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Sunday Scribblings: In the Kitchen

Rarely does a homeowner have the ability to design his/her home, much less a kitchen. So if you’re a first-time homebuyer, basically you move into someone else’s life. The walls are painted the colors the last owners thought mattered. The cabinets they thought gave their living space panache aren't practical for your lifestyle. And the floor they thought tied the look together is just downright ugly.

When we moved in, the kitchen floor was a yellow and green linoleum or sheet vinyl. (Sorry I don't have a picture to show of the floor.) All of the appliances were mustard yellow and the cabinets are some 70s-style laminate that’s not worth refacing. Since then, we’ve gotten rid of the linoleum floor and made a few minor improvements, but we’re no closer to remodeling than when we first bought the house four years ago.

Over time, we’ve started storing stories in cupboards and closets. Sippy cups take up the spot where I think wine glasses must have resided. Even the kids have made the kitchen into something else—a music room with the pots and pans. As the house breathes in, it takes on our family history. The kitchen just needs a serious face lift, and new spaces to store new memories.
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Kamsin said…
My Mum's kitchen has had very little done to it in 20 years, a couple of new cupboards over the years, a new fridge and freezer at christmas and new floor tiles last summer. But it's basically never had any thought put into it, subsequently it is a nightmare to be in, let alone cook in. The electric cooker is so old that one of the rings fuses the downstairs electrics! Would be fair to say my Mum's not a great cook! I find myself longing for a kitchen which is a pleasure to be in, reading everyone's posts!
Anyway, I love the line about the kids turning it into a music room. Hope your kitchen gets a remodel sometime within the next 20 years!
12:20 PM
Regina said…
That's the one thing I love about going home- well, one of the things anyway- is that the kitchen I grew up is still the same kitchen I come home to now... it's just magical for me. The bedrooms have turned into something else, but not our kitchen!
Remodeling is a huge thing because it's something you have live with for as long as you're there- I think that's why people really take their time with it!
2:15 PM
Rethabile said…
The kitchen, the heart of a home. That's why we all care so much about how it looks.
5:45 AM
Kay Cooke said…
Our kitchen is very 'umble. it's plain, non-descript. But we did get the wooden floors stripped and polished last year, so now it gleams a little more. But we have old 70s cupboard doors and old taps (faucets). But I don't tend to spend much time in it ... despite the name I took on when I married, I am actually not that great a cook(e) !! Cooking doesn't actually appeal much now. I've had thirty years of cooking ... I'm a jaded cook with no yearnings to be re-inspired. (But I loved my childhood kitchens with their warm coal ranges.)
6:31 AM
Emily said…
This was a great post. I love the idea of your kids creating a new face lift for the kitchen. One advantage to a gut-rehab on a formerly abandoned house (which was taking up my time last year) is that you do get to pick everything
4:03 PM
Jone said…
What a great post, January. I really like the idea of rthe cabinets and shelves storing stories.
9:08 PM
rel said…
January,
You are so right...making the new space our own is what's important.
When we moved into this house, the previous owner had zero sense of decor. ;-)
12:54 PM
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