacked like a dang hillbilly all over the place. It’s not pretty, but at least I have access to my mixing bowls, skillets, pots and baking pans….which I could not cook without.
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We have a sad amount of storage (i.e. NONE) in this house, but it makes up for it by having a fabulous porch for me to sit on and love nature. :) I lived in L.A. for 7 yrs and had to downsize each time we moved to a new rental. I feel your pain!
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Oh, you should have seen our house in Italy (we were stationed there for 3.5 years) if you want to talk about a TINY kitchen! It amazes me that in the country where they make the most amazing meals the kitchens are TEENY! :)
Anyway, my five top items are my KitchenAid, my Pampered Chef cutting board, a good cutting knife, a huge skillet with a lid, and my Mokka maker (stovetop espresso pot). :)
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