Monday evening, we arrived home from a great weekend with our kids. Well, except for the whole flying thing! (I’m improving, but still not thrilled with sitting!)
I wasn’t thinking about my Make One Thing Better list when I wandered through the back door and glanced into the kitchen.
There it was!
A huge better thing we’d accomplished before we left. Actually, Bill did the accomplishing. I just did the international sign language thing for two inches to the left.
One day, a month or so ago, a plan sprouted magically in my head. I’ve learned to pay attention to those.
In this case, the plan was for re-arranging the part of our kitchen the early 1960’s builder would have referred to as the breakfast room. In our case “breakfast room” means the place where the refrigerator and two upright deep freezers rub elbows with our antique oak dining table.
We did a great job with the kitchen reno about 15 years ago, given the fact that we couldn’t change the footprint. I’d still choose most of the things we did, which is kind of a miracle.
The big exception for me was the way the multiplying major appliances had worked to close off the space by my favorite, free-standing wooden butcher block.
Our very sexy glass door fridge used to sit butted up against the left side of the butcher block, headed into the breakfast room. A stainless fridge, with black sides. It felt like this massive wall, sucking up all the light. And I spend a lot of time standing at that butcher block.
So, Furniture Yahtzee. Or, in this case, Appliance Yahtzee!
The fridge went where the smaller freezer was.
The smaller freezer went where the metal shelving was.
The metal shelving went where the fridge was.
Bill, who believes we can’t move fewer than seven things in one of my MOTB games, was amazed. We moved three things and made a huge difference. As in, let there be light!
Light from the french doors to the deck. Light not soaked up from the black sides of the fridge.
And sight lines through to the wall murals I worked so hard to paint back in the day. Along with a couple more inches of traffic pattern.
Perhaps best of all, my treasured stock pots, even the biggest one, are much easier to reach.
Would I double the square footage of the space if I could? You bet!
Does it feel bigger and more open and more welcoming? It does!
There’s more room for chopping since I moved the knives.
And, it makes me happy.
I’m still sorting what goes where on the shelves. That really never ends around here.
And setting some stuff aside for donations.
There are also some changes in our routine coming up which will probably require more adjusting.
Seriously, though, it’s a whole lot of better for a couple of hours and no money.
And, since I’m thinking about money in terms of investing, rather than spending, these days, I’m pretty excited.
What’s tickling your mind in this moment?
It might be worth paying attention!