Spicy

For quite some time now, I've had a complete kitchen cabinet overhaul on my 'to-do' list. I finally did it this weekend! I didn't take any before pictures (come on! you know you're dying to see it! haha!) but here's my baking cupboard afterward. It probably still looks like a mess to you, but you'll just have to trust me on this one. BIG improvements!



I made some rather big changes, too. My dad re-did our kitchen for us (LOVE) when I was pregnant with Scotty. I got this cabinet that slides in and out next to the stove. It's a slim cabinet, made for spices.

I don't want to appear ungrateful (to Erik for buying the cabinets or to my dad for designing and building my kitchen!) but I just did not love this cabinet. I bet I'm supposed to, too, the same way I was supposed to want granite countertops (I did not) and a subzero refrigerator (I did not) and a restaurant oven with a 6-burner gas stove and a 36" convection oven (oh, I did! I did! I did so want it!) because it seemed like everywhere I went, and everyone I talked to, was working off the same checklist. No bother. I'm a simple gal, with a regular refrigerator and a tile countertop and a gorgeous kick-ass stove. And, don't forget, with this totally annoying spice cupboard.

I could never find anything in here! Ever. I had to constantly squat down, pull and turn every container, stuff was always stacked on other stuff. Egads, it was awful. Oh, look, let's not get crazy. Wouldn't we all love it if this was the biggest problem we had to deal with? I've not completely lost my perspective.

I'm just saying that one of the things I was thinking a lot about, as I went through every single drawer, cupboard, and cabinet, was trying to really decide how it is that I use my kitchen, what it is that I need, and where I need it.

The photo above is the 'after' shot of that spice cupboard. What I really need there? Salt, a few large seasoning containers, baking soda, and baking powder (so much more convenient here than in the pantry!), and some small (adorable) jars for the cinnamon/sugar concoction that Tommy likes to sprinkle on toast.

In the island, there is this large drawer. If I had taken a 'before' picture (and believe me, if I had thought there was a snowball's chance in hell that I would end up writing about this on my blog, I would have!) it would have shown random pens, pencils, papers that should have been thrown away, earphones for various ipods...oh there was more, but you get the picture, am I right? Now it looks like this.

It makes me so happy that sometimes I just open it to peek inside! Everyone is facing up, smartly aligned and waiting for me to cook up something delicious. I can read what each thing is, it's right next to the oven, and it's under the counter I happen to use the most for prepping and mixing ingredients anyway.

Sometimes, it's just the little things that bring me so much joy.