Hubby and I moved into our three bedroom townhouse in March 1991. We had three small children and the house was plenty big for all of us. Nine years later, we had three more children and the house was a wee bit more crowded but we made it work. Son #1 has moved out so there are only seven of us in our house. I'm pretty sure the area of our house is 1200 square feet which includes a second floor and a basement.
We have very little counter top space. I had to be judicious with what I allow to sit on there!
In fact, I have to be really choosy with how I stash things inside the cupboards; we're really cramped for storage in this room. I use a crock for holding my large utensils. Not only does it free up the precious little drawer space I have, it is handy dandy for grabbing a stir spoon or a knife when I need them quickly.
When I got married 30 years ago, I determined that all my small appliances would be white or 'cream' coloured. It makes things look uniform and clean, I think. I have a toaster oven, a blender, a KitchenAid mixer, and a food processor sitting on my cupboards; all white and all used weekly if not daily. When canning season is in full swing, I simply move the appliances off my counter tops and stash them on the other side of the room to allow space for my cooling jars. I am able to roll out pie crusts and pizza crusts on either my kitchen counter or table top; the fact that I have very little space has not really hindered me or my daughters from baking or cooking for large groups. Did the reader note what is NOT on my counter top? I never cared much for cannisters on display so they are tucked inside a cabinet. I tried to take a picture of them but, in small house reality, I simply could not get a good picture since there isn't sufficient room for me to squeeze in front of the cabinets and snap a good photo!
My pots and pans are crammed into one cupboard right beside the stove. They are hardy pots. .
The next photo shows my dishes cupboard. I wanted to show off my idea for displaying family photos and drawings but not cluttering up the kitchen fridge or wall space. I tape the odd photo on the insides of my cabinet doors. It makes me smile when I reach for the dishes and it reminds me to pray for family and friends when I see their faces.
My husband designed this corner shelf for my daughters. They usually put up a miniture winter village in our kitchen and, as their collection grew, their need for more 'real estate' did. He put these shelves up for them and I get to use them the rest of the year for my pretty tea sets. It's a win/win!
Even though we have a cramped kitchen, when a kind neighbour offered their piano to us, we gladly squished it on an inside kitchen wall. Hubby put hinges on the piano bench so we can store a few music books in there; very handy and a good idea for making room in small spaces.
We homeschool in our kitchen too. I have made it my policy for the 21 years to buy as little as possible and 'make do'. Right now, only my youngest two are still homeschooling. But, this is about the same amount of text books and notebooks we'd have on hand when we schooled three at a time.
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