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| My 4 year-old son helping with pie dough |
Our kitchen is specifically made for American uses because when we viewed the house, there were openings for a large fridge and slightly bigger than your normal German stove.The only "un-American" thing is the small size. I only have 1 and a half counters for prep work!
I had to be very creative to make this kitchen work. Some things I did was to turn our entryway closet into a little pantry. That helped with all the food storage, We had to store a lot of things in the dining room which was a pain with 3 curious children about! We also put shelves on the wall to place more things. My next project is to buy a pot and pan holder that hangs from the ceiling. It's better for the pans and pretty cool looking. I'm very tall, so I will hit my head a good few times. Hey, I've already lost a few brain cells after having children, what's 100,000+ more gonna harm?
There are advantages to having a small kitchen:
1. It's easy to move about- everything is in a close vicinity.
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| Was whipping up Beef Wellington. Was worried about the lack of space, but it was quite easy to do after all! |
2. Forces you to have an immaculate prep area! I clean so much while cooking because clutter is way too frustrating for me to deal with.
3. And best of all, less to clean.
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| After! Babygirl helped frost the cake. |
The are obvious disadvantages:
1. I feel a bit claustrophobic when the kids help out, but I still have them come in. It's the most popular room in the house!
2. Having no room to put anything anywhere and less prep area
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| From baking 1 single layer cake (pre-pantry days) |
I have to use my dining area as an extended part of my kitchen when using the food processor or stand mixer. My stand mixer is now used as part of our home decor. haha. My friends know I cook, so it's not so odd!
Here's a video I made in March 2010. I spring cleaned my home and wanted to show the results. I wanted to just do a slide show on Google Picasa, but it ended up on YouTube with Vivaldi Four Seasons 2 in the background. Le sigh. I would just re-publish the photos, but the photos are on the computer that has crapped out and there's no way to recover the photos :( Hope you enjoy and turn the speakers if you want!
All-in-all, I love my kitchen. It's small, but has the most character than all of the kitchens I've ever had. It's my favorite place in the house and its truly where the magic happens. Not THAT magic....yet ;) But it is where the pie happens.
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| Happy hubby with homemade Chicken and Bacon Pie. |
I hate you, because I am jealous of your fridge and even more so your freezer lol. I kid, I kid.
ReplyDeleteWait till you see my fridge, its a baby size.
I did a kitchen tour a while back on my blog.
Do you ever have issues with things getting greasy n your kitchen? I have no idea why but my stuff gets covered in a layer of grime, so anything above the cupboards gets nasty.
Yes! I constantly have to scrub scrub. Using vinegar helps break down the grime well! Very bullet to add to the list of disadvantages!
ReplyDeleteI love me fridge. ;)
I love your kitchen tour. Was too cute. And you have way more counter-space than I do!
I just moved into a vintage house with a small kitchen that were are currently renovating.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. No broom closet. No counterspace. No dishwasher. No baking space for rolling out dough - how did you make that wonderful pie your husband is drooling over? (heehee) It seems harder to keep clean when it's smaller, but maybe it's because there's nowhere for the doghair tumbleweeds to go!
I love your blog & will continue to follow in the reader.
No dogs just grease! I usually use vinegar and @Serena I use Cillit Bang also! I wish we could renovate our kitchen, but we live in a rented home as we're not in Germany permanently. If we owned the house, we would have expanded the kitchen as much as we could! That's actually a Chicken, Mushroom and Bacon Pie, how could I forget! It tasted amazing, here is the link: http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=77
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the kitchen renovation, Cassiopeia!! And thank you for following :)
Well I just did a major kitchen clean up and switched around the cupboards, we now have our dishes in the living room. I have not yet decided about utensils, as of now they are in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteBut back to my point. I noticed that grime even in the cupbaords, ok not as much as on the outside. I need to plan to pull everything out and wipe it more often.
But I have much more room for my pans now and that should keep the counters clear.
When you guys move I want your house lol. :P I love your place its super cute.
One of these days we will have to invite you guys over now that our place is habitable again.I plan to do a new blog post with our new set up. Living room has come togther great.
That'd be great!
ReplyDeletelove your kitchen! I have a really nice size kitchen and don't cook as much as I'd like. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteYou are so cute! It reminded me of my Omi and Opi's kitchen in Kiel. I miss visiting Germany. You are right, having a small kitchen forces you to keep cleaning. I really would love for you to join Mama's Little Nestwork so I can feature your blog my friend. Have a great night!
ReplyDeleteMama Hen
Ahhh ok, I got it now. I just followed I didn't join befpre. I have joined for sure now haha...those darn missing brain cells :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this! I say this often, but your love for cooking and effortless way of including your children in your cooking endeavors is so inspirational! I live in the US, so my kitchen would be considered big on Eurpean standards. I still, however, often wish for more space!
ReplyDelete-Jessica
Aw thanks! There are some more modern, and big houses that has big kitchens. In my first apartment, my kitchen was huge! Unfortunately I was also a single mother at the time who worked shifts and I rarely ever cooked :(
ReplyDeleteOh my, I never knew Germany's kitchens are so small! Very surprised here :) Don't know why but as I was watching your video, I was thinking about Ikea. They have so many creative things for small spaces. I think you and your husband did a good job with the space saver shelves.
ReplyDeleteHey there! Thank you for joining Mama's Little Nestwork! I would love to feature a super recipe next week. Let me know if you would like to be featured. Make sure to visit throughout the week and comment. Bloglove! Have a great night! Thank you for your comment!
ReplyDeleteMama Hen
Aww Sommer, I LOVE your kitchen. Its not how big your kitchen its what you can do in that kitchen! Love it! The smaller the kitchen the less you have to clean keke. I enjoyed your video and the photos of you adorable kids. Keep cooking mama! And hope that one day we can meet up in good ole MD!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa! I'm totally down for hanging out :)
ReplyDeleteI love your kitchen, so adorable, clean and purdy :)
ReplyDeleteI love that you have a home filled with love, happy kids and good food. Your kids are so lucky to have you for a mom! You've got great storage ideas..I really could use some organizing my big cupboard, I throw everything in there from waffle maker to electric skillet!
Sommer your kitchen is palatial compared to mine. I would take your kitchen in a heart beat. But I guess I'm stuck with my corner no-window having dungeon! I do love all of your ideas and will have to re-evaluate my kitchen. By the way, I don't want to brag or anything but uhm my freezer is bigger than yours :P Seriously great slideshow video and thanks for giving us a peek.
ReplyDeleteWe pride ourselves on our impressive track record of inspiring and supporting our clients, in achieving full potential for all kitchen projects undertaken.
ReplyDeleteGerman Kitchen Boston