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Ok, we just implemented something in our kitchen that had been a dream of mine for a long time.
I love cooking various ethnic foods, so I had collected a lot of spices. Of course they were all jumbled up in various cabinets, even though they were on the little tiered stands. Ugh, what a mess, and I didn't want to give up drawers for these bottles because that's "valuable real estate" in a kitchen.
So...this was a project involving several steps:
1. I researched and found good spice bottles and labels.
2. I bought a tiny funnel and spent an evening pouring spices out of bottles into the new ones (thank goodness for Pandora and a bottle of wine!).
3. We had a shallow cabinet with shelves (with a tiny lip on them so things won't spill) built as part of our new pantry cabinet. This was less expensive than you might think.
Here are the results!
Plus, this is right next to the stove and three steps from my "mixing and baking" island - very convenient.
In our home, the heart of the home is the kitchen. It's where it all goes down! So when we were looking for our dream home, we wanted a beautiful kitchen. We found our dream home - minus the beautiful kitchen, but at a price that allowed us to renovate it and make it our dream kitchen. THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN but also a major, huge, very inconvenient and pretty expensive project. I was able to incorporate many things that I'd always wanted, though, for the same price as "plain" or just a slight upgrade, so I finally got my farm house sink, my pull out trashcans (hidden under the cabinet), my pullouts in the pantry, my travertine floor, my island with electricity run to it, and soapstone counter tops! WOOOHOOO!
Anyway, my dream house isn't elaborate. It's nothing extravagant. I just want a spacious home with a floorplan that's good for big gatherings of people I love, in a safe, pleasant neighborhood, with a warm inviting kitchen, a split bedroom arrangement, lots of natural light and hardwood floors, three bedrooms and two living areas. Other luxuries are optional but not deal killers.
Oh, and it has to be in Texas.
I am incredibly blessed to be living in my dream home!
Ok, we just implemented something in our kitchen that had been a dream of mine for a long time.
I love cooking various ethnic foods, so I had collected a lot of spices. Of course they were all jumbled up in various cabinets, even though they were on the little tiered stands. Ugh, what a mess, and I didn't want to give up drawers for these bottles because that's "valuable real estate" in a kitchen.
So...this was a project involving several steps:
1. I researched and found good spice bottles and labels.
2. I bought a tiny funnel and spent an evening pouring spices out of bottles into the new ones (thank goodness for Pandora and a bottle of wine!).
3. We had a shallow cabinet with shelves (with a tiny lip on them so things won't spill) built as part of our new pantry cabinet. This was less expensive than you might think.
Here are the results!
Plus, this is right next to the stove and three steps from my "mixing and baking" island - very convenient.
In our home, the heart of the home is the kitchen. It's where it all goes down! So when we were looking for our dream home, we wanted a beautiful kitchen. We found our dream home - minus the beautiful kitchen, but at a price that allowed us to renovate it and make it our dream kitchen. THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN but also a major, huge, very inconvenient and pretty expensive project. I was able to incorporate many things that I'd always wanted, though, for the same price as "plain" or just a slight upgrade, so I finally got my farm house sink, my pull out trashcans (hidden under the cabinet), my pullouts in the pantry, my travertine floor, my island with electricity run to it, and soapstone counter tops! WOOOHOOO!
Anyway, my dream house isn't elaborate. It's nothing extravagant. I just want a spacious home with a floorplan that's good for big gatherings of people I love, in a safe, pleasant neighborhood, with a warm inviting kitchen, a split bedroom arrangement, lots of natural light and hardwood floors, three bedrooms and two living areas. Other luxuries are optional but not deal killers.
Oh, and it has to be in Texas.
I am incredibly blessed to be living in my dream home!
Ok I am totally coveting your spice cabinet!!
BTW, I'm in Texas now too (San Antonio). Are you anywhere near me? 😃
BTW, I'm in Texas now too (San Antonio). Are you anywhere near me? 😃
I am about five hours north of you - This Texas place is pretty huge.
I LOVE San Antonio! You lucky girl - what a great city. My son lives and works in Austin, which isn't far from you, and we usually take in San Antonio when we go down and visit him, so I'll holler at you next time I'm headed your way! And if you come up to the Tyler/Longview area holler at me!
I like the IDEA of the wine station, but we don't drink enough wine for it to be really useful. Now, a MARGARITA station ...
I like the idea of an outdoor kitchen, but since I live in New Hampshire, that's not too practical either, alas.
The gazebo is nice, but I have a big screened porch at my house, which I love, so I am set there.
