~I Love My Pantry/Kitchen Work Area~

For years, I have had either no pantry, itty bitty pantry or a coat closet turned pantry and for one who loves to cook, my dream has always been to have a big pantry that is easy to organize and work friendly.  Now I finally have it and it's hiding behind these doors!

When we were building our house, I knew that I wanted to have screen doors instead of solid doors or doors with glass inserts.  In the past, I had seen it in magazines and put it on my wishlist of ideas.  Originally, I wanted old screen doors but finding two somewhat matching doors, one opening to the left and one opening to the right, would  be downright impossible!

I found these at Lowes and thought they were perfect for the old farmhouse style look that I was trying to create.  At first, I had nothing behind the screens as I couldn't figure out exactly what I wanted to do.  Lo and behold, Mr. Bill (aka dear hubby) came up with the idea of putting some kind of curtains behind the doors.

I didn't want solid curtains but the idea of sheers would continue the light, airy look of screen doors, so off I went to Target and bought a pair of the Shabby Chic style curtains, trimmed them as they were too long and attached them to narrow rods attached to the doors.  It hides my messy unorganized pantry pretty well.  See those books and notebooks on the top shelf?  That's about half of my cookbooks and recipe collection!

This is my island.  The idea of using an old farmhouse table as an island work space has always been at the top of my kitchen wishlist.  This table sits on top of a wood frame that houses cabinets and drawers.  Knowing that this table would never be used for anything other than an island work space, I had the builder cut into the side and install an electrical outlet so that I could use my freestanding mixer or anything else that I needed while working at the table.  It also comes in handy for recharging cellphones, using my floor steamer or table fan to circulate more air in the kitchen while cooking.

At first, there were only going to be cabinets under the table but then I realized that I didn't have enough drawer space, so I had some cut into this side of the table.  These cabinets and drawers look old don't they?  Having my new drawers and cabinets made to look old is another story for when I give you a tour of my home at a later date. :)

The drawers hold small essential cooking tools like measuring cups and spoons, serving spatulas, graters, and such.

I love these slide out drawers!  The right sided cabinets hold larger kitchen utensils such as mixing bowls, large measuring cups, hand mixer, food chopper, glass and metal baking dishes.

The left-sided cabinet was originally designed to house my large freestanding mixer with a stand that pulled out to table height so that I didn't have to lift that heavy thing!  But I don't think the builder used the right materials as it never really worked very well.  I use the area to also store my food processor.  I only use the freestanding mixer around the holidays and such.  If I had a good counter area to house it, I would but for now it stays where it is.  The area under the moveable drawer is great storage space for seldom used items.  Oh, that black rolled up thing is one of my mats that I use when I'm working.  My old table has large cracks between the boards that allow crumbs and such to fall into the drawers.  One of these days (how often has that phrase been used??), I'll get those cracks filled!

I love these cubicle type areas.  It helps me to stay organized and makes it easy to prepare my shopping list.  Plus, it's easy to pull out items that I need for cooking.  Anyway, while I'm busy putting together some kind of dish, I throw my pantry doors wide open...

pull out my kitchen utensils and gather all the necessary ingredients on the table.  Being between the table and the pantry makes cooking so much more fun.  I just turn from one side to another....do a little measuring and mixing, turn around and put ingredients back into the pantry once they are used; that way I don't forget as I have been known to leave out an ingredient!  It's definitely not due to being forgetful, heaven forbid, but to getting sidetracked or distracted, right?  Now, that is about the only part of my cooking that is organized as my table, counter and sink become quite messy.  I have heard that creative people are messy people.  Surely somebody said that sometime or another.  It's my motto anyway!

Yep, I love my pantry/kitchen work area!  What do you love about your pantry or what would you change if you could?  I'd love to hear your ideas.

Blessings ~