The end is in sight! This week our deck has been painted (and yes, I still love the colour), our bench top went in, the handles went on, and our stove was installed (well partly). We're still waiting on our range hood to go up, the painters to finish in the kitchen (for some reason they've seemed reluctant to do the kitchen), and the electricians to finish wiring everything up.
Then, I can say goodbye to our temporary kitchen.
Not before time!
I had promised Son#4 that I would make him a birthday cake in my new oven. I made the promise weeks - months - ago before I knew that our renovations were going to drag on longer than expected. Yesterday was his birthday - and I made him a cake - but not in my oven. If he doesn't mind waiting, I'll make him another cake once my oven is fully operational. And hopefully the next one won't be all gooey in the middle as this one was (not sure what went wrong there considering I ended up baking it for a further twenty or so minutes.)
All this focus on one room in the house has led me to contemplate the different kitchens that I've worked in over the years.
I don’t have a picture of my first kitchen. It was mine for only a few short months – those early days of our marriage – and we have no photos of what was our first home together. The kitchen in that house wasn’t especially pretty. In fact, it was old and worn. But it had a cupboard that was quite possibly the inspiration behind my new china cabinet although if I placed a photo of the two side-by-side you might be hard pressed to see it. I don't remember a lot about that kitchen apart from the smell (possibly because when we left that kitchen I was suffering from all-day-not-just-in-the-morning sickness) that is often associated with old gas stoves.
This particular gas stove exploded in DH’s face just days before our wedding. No wonder I was hesitant about using it after we were married and had no desire to ever use a gas stove again. (Um, so why have I just installed gas hobs in my kitchen?)
My second kitchen did nothing to change my dislike of the colour green. It was a cold dark room that received no sun before early afternoon; the usable bench space was almost negligible; and the tiled splash back was made up of highly patterned white tiles (not grey as I'd thought when we bought the house) which I discovered when I first cleaned it.
My most recent kitchen was the one that I had for the longest period of time (fifteen years as opposed to just over eleven years for the previous kitchen and approximately six months for the first). It was reasonably new when we moved into the house but had been housed in an enclosed veranda and was long and draughty. But it received sun for most of the day, had lots of bench space, and no overhead cupboards apart from one wall of tall cupboards (all things that I've copied in my new kitchen).
At the moment DH thinks my kitchen is 'nice' but that it's lacking something. That something I suspect are the personal touches and the memories that I hope to create when I finally get to move in to it. All things aside, what makes a kitchen special are the memories and I can't wait to start making those wonderful family memories in this brand new kitchen.
Then, I can say goodbye to our temporary kitchen.
Not before time!
I had promised Son#4 that I would make him a birthday cake in my new oven. I made the promise weeks - months - ago before I knew that our renovations were going to drag on longer than expected. Yesterday was his birthday - and I made him a cake - but not in my oven. If he doesn't mind waiting, I'll make him another cake once my oven is fully operational. And hopefully the next one won't be all gooey in the middle as this one was (not sure what went wrong there considering I ended up baking it for a further twenty or so minutes.)
All this focus on one room in the house has led me to contemplate the different kitchens that I've worked in over the years.
I don’t have a picture of my first kitchen. It was mine for only a few short months – those early days of our marriage – and we have no photos of what was our first home together. The kitchen in that house wasn’t especially pretty. In fact, it was old and worn. But it had a cupboard that was quite possibly the inspiration behind my new china cabinet although if I placed a photo of the two side-by-side you might be hard pressed to see it. I don't remember a lot about that kitchen apart from the smell (possibly because when we left that kitchen I was suffering from all-day-not-just-in-the-morning sickness) that is often associated with old gas stoves.
This particular gas stove exploded in DH’s face just days before our wedding. No wonder I was hesitant about using it after we were married and had no desire to ever use a gas stove again. (Um, so why have I just installed gas hobs in my kitchen?)
My second kitchen did nothing to change my dislike of the colour green. It was a cold dark room that received no sun before early afternoon; the usable bench space was almost negligible; and the tiled splash back was made up of highly patterned white tiles (not grey as I'd thought when we bought the house) which I discovered when I first cleaned it.
My most recent kitchen was the one that I had for the longest period of time (fifteen years as opposed to just over eleven years for the previous kitchen and approximately six months for the first). It was reasonably new when we moved into the house but had been housed in an enclosed veranda and was long and draughty. But it received sun for most of the day, had lots of bench space, and no overhead cupboards apart from one wall of tall cupboards (all things that I've copied in my new kitchen).
At the moment DH thinks my kitchen is 'nice' but that it's lacking something. That something I suspect are the personal touches and the memories that I hope to create when I finally get to move in to it. All things aside, what makes a kitchen special are the memories and I can't wait to start making those wonderful family memories in this brand new kitchen.
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