A Kitchen Reimagined

  

           When I moved into my first home, a couple of months after graduating from college, my sisters and my niece helped me unpack the boxes marked Kitchen. Everything that appeared from beneath the flaps of the boxes was a surprise to me because it had been packed away for the last four years. When my grandma died during my senior year of high school, many of her kitchen items found their way into storage to await my entry into the real world. The rest of my family already had stocked kitchens in full operation, so other than taking items they wanted for sentimental value, they didn’t need most of what filled her kitchen.

            Ironically, those boxes of Grandma’s kitchen gadgets were unpacked right back into the kitchen where they lived when they were packed up in the first place. It was a true hodge-podge of everyday dishes, silverware, mugs, baking dishes, and more. There wasn’t a theme to be found, but it didn’t bother me. I was just thrilled to have a full kitchen!

            In the ten-plus years I lived there alone, I tried to create a theme of colors and designs. I started with a flowery garden theme and then moved to coffee.

            Then Ryan and I were married, and we piled a mix of wedding gifts and items from his house into our already-overflowing tiny galley-style kitchen. We tried to change the colors and the decorating theme a time or two, but I’m not sure we were entirely successful in making it all cohesive.

            Along the way, which has included a decade of years and half as many moves, we’ve worked to make our kitchen more streamlined, efficient, and color coordinated. We’ve gotten rid of the things we never used. We’ve simplified the number of some items. (Did we really need six 9x13 dishes for two people?) We’ve carefully chosen things we really love and want – the things that reflect us, our space, and our lifestyle. It’s been a slow curating process, but we’ve made progress. We aren’t done, either. Our upcoming move will push us to purposefully comb through everything again.

        I'm really excited to put together our new kitchen and see where things live and how our life functions in that space. Every kitchen we've had has been incredibly different in space and layout, and this one is yet another design to navigate!

            Our changes are not just about the space and layout, though. As I did laundry a few weeks ago, I noticed our washcloths and towels were looking…sad. Some are relics from when I was first out on my own over twenty years ago. Some were wedding gifts. Others are a little too loved and don’t have much life left in them. Most are a mash-up of colors no longer found in our kitchen.

            I decided right then that the next step in reimagining our kitchen will be to overhaul the linens. My sister gifted me new potholders and oven mitts for my birthday last year, so bringing in washcloths, towels, and cloth napkins with a similar scheme will be a great next step in making our kitchen a place of beauty and simplicity.

            Please know that I certainly don’t imagine you care if I’m changing the color of my kitchen towels. Why, then, am I sharing this update with you?

            Maybe it will be some inspiration for you! Kitchens are catch-all rooms. All the cabinets and drawers and pantry storage spaces make it far too easy to hide things away and either forget or ignore them. Then you move or declare a cleanout day and realize just how out of control the whole kitchen collection has become. I want to challenge you to reimagine your kitchen space at the start of this new year.

            Is it a place that you enjoy? Do the things taking space in those cabinets and drawers serve you well? Do you need to pare down? Throw out and replace? Add something you’ve been wanting? See the whole room with new vision to make it a gathering place for your home?

            You may not be in the middle of a move, but you are in the middle of a fresh-start year. What a perfect time to reimagine your kitchen space and make it a place you love to spend time!