Kitchen & Dining Area Tour

So if you want to know what the house looked like when we first moved in, take a look HERE. If you want to know what it looked like earlier this summer when I first wanted to make a few changes, then view HERE. With the most recent changes, there are things I want to highlight, so I'll give you a tour section by section as things continue to finalize, even though the dining area shown here is not going to be the total final product either ;)

KITCHEN & NEW DINING AREA:

KITCHEN:

Items got moved off the counters & stream-lined. Cupboards were rearranged. I'm still thinking about actually growing herbs in that window behind the sink....

DINING AREA: 

Table & rug got moved into this area. New white curtains hung. Eventually I'd like to either bring in the old picnic table or purchase a large farm table for this area, and along the right wall (not pictured) I'd like to have an old farmhouse bar/buffet. Having the table in here just makes more sense to me.

FUNCTIONAL DECORATIONS: 

Nothing as easy as fall squash in an old bowl--especially since the squash can be made into soup as winter approaches--double duty!

LOVE THIS: 

You can tell in this picture that when they remodeled the kitchen in the 90s, they had this spot made to fit the size of their microwave. I finally decided to move my recipe books to fill the spaces surrounding my microwave and I seriously love it. (Although it also might still get some sort of sign to fill the space above :))The glass cupboard to the right also now holds a picture I took at the farmer's market in Savannah and Mom & Dad's old wood bowls that are now in my possession. I like the idea of being able to see beautiful things, even in the kitchen, plus the space behind the large picture is the perfect spot to stow my food dehydrator! :)

AND LOVE THIS EVEN MORE: The pantry

Before food was stored in different areas throughout the kitchen, but when I rearranged I decided to put all the canned and bulk food items in the actual pantry. I used left-over glass jars to store grains & beans. I already had large plastic tubs for flours & sugars. There's one shelf designated to pastas, one to extra canning supplies, and two for baking items. It just makes so much more sense to have the food (almost) all in the same location!

I say almost because I did create two specialty cupboards. One is that bottom corner you can see to the right of the pantry, it has a shelf specifically for the blender & my smoothie extras and another shelf that holds  coffee supplies. The other cupboard is a snack & breakfast cupboard so it has all the cereals, oatmeal, dried fruits & nuts, granola bars, crackers, popcorn & my tea supplies.

Some other changes: I decided that items that get used a lot should be left out/visible, so the two cast iron skillets stay on the stove top ready to use and so does the stove-top coffee maker. I also hung a couple oven mitts on the wall next to the oven, so they'll be easier to grab. The main oils stayed next to the stove top & the utensil container got moved closer. The towel to air dry hand-washed items will stay on the counter, but my compost container got moved under the kitchen sink. I also moved all the spices & vinegars into a small cupboard that's right next to the stove/oven--made sense to have them all located within reaching distance of the cooking area. My plates/bowls stayed where they were, but all mugs/glasses/wine glasses got moved into a cupboard right next to the fridge and next to where the built in wine rack is--again just made sense! My towel & linen drawer got cleaned out and organized--any that were too stained got put in my newly created rag basket in the garage. I now have one shelf in a cupboard designated for organized left-over containers and the lazy susan continues to hold baking bowl sets and now has oversized/bulk items like vinegar & extra oil on the bottom part as they just won't fit anywhere else. 

For the first time, the kitchen really feels like it makes sense! Granted I was the one who unpacked and located stuff originally, but this round is a much improved version-HAHA! Definitely enjoying all the changes :)