Adding Real Estate to Your Kitchen!

Well, if the title doesn't get you, nothing will. Who doesn't want to add REAL ESTATE to their kitchen!? Kitchens today are much bigger than they were back in the day, when our grandmothers were in their small kitchens, cooking and baking all day, yet even as our kitchens have grown, we still find ourselves asking for more space.

I have contemplated this very troubling feat myself when I started taking on my kitchen this summer. I finally got around to painting the walls (Tobacco Road!!) and I'm very proud of the new kitchen. I think my family is, too, because we end up spending more time in the kitchen, an unexpected bonus that I'm currently enjoying. Who knew a can of paint could bring your whole family together like this?? In assessing the JUNK laying about the kitchen, I decided it was time to find a space for bill paying and overall paperwork in the kitchen. I decided to tackle. . .

Cue the low, haunting, dark music here. . .

THE K - I - T - C - H - E - N C - O - R - N - E - R!!!!!!!

{insert evil laugh, blood-curdling scream and spooky loud music here.}

Oh my God. Will you look at that corner!?!? Now, mind you, I have a rather large kitchen to begin with. I love my kitchen, it was the selling point of the house. The problem with MY big kitchens is that the space that isn't used as much ends up looking like the picture above. Cluttered, mismatched pieces of summer that we use, then put over there to use again later. I know that picture above looks "staged," but I'm actually embarrassed by it. I did NOTHING to move any of that. The lantern, the two mini coolers, the nail polish remover, the bottle of oil (??? Didn't know I had that!!) is aaaallll mine. They are pieces of life that get pushed into that corner that have no home of their own, so they get put in THAT corner. After a while, my rather LARGE kitchen starts to get a bit smaller. And then smaller... until that one day when I run outside in my curlers and bathrobe and slippers, wave my dish towel in the air, screaming, "I'm not gonna TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!" and decide to something about it.

And that's just what I decided to do.

Ladies, whether your space is large or small, here's how you add real estate to your kitchen:

STEP 1: CLEAN THE CRIME SCENE

I see people do this on HGTV and wonder, where in the heck do they put all of that stuff!?!? And I now know. They put it all behind the cameraman. Good Lord, how can one little corner end up with so much STUFF!? Having said that, it's best to try and start with a clean slate. This corner took me hours to clean off, because I was trying to find a NEW home for all that crap.

STEP 2: MAP OUT A PLAN OF ATTACK
'I know myself pretty well. Well enough to know if I don't go back into this project and map out some sort of organization, it won't take long before the "Mom, where does this go?" items to creep back into this innocent space. I sat down with a notepad, and wrote out the things I needed for my kitchen: a space to pay bills. A place for mail to reside. A central location in the house for charging stuff. You know, the important things in life. I wanted this corner to have purpose in our family for it to really work.

STEP 3: MY MOMMA TOLD ME - YOU'D BETTER SHOP AROUND

Once I knew what I wanted the space to do, and where I wanted it to sit in the space, all you have to do is make it happen! The best advice I can give is to shop in your own home first. Don't go CRAZY and purchase a bunch of expensive organizing bins that look cute sitting side by side. They make for a great picture on a blog, but is that REALLY functional? For me, I decided to find those items in my own home that make it easy to do what I do. The best part? It was CHEAP. I didn't spend $50 or more on some organizational supplies. I used what I had.

Take for example, the glass mug that I never drink in. I would never throw it away, because that's my Alma Mater!! I have to "represent" and put it in a prominent place in my home. Now, it holds pens I'll need to {sigh} pay those pesky bills. Also, I recently purchased that black organizing bin, because everyone has those now, and they look so functional for such an otherwise chaotic project -- charging everything.

And who DOESN'T need a picture of their favorite pooch sitting under a gorgeous, newly refinished lamp!? More on the lamp later. I spray painted that square basket black and am using it to house some blank mailing envelopes and a brand spanking new box of Crayolas. I think every gal should have one brand new box of their very own, to create with...

Don't forget to see what you might have in your own home, before ya go shopping around!

STEP 4: IMPLEMENT AND INSPIRE

Look back at your plans, and make sure you have a place for necessities. Once I realized the areas I needed now had homes (place to lay mail, envelopes, pens, stamps, charging station, etc.) I was very "inspired" to use this new space for messy paper clutter. Everything has a home now.
What you don't see in the picture above is just behind the upper left cabinet. I cleaned out that cabinet to put in it a "bill sorter" - a slotted box with each slot numbered 1 - 31 for all bills to go into. So when the bills (and other important papers) come in, they all have a home far, far away from the eyes of invited guests. Who wants to see your bills and important papers, anyway? It's very inspiring to me to have a home for all those crazy papers, and a dedicated spot to deal with paper clutter.

Now, isn't that better than that CRAZY cluttered corner?!? Let's have another look-see:

Wow - I'm so glad I designed a kitchen corner that I love so much!

How do you add real estate to your kitchen? What spaces INSPIRE you, and keep their form and function at the same time?