If one of my neighbors got an outdoor movie screen I would not be a happy camper (I live several hundred feet away from both of my next-door neighbors, so MAYBE I wouldn't hear it -- one of the neighbors has a pool and I have never heard anything from back there). But seriously, why would anyone buy something that they must know will bug the crap out of their neighbors (unless that is their intention OR they live really far away from their closest neighbors)? Noise pollution is not a good thing.
KnowledgeBld'r, that building with the balcony pools made me queasy!! I don't like heights and just the IDEA of being on one of the higher floors and then stepping out onto the balcony ... ugh!!
KathrynAragon, I LOVE your spice cabinet!! Was just looking at your before-and-after thread and all I can say is WOW. The kitchen is really the heart of the home for me too, which is why I will be remodeling my horrible kitchen within the next 2-3 years -- lots of planning & saving first.
KathrynAragon, I LOVE your spice cabinet!! Was just looking at your before-and-after thread and all I can say is WOW. The kitchen is really the heart of the home for me too, which is why I will be remodeling my horrible kitchen within the next 2-3 years -- lots of planning & saving first.
LOL thank you - and I feel your pain having a "horrible kitchen." Ugh, I was looking at those BEFORE pictures of mine and thinking "I can't believe I even bought the house with it looking like that!" No wonder my husband ALMOST refused to buy the house because of the kitchen alone - but I am always good at visualizing so I was looking past it into the future (which is now!) because the price was so low I knew we'd be able to use the savings to renovate the funky, ridiculous kitchen.
"...lots of planning and saving first..." you are a smart girl. You really have to have both. I sat down and really thought through the space, knowing that I had the freedom to completely gut it (which is nice). So I focused on functionality, which I'm good at, and then I chose a contractor to help with the actual finishes, because I think I know what I like but kitchen mistakes are too expensive! She asked me to gather together a bunch of photos of kitchens that really appeal to me. She also went through my house and got a feel for what I like in general, and we used a piece of my Polish pottery (but it could really be anything you really like - even a throw pillow) for an anchor, so to speak. I have a lot of "stuff" so we knew we wanted the finishes to be quiet - not boring, not exactly neutral, but just "quiet." No fancy tile patterns or colorful backsplashes or heavily patterned granite and no pronounced colors on anything....just quiet, with the focus on texture rather than color.
I think it turned out well. I love it!
Oh, save a lot of money too. We didn't have to buy new appliances because thankfully the previous owner had replaced all of them with top notch appliances. Even so, the whole project ended up costing a little over $30,000.
I am about five hours north of you - This Texas place is pretty huge.
I LOVE San Antonio! You lucky girl - what a great city. My son lives and works in Austin, which isn't far from you, and we usually take in San Antonio when we go down and visit him, so I'll holler at you next time I'm headed your way! And if you come up to the Tyler/Longview area holler at me!
I want some sort of system to take the grocery bags from the garage to my kitchen drop zone.
Don't really care about OTT amenities.
^^^Me too. Since, we are dreaming here, I love that river pool. Otherwise, my wish list would be
having the old-fashioned pantry (like a small butlers pantry) where it's easier to get to those small
appliances like my food processor, mixer, etc... and other things that are not used on a daily basis.
- a window garden for herbs
- a soaker tub with jets
- a one story 1920's bungalow with original floor plan, woodwork, built-ins and tile (with 2 bathrooms)
- a refurbished 1950's stove
and a small garden.
Dream home feature? Open concept, open concept, and then some more open concept. In each of the open concepts will be multiple large screen tv's that are locked to one station, always on: HGTV.
In the backyard I'd take the backyard cabin As corny as it seems, a fireplace next to the bath would be cool. I could roast S'mores while soaking...in my open concept..while watching HGTV.
(yes, this is my attempt at humor. It is supposed to be satire. Does this help --> ?)
Dream home feature? Open concept, open concept, and then some more open concept. In each of the open concepts will be multiple large screen tv's that are locked to one station, always on: HGTV.
In the backyard I'd take the backyard cabin As corny as it seems, a fireplace next to the bath would be cool. I could roast S'mores while soaking...in my open concept..while watching HGTV.
(yes, this is my attempt at humor. It is supposed to be satire. Does this help --> ?)
You didn't mention granite anywhere.
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Noise pollution is not a good thing.
The kitchen is really the heart of the home for me too, which is why I will be remodeling my horrible kitchen within the next 2-3 years -- lots of planning & saving first.
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