Another step towards a functional kitchen
Leaving my old kitchen and coming to this one was one of the most difficult aspects of our move two and half years ago. Oh, how I miss that kitchen! Especially when the one we moved into was not even close to being functional. We have continued to work to improve it. First was installing the refrigerator I bought before we moved because I knew I couldn't function with the one that was in the kitchen. Then nearly immediately I ordered a rolling kitchen island because the little bit of counter space just wasn't enough. These two things helped... a bit.
In a month or so, I realized that the range, which I didn't love at first sight, was even more horrible than I had thought. I discovered this when I kept routinely ruining food. So, off to the Habitat ReStore I went to find a new one. We then discovered that the kitchen didn't have a 220 line, so the P. Family came out one weekend and we fed them while the P. Family dad did the electrical work for us. (It is handy to have good friends who are also helpful things like electricians.) This ushered in the season of continuing to replace the range and the dishwasher, which leaked. We finally bit the bullet and bought a new dishwasher because we are so hard on them a used one just wasn't working. The range I am using now is the second I bought from the ReStore. It's not horrible, but there are certain things about it I'm not fond of. It is still far, far better than the one that came with the house.
Last summer I came across someone selling a huge kitchen island that had shelves and stools for seating. This fit in the kitchen perfectly and has been a huge improvement. It gives us a lot more counter space while also providing someplace for people to sit. J. also has started with the painting, so we are gradually getting rid of the lovely bruise colored walls that we inherited.
For the most part, the kitchen is pretty functional now, even if counters and cupboards are not what I would choose. The only thing that was still driving me round the bend was the sink. It was a shallow divided sink with a rotten faucet. I know some people really love divided sinks, but I really do not. I love a great big deep single sink with a pull-out faucet so that it is easy to wash my collection of enormous pots and pans. Some pots I only use under duress because they have been so difficult to wash in the frustratingly small sink.
I had a really nice black cast iron sink that I found at the ReStore before we moved and that we carefully moved with us. It has been living in the shed all this time. It was one of those jobs that we never got around to because there were always dozens of other jobs ahead of it. Plus, J. wasn't quite sure how complicated it would be and didn't want to start it then have to go to work and leave me without a kitchen sink.
So I was pretty excited when J. said he thought he'd replace the kitchen sink over his break. There were a couple of challenges. First, it didn't exactly fit into the space left by the other sink, so M. did some work with the router to enlarge the space in the counter. The good news was that the counter didn't then collapse under the weight of the hefty new sink. The frustration with the faucet that I shared yesterday caused a bit of delay in the work, and we went to bed with a kitchen full of dirty dishes.
J. was able to finish the job this morning, having decided how to temporarily install the faucet while he works on a more permanent solution. We are back in business! Want to see?
In a month or so, I realized that the range, which I didn't love at first sight, was even more horrible than I had thought. I discovered this when I kept routinely ruining food. So, off to the Habitat ReStore I went to find a new one. We then discovered that the kitchen didn't have a 220 line, so the P. Family came out one weekend and we fed them while the P. Family dad did the electrical work for us. (It is handy to have good friends who are also helpful things like electricians.) This ushered in the season of continuing to replace the range and the dishwasher, which leaked. We finally bit the bullet and bought a new dishwasher because we are so hard on them a used one just wasn't working. The range I am using now is the second I bought from the ReStore. It's not horrible, but there are certain things about it I'm not fond of. It is still far, far better than the one that came with the house.
Last summer I came across someone selling a huge kitchen island that had shelves and stools for seating. This fit in the kitchen perfectly and has been a huge improvement. It gives us a lot more counter space while also providing someplace for people to sit. J. also has started with the painting, so we are gradually getting rid of the lovely bruise colored walls that we inherited.
For the most part, the kitchen is pretty functional now, even if counters and cupboards are not what I would choose. The only thing that was still driving me round the bend was the sink. It was a shallow divided sink with a rotten faucet. I know some people really love divided sinks, but I really do not. I love a great big deep single sink with a pull-out faucet so that it is easy to wash my collection of enormous pots and pans. Some pots I only use under duress because they have been so difficult to wash in the frustratingly small sink.
I had a really nice black cast iron sink that I found at the ReStore before we moved and that we carefully moved with us. It has been living in the shed all this time. It was one of those jobs that we never got around to because there were always dozens of other jobs ahead of it. Plus, J. wasn't quite sure how complicated it would be and didn't want to start it then have to go to work and leave me without a kitchen sink.
So I was pretty excited when J. said he thought he'd replace the kitchen sink over his break. There were a couple of challenges. First, it didn't exactly fit into the space left by the other sink, so M. did some work with the router to enlarge the space in the counter. The good news was that the counter didn't then collapse under the weight of the hefty new sink. The frustration with the faucet that I shared yesterday caused a bit of delay in the work, and we went to bed with a kitchen full of dirty dishes.
J. was able to finish the job this morning, having decided how to temporarily install the faucet while he works on a more permanent solution. We are back in business! Want to see?
The strip of white wood between the sink and the faucet is the stop gap measure. Eventually we will replace it with a piece of black Corian which will blend in more invisibly.
It's really deep! It's at least twelve inches, maybe more.
This is my biggest pot, and it fits nicely inside the sink while still being able to move the faucet over it to fill it up and to wash it.
Actually, that pot is my biggest pot that I use regularly. Tomorrow will be the real test, as I'll get out the enormous tamale pot. That was nearly impossible to wash in my former sink. I imagine it is going to be much easier to wash in the new one.
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