2015: kitchen and dining room.

Our kitchen is as tiny as it looks, but it’s full of light, and I decided that even with a kitchen twice its size, Gabe and Noah would still be standing as close to my legs as humanly possible when I cook so that I trip over them every time I try to take a step.

Even so. We hope to make 2016 The Year of the Kitchen Remodel. We had a designer come up with plans to take out a couple walls and give us a bigger kitchen and dining room without having to do an addition, and we loved her ideas. We’ll get new cabinets and counters, backsplash and light fixtures, and of course I’ll blog about the whole process (I’ve never dreamed about actually doing a renovation; just blogging about one)!

The wall behind the oven leads to the laundry room, and that will be removed and the existing laundry room incorporated into the kitchen (stackable washer/dryer would go in a hall closet). This gives us a longer space for new cabinets/counters and room for a bigger island with storage and some stools.

David and I did our kitchen purge together this summer, and it was fun. We got rid of everything we don’t use, pared down our mug collection, threw out expired spices, and organized what was left in a way that worked better for us. We already had a cabinet drawer just for kids’ dishes within easy reach of little people, and this time we made a pantry shelf for them too with cereal, bread, peanut butter and honey. Gabe and Noah aren’t allowed in the pantry for now, but the big kids can get their own cereal and sandwiches.

I love our dining room. I love that it’s connected to the kitchen. And these days I really, really love that I get a large view of our backyard from the window, so that our little boys can be outside playing by themselves. I was looking for something big for that wall without spending a lot of money, and my brother Danny bought me that fun old window which has been just right.

We try to use cloth napkins as much as possible, and Amie and I saw this cheerful set at Target and knew we had to have it. It’s something simple but just looking at them makes me happy (that’s a hint to you if you can’t afford a kitchen remodel: sometimes a salvaged old window and new cloth napkins will do just fine).

The turquoise cart is a new addition from IKEA for homeschooling (we started school this week!). And when we have lots of company, the cart can be cleared off and rolled into the living room for an extra end table.

Judah and Amie each have their own shelf for the current week’s school books. When we’re finished with a subject they return the books to their shelf — a simple thing that does wonders for keeping our dining room uncluttered (it made me crazy to have wobbling stacks of books and papers on the sideboard, dining table, or kitchen island, especially when it was time for lunch). The box next to the shelf is for recycling paper.

The calendar is entirely for Judah’s benefit. My boy is a planner, just like both his parents, and he loves seeing the month laid out and knowing what to expect. I spent a good bit of time on the dining closet last month to get us ready for a new school year. We used it last year when we gave up our homeschooling room, with a shelf inside for books, but it was an awkward shape and got messy so quickly trying to reach in and fish around for the right book. I moved the shelf to the big kids’ room, our school books to the living room bookcase, and was left with a big pile of stuff on the floor.

I still wanted to use the right side shelves for other pantry items and paper goods, but make it easy for the kids to reach their school supplies. As usual, the solution was found at IKEA:

The top two bins are for Judah and Amie’s “big kid” school supplies (acrylic paints, coins, rulers, etc). The lower bins are filled with Play Doh and our Saxon math manipulatives, and have already worked wonders for keeping Gabe and Noah occupied — especially during the aforementioned dinner prep. Both boys love the freedom of choosing their own activity; the one rule is they have to play with anything from that closet at the table to keep small pieces from getting lost. The hanging shoe organizer on the door is from the dollar bin at Target.

One point Marie Kondo made in her book is that we Americans accumulate so much stuff, but much of it we never use because we can’t even see/access it. It’s crammed in the attic or the back of a closet, or hidden under another pile. It’s an enormous waste to have so many nice things but be unable to use or enjoy items because there’s just too many. This goes for clothes, books, dishes, kitchen appliances, or toys.

David and I found this to be true in our household purge. In paring down, we made sure we can easily see and reach everything we have, and so we use fewer things more. One example I mentioned before is putting all our homeschooling read-aloud books at eye-level in the living room where they’re visible and easy to grab. Another is organizing our fun math toys in the dining closet so that they are off the floor and Gabe can reach the dominoes without knocking over a leaning tower of stuff (and so that he can actually see that we have dominoes in the first place). In this way we’re making better use of the money we spend on our things.

Thanks for following along on the house tour! Last up: the kids’ rooms.

[2014 and 2013 kitchen here]