if there are two place in my home that i insist are clean and sanitary, it is my washroom, and my kitchen. i'm obsessive. i frequently take my gas stove apart, and clean it down to the gas burners. i organize all of my dried goods in glass jars and old classico pasta screw top containers (which are the best - for cups also). i de-box granola bars, and isolate them into baskets; i organize tea by bagged or loose leaf, into ikea containers; i lazy susan the shit out of my spices. it's all relative to the amount of time i need to spend in there (lots - when your main food group is tofu, you need to utilize those seasonings friends), and i want the space that i prepare my food to be spick and span.
about a year ago, the house where i rent my apartment was all of a sudden home to a ton of mice. i'm talking hear them in the cielings type infestation. it was no one's fault - construction men left the doors wide open for almost a full year, which meant lovely little tiny fuzzy creatures wandered their way into the warm gates of heaven. my landlords and i waged full on mouse warfare, including the apolocalypse of mice - when the exterminator came. let's just say, i was the happiest woman on earth when all of my dried goods - all trapped nicely in glass containers - came out unschathed. it was like a pat on the back. i'll never change.
confession: i clean my kitchen floor with all purpose cleaner mixed with vinegar and lemon. on my hands and knees. with a rag. it's a process, and i will also never change that. but man... it's so worth it.
so, i take my decorating (but really, organizing) of my kitchen so seriously, it's not even funny. really - this is not a laughing matter. and i'm always looking for inspiration. here you have my faves.
about a year ago, the house where i rent my apartment was all of a sudden home to a ton of mice. i'm talking hear them in the cielings type infestation. it was no one's fault - construction men left the doors wide open for almost a full year, which meant lovely little tiny fuzzy creatures wandered their way into the warm gates of heaven. my landlords and i waged full on mouse warfare, including the apolocalypse of mice - when the exterminator came. let's just say, i was the happiest woman on earth when all of my dried goods - all trapped nicely in glass containers - came out unschathed. it was like a pat on the back. i'll never change.
confession: i clean my kitchen floor with all purpose cleaner mixed with vinegar and lemon. on my hands and knees. with a rag. it's a process, and i will also never change that. but man... it's so worth it.
so, i take my decorating (but really, organizing) of my kitchen so seriously, it's not even funny. really - this is not a laughing matter. and i'm always looking for inspiration. here you have my faves.
remember what i said about glass jars folks? and remember what i said about it not being a laughing matter? this is serious business. save your dry things. mine are even colour coordinated (because i eat boring food) which makes for nice counter top decoration. popcorn, rice crispies, quinoa, oatmeal, lentils (brown - of course), quinoa pasta and rice flour. all comprise this beautifully boring spectrum of beige-y goodness on my counter.
but seriously. everything in glass jars, a better world does make.
i'm all about the shelving. after living somewhere with see through cupboards, you realize how important the aesthetic of matching dishes, and coordinated dinnerware is. doesn't need to be a matching set, just needs to be coordinated from the 'colour palette' perspective (sorry... we're getting too interior design-y here).
and, i love that pig.
OH! and rugs in kitchens. win.
all stacking, all the time. cartons on cartons on cartons. as long as you stick with what you like, you can never go wrong. i always joke that my boring taste in colours (think moss green and pale blue on white and/or beige) makes for easy peasy moving... i never have to worry that things in different rooms won't match. when you buy what you like, things will always go together. plus, when you wash your dishes, and you have a green spatula, green frying pan, green curly straw (i have no shame), and a green knife, drying on your green drying pad... you look like you have your life so planned out it's intimidating.
(i don't).