Kitchen

Yesterday I spent most of the day deep cleaning my kitchen. Lately I've been realizing just how much I hate that room (thanks Jen), and although a lot of the changes I want to make are going to require a large chunk of funds that we don't have at the moment, it sure looks a lot better when the dishes are done and everything is squeaky clean.

Spick and span! 

Anyway. Like I said, the last week or so I've been hyper-aware of certain negative features in my kitchen. Because I know you are dying to hear what they are, here's a list:

• Ugly, old oak cabinets stained brown with a hint of orange... yuck.
• Ugly, old counters that are a yellowish off-white color.
• The walls are also a yellowish off-white color... but a different shade than the counters. Oy.
• Fluorescent lights. Need I say more? The fixtures themselves look really bad, plus the weird colored light makes everything look even uglier.
• The sink is very shallow. It always looks like it's piled high with dishes, even if in reality there are just a few dirty bowls. (Although let's be honest, often it looks like it is piled high with dishes because it is.) Also, it's quite old (Our house is even older than my husband! Ancient!), and the steel is dinged and scratched.
• The pantry shelves are problematic... Too tall and too deep to be really useful for smaller things like cans and boxes of pasta. I haven't found a solution that I like yet, at least not one that isn't too expensive. For now some cheap metal wire shelves are making it slightly more bearable.
• The ceiling is lowered everywhere except around said fluorescent lights. It makes the room feel smaller than it really is.

On the bright side, there are some redeeming qualities:

• Dallin bought all new (stainless steel!) appliances when he bought the house several years ago. Yay! And we have a gas range. 
• We have a decent amount of both cabinet and counter space
• I kind of like the ceramic tile floors. I might have chosen a different color, but I can definitely live with it. No problem.
• We have a pantry. Thank goodness. And the things I don't like about it can be fixed without major renovation.
• It's big enough that a few people can work in there at once without it being too crowded.

Even though we'll have to wait a little bit to really start making changes, there's some things I can do to improve it in the meantime. First, that fluorescent light has got to go. I think that will make a huge difference. Once I know what the lighting situation will be, since that affects the color so much, I want to paint the walls. And who knows? Maybe I'll be crazy and just paint my cabinets too. Maaaybe. I'm a little nervous about embarking on that kind of an adventure. 

We will probably be living here for a long time so I'm excited to get my house decorated and arranged the way I want it. If only I had felt this motivated before I got pregnant, but there's no time like the present, right?