Shaping Up

Busy times around here! I have a LOT to say about that book I was reading, The 100 Thing Challenge, none of it good, but I'm leaving that for another day. Anyway, I can't write about bucking the consuming trend and simplifying quite yet. I still have a few things to buy for the kitchen! hahaha Seriously though, folks, one of the goals for our kitchen is to make it more functional. I know the answer to getting organized isn't supposed to be running out to buy MORE! NEW! THINGS! but it sure is going to help in this case! So without further ado...

Although we've been paring down our kitchenware, we still need some additional storage. The Flytta cart is replacing a cheap, stand alone cabinet we added to our kitchen several years ago. The cabinet had seen better days, and had a drawer that was so shallow as to be nearly useless. We're also telling ourselves that that wheels will come in handy for when we clean. No laughing.

A stroll through Ikea's kitchen set-ups sold us on the functionality of the Grundtal range of rails and shelves. We bought an assortment of things to play with which will hopefully get essentials up off the counters but still easily within reach. The backsplash will be classic subway tile. It was a bit of a trick to find a tile which was both affordable and included the trim pieces we wanted, but a VERY helpful woman in the tile department at Lowe's called American Olean and found a product they could order for us. I had found a few other options online, but the shipping costs were prohibitive. Lowe's was also the source for the Leadco pendant lights we'll be installing at either end of the kitchen. We wanted something very clean and simple. Under $30, too!

Home Depot was the source of our new faucet, the Avalon from Price Pfister. I originally thought I wanted a bridge faucet, but the only one in our price range was a little too ornate. This one is a little cleaner, a little more functional with the single handle, and the soap dispenser will get one more thing off the counter. Finally, we're going with all new knobs due to sheer laziness! We were planning to use the white porcelain knobs which were already there, but the screws were brass, we wanted silver, and previous experience had taught us how hard it is to find just the right screw for the job. These also come in a ten-pack for a little over $2 per knob, so we're going to go ahead and change them. The one we tried as an example looks pretty spiffy, so I think they'll be a nice touch.

I haven't even shared my favorite new purchase for the kitchen. What do you think that might be?