KISS THE COOK

The family meeting place...the kitchen.  I loved my kitchen in Texas.  It was the best designed kitchen I've had, and it was big!  Our new California kitchen, where do I begin?  It's small, has wasted space, and no island.  That's right, there is NO ISLAND.  I have space planned and tried to figure out how to get an island in my new home, but no such luck.  Did you know you should have 36-40 inches of space between the island and wall cabinets.  No matter how badly I tried to fit an island in this kitchen, it wasn't going to fit.  It's like squeezing into the smaller size jeans, you know there is not enough room but you still try.  

After calming down about the island I started looking at the kitchen design.  The cabinets were original and the home was built in 1978, so you can imagine how bad they were.  I was going to paint them but after seeing they needed more then paint I decided to get new cabinets.  This also lets me utilize the corners in the kitchen for storage which was dead space.  Due to the size of the kitchen I knew I wanted white, light colors that would flow and make it appear larger.  I went straight to Pinterest and started looking.  I love Pinterest, and I think it has been such a great tool for both clients and designers.  

Another problem was trying to fit some type of eating place in the kitchen.  I wanted a cozy spot where my daughter could do her crafts, my son's could sit and tell me about their day, and my husband could work on his laptop while I pretend to cook.  I finally figured it out...a banquette!   I have just enough space for a banquette, small round table and 2 small chairs.  

Here are some of my inspiration pictures from Pinterest.  Enjoy!