Adapting to a New Kitchen

New home, new kitchen, new blog design.

We’ve been in our new home for a little over two weeks. At first we camped out while waiting for our worldly possessions to be delivered. The kitchen felt so empty without my cooking gear and dinnerware, but of course it wasn’t empty—the appliances, counter tops, and cabinets were all here, waiting to be filled and used. We ate with disposable plates and utensils while sitting on the floor since we didn’t have a table and chairs, but it was fun, like a picnic.

I took time to plan where everything would live in the new space. The Kitchen Aid mixer would fit nicely in the corner next to the sink. The toaster oven would work next to the wall ovens. A coffee/espresso/tea station would be nice next to the hand painted coffee plates near the frig. The polish pottery would go into the cabinet with the glass doors. Cutting boards and small appliances would live in the island. Wine would go in the dining room. Cookbooks would fit perfectly in the shelves in the mini office. I had a plan.

Then came the movers and everything descended into chaos. Boxes were everywhere at first, then everything was out of the boxes but all available counter, table, chair, and floor space was clobbered with kitchen gear. Getting the kitchen up and running has been quite a project. We’ve pretty much dug out of the chaos and have only a few things left to figure out, and the kitchen is now functional.

Like many other foodies, the kitchen is the center of the house for us. Much of our day-to-day living occurs in this room, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s more of a “living room” for us than the living room itself, and each day I learn more about how to live in our favorite room. For example:

• We’ve ordered a cooktop cover. My boys are very curious about the knobs, and I don’t want them to accidentally light a burner. I’ll write a review after it arrives.
• Stir frying makes a real mess on the cooktop (glass under gas burners), and it isn’t easy to clean up. I may permanently move all stir fry operations to the gas grill side burner out on the deck.
• Turning on the oven lock function was not immediately apparent to me, but I learned how to do it very quickly after one of the boys unintentionally started the oven cleaning cycle.
• The western sun streaming through the breakfast room window is beautiful in the afternoons, but it makes reading the oven display almost impossible.
• Swiffer pads do not work well on highly textured ceramic tile. I had to buy a sponge mop to clean up the really sticky messes for which my boys are famous.
• The island is the center of the kitchen, and it’s also the center of my boys’ attention. The like to chase each other around it, then turn off and make a run through the breakfast room and go around the table, giggling all the way.

We’ve said several times that this is the house where we want to spend the rest of our lives. That should give me plenty of time to adapt to our new kitchen.

UPDATE 3/28/07: My 16-inch round pizza stone is too big for the oven! The door won’t shut!