One Room Challenge - THE KITCHEN! - Come Join! - Page 11

[TwinMom]

I am loving all these pictures! Seeing how other people live is fascinating, I should have been an anthropologist.

My goal for the weekend is to completely declutter all of my lower cabinets; I have quite a few. I'm counting my progress by the doors I have to open to access the cabinets (does that make sense?), so right now I am at 10/14. I'm feeling burned-out on it, so I'm going to take a break and come back to it tomorrow. So far I've filled a trash bag with trash and another 1.5 bags for charity. The stuff I'm finding is incredible--two sets of brand-new, in the package silverware? Where did it come from? It's not our pattern, so it's going to charity. A dozen placemats with the tags still on? No idea! I found more gluten-contaminated things to give away and found TONS of crumbs in places I never expected them. There have been a few times when my son with celiac disease had a reaction and we couldn't point to a contamination source, but it's possible it was those crumbs and bits of crackers that we found lurking in corners. Yeah, I feel like Mom of the Year for that one!

Good job to everyone on what you've done so far!!!

[greenmansions]

Originally Posted by serenetabbie

... I saw something on the food network (Alton Brown I think) about how nasty butcher block caddies can get, and I was sold on the strip! ...

What did he say about the butcher blocks? I can't imagine it could be too bad in the slots since the knives are always washed and dried before they go back in. Now you've got me really curious.

I cleaned out my utensil drawers. One of the local charities is doing pickups in the neighborhood on Tuesday and I am going to put a bunch of boxes out there. Part of it will be excess kitchen stuff. YAY!

[hellyaellen]

tonites plan of action is to put away the clean dishes and load the dirties.

i bought a new re-nuzit for the pantry today.

oh oh AND i cleaned out the fridge last night. maybe tonight i'll scrub down the inside.

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by greenmansions

What did he say about the butcher blocks? I can't imagine it could be too bad in the slots since the knives are always washed and dried before they go back in. Now you've got me really curious.

Might not be a bad idea to soak the block in vinegar or something once in a while I guess.

[mamabearsoblessed]

Originally Posted by hellyaellen

tonites plan of action is to put away the clean dishes and load the dirties.

i bought a new re-nuzit for the pantry today.

oh oh AND i cleaned out the fridge last night. maybe tonight i'll scrub down the inside.

this is my plan of action for today too. I WILL clean out and scrub the fridge., the rest of the kitchen is done except this !!!
the thing is~ I hate cleaning the refrigerator more than any other household chore, we have a new one and with the old I kept putting off truly scrubbing it because I was hoping it would die and just knew the morn after slaving over it it'd be dead. And... thats pretty much what happened .

also~ maple syrup spilled on the bottom shelf some weeks ago : and I know it'll take much of the afternoon just to remedy that :

once ds is better we will be heading to homedepot to check out counterops and sinks~ , maybe later this week

[MrsTittlemouse]

It was a slow but steady week in my kitchen. We have been keeping up with dishes, except when I was away last night DH forgot to turn on the dishwasher, now we have a mess.
I did clean out more cabinets and tackle the top of the fridge.
This week I have to:
wash down inside and outside of fridge
go through cabinets that have vases and other things that I don't use often
organize the pantry cabinet..... scary thought!

Oh I want to paint my kitchen, but I don't know if that is likely!

Thanks again for all your inspiration, this thread is really helping me get stuff done!

[mamabearsoblessed]

MY FRIDGE IS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cece]

Originally Posted by mamabearsoblessed

MY FRIDGE IS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations!

I worked my butt off last night, stayed up cleaning/organizing until 2am! DH is out of town training to be a Budokon instructor and I want to surprise him with a "while you were out" cleaning and organizing type return! (I was going to paint but decided that was too ambitious for this weekend) He does know about this challenge, though, of course. So, lots done, but lots more to go before I take my "after" pics. Mostly I can't decide where to put everything. : But, tons of progress. Wish me luck, off to work

[3_opihi]

Originally Posted by mamabearsoblessed

MY FRIDGE IS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You go girl!!! Isn't that the bestest feeling?

[mightymoo]

Woo hoo! So much progress being made and the month is only about 1/3 of the way through! Go us!

I decided that for the big wall in our kitchen I would frame a favorite photo I took a few years ago of sunflowers on my DH's aunts farm - it fits the colors perfectly. So I got it printed and found a frame on sale and got it hung - it fits beautifully and I love how it really means something to us. It isn't any more extraordinary than any other picture of a sunflower, but it reminds us of that peaceful time on the farm and how much we enjoyed being there. I also found some curtains at Sears to complement the room.

I realized how much better I do at making my house a home if instead of being paralyzed by feeling like I have to have a grand plan, I just jump in an start - I think you see all these shows and the designer comes in and already knows the fabrics and colors and whatnot, I feel like I have to decide it all before starting. But I do so much better if I just start with one thing - in this case wall color and just go from there - things really do come together!

For the first time, I feel like this is my kitchen and not the prevous owners. I am actually really starting to LIKE my kitchen!

I think the next step is finding some fabric to cover the chairs with - they are in miserable shape from being spilled on and a failed covering experiment where I used a vinyl tablecloth that wasn't up to the job, so half the chairs have ripped vinyl on them. LOL

[MommyMichele]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

I realized how much better I do at making my house a home if instead of being paralyzed by feeling like I have to have a grand plan, I just jump in an start - I think you see all these shows and the designer comes in and already knows the fabrics and colors and whatnot, I feel like I have to decide it all before starting. But I do so much better if I just start with one thing - in this case wall color and just go from there - things really do come together!

