Some days, the one thing better than going places and eating things is staying home and cooking a favorite meal or experimenting with a new recipe. This feeling always seems to hit me in the first crisp days of late summer and early autumn, and this year is no exception. But even though I've cooked in kitchens large and small, old and new over the years, the kitchen I have now just isn't working for me. So it looks like we're in for a season of go places and eat things - and remembering kitchens and meals past - as we plan for a renovation that we hope to complete by the end of the year.
In our first apartment, the eat-in kitchen was small, with very little counter space, small stove and no dishwasher. Yet I remember cooking some pretty elaborate dishes in it. I was particularly proud of a chocolate dacquoise I made for a special occasion. Back then I carefully recorded special meals and menus in a little book - who was invited, where they sat, what we drank and ate. Oh, the stories it has to tell. I know I saw it when we packed up the last house. At this point, it will have to stay in its box until the kitchen is complete. Maybe I was spoiled by the kitchen in our last home. It was new and well-planned and everything worked. It had a ginormous work island. Hhhnnnhhh.
Oh, well. I am in another kitchen now and we have a lot of decisions to make to make it work. The kitchen reno is the first major project in this house and we want it to set the tone for the rest of the decorating we have to do. No pressure, right? This weekend, we looked at lighting. Lamp for the dining area? Check. Pendants for over the peninsula? Check. Recessed lighting for the prep and cleanup areas? But wait, lightbulbs? Is there a right answer there?
We visited friends today to see their recent kitchen makeover. They have an old farmhouse and their choices for everything from flooring to faucets, cooktop to cabinets are just perfect. They love to cook and their decisions improved the space while preserving the farmhouse feel. We listened to their stories about delayed deliveries and dealing with the off-kilter quirks of an older home. They told us about their splurges and their steals. I saw how carefully they had considered a place for everything, and could see how getting everything in its place is well worth the time and careful planning.
So, do I give up a little counter space for a second sink? Get the fancy recycling center cabinet feature? A pot-filler faucet near the range? Tile backsplash? A special place for my favorite cook books? Where did I put that lighting catalog?
Please share your favorite kitchen renovation stories. I need all the help I can get!