This is what I'm trying to grasp! I'm also finding it hard to find time to do much beyond keeping up the dishes while I have an little in-arms baby. I've trying not to get frustrated, but my house has gone way over my clutter threshold since my son was born 3 months ago. But still, if I'd just do something whenever I have my hands free, it's progress. Often I'm indecisive and before I do more than clear a few things off the table one of my children needs something. And the clutter increases.

p.s. That's a wonderful idea to use photographs you've taken yourself for wall decor. It's so meaningful. I'm going to remember that. We have almost entirely blank white walls still, and we've lived here almost seven years! yikes!

[lisalulu]

I sorted through my flatware yesterday and got rid of one set-we had our wedding flatware and a set from a long time ago. I cleaned out the knife drawer and got rid of a bunch of stuff that didn't belong in there. DH put on the lower cabinet door that was missing and is working on the other one. We are partway through ripping down the cabinets above the stove. Thats it for now!

[anniebee]

I joined the ranks of those with clean refrigerators yesterday! Woo!

So far, of my 40 cabinets (sheesh...), I've gone through 4 of them. But they are an awful four. I don't really need to go through all 40, but I definitely have 13 more I'd like to get to during the challenge, plus the pantry and the freezer.

But the fridge, man... it looks amazing!

[elmo&zoe]

I finally did something. I cleaned out and decluttered one drawer. It's a start.

[sincitymama]

I've been losing steam the last few days. I am trying to remind myself it's ok to need a couple days off to re-group and notice the differences so far.
Looks like we won't be doing the painting this month I had hoped for, finances got quite a bit tighter than expected. We'll be perfectly fine, just definitely not out buying painting supplies. Oh well.

My biggest problem right now is deciding where to put everything. It seems like no matter what I try, there always ends up something important and frequently used that is awkwardly placed. So, I'm re-reading my Julie Morgenstern and trying to get my brain in gear. Honestly, I think this problem would be solved if I had a *smaller* kitchen : Is that so screwed up? Some people daydream about additions and moving into bigger, roomier house. I fantasize about cutting the square footage in half Less space=less decisions!

[mrsuribe]

I finally finished organzing our kitchen. It feels so good. I'm going to spend the rest of the month give the kitchen a good scrub down. It really needs it!

Does anyone have any good tips for cleaning linoleum (not sure how to spell)? Our floor is so dingy looking and we are not at a point where we can replace it.

I'll try and get dh's camera tonight and take pics of the cupboards. I'm so proud!

[3_opihi]

Our linoleum was really yellow and dirty looking no matter how hard we cleaned it. We finally bought this stuff at Ace called "Krud Kutter" yes, I'm sure I took 10 years off my life but that stuff seriously took off all the buildup off my floor in less than five minutes. It's amazing. And this after I had used every floor stripper under the sun - including laquer thinner :

Now I mop with a very diluted version of the Krud Kutter stuff and then go over it with mop and glo. It's important to wax, strip and rewax linoleum to keep it from getting that gross buildup.

[kreyno4]

Decluttering argument

Well, dh and I really got into last night. I went through all the tupperware : and matched lids and bottoms. I put the ones without lids in the recycling because I am very sick of putting food in a container and then finding it has no lid. Plus I do plan to eventually get rid of all my tupperware and start using glass.

Anyway dh found the tupperware in the recycling and was very mad, saying that it was so wasteful, etc. I do re-use lots of things but since 1. we do not have a lot of storage space to wait to reuse things and 2. I didn't have a use in mind for those (neither did he, and I doubt he would reuse them anyway), I thought it was better to get rid of them.

Then he saw the disposable aluminum pans in which I cooked turkeys the past 2 Thanksgivings, I was also recycling those, same fight. My thinking there was that when I make turkey(s) again I deserve to buy a real roasting pan (and borrow if I need 2).

Maybe this would be better posted on the Parents as Partner board but I just thought someone here might commiserate with me.

On a more positive note, I have made a lot of progress. Only 3 more cupboards to go! I am getting rid of stuff and packing what is left up so dh can work on remodeling the kitchen next week while dd and I are away! This challenge is really helping me!!!

[annettemarie]

Today I moved a table from the basement to the breakfast nook. All by myself. At 32 weeks. I know I shouldn't have, but the nesting hormones are kicking in and I've been asking DH to do it for weeks, so I just dismantled the table and did it myself. It looks great, though!

Question about my floor--it never looks clean. What can I do? I see 3_opihi's Krud Kutter post above. Are there any natural alternatives, or do I need to resort to chemicals if I want teh shiny? I mean, it's still going to be crappy '70's brick linoleum no matter what, but I'd like it to be SHINY crappy '70's brick linoleum.

I'm also trying to decide just how badly I want the painting done this month. We don't have tons of extra money right now and I don't know if we can swing the low-VOC paint. And I don't know if I'm allowed to paint, even with low-VOC paint, while pregnant.

Anyway, while I try to figure this stuff out, my next step is to clean the wood on my cupboards.

[lisalulu]

We got the kitchen cabinets above ou stove down yesterday-well DH did. And we found a hole in the ceiling where they were and some pretty ugly pink paint! It looks like when the original owner remodeled in the 70s she had a wall taken out and the cabinets and peninsula where the stove is put there. So we will be fixing that hole this weekend. The kitchen looks much brighter with those cabinets down.

We also got new liners for the burners-I don't know what they're called but the silver things that go under the burner. Ours were pretty bad and unsalvagable.

I think my mess of cookbooks and piles of loose recipes will be my next thing to tackle.