A few of my favorite things

Ever since we renovated our kitchen, I've been wanting to write a blog post about some of the things I really love about it. It's taken longer than I'd planned, but I like to think this will only add to its sincerity.

It probably goes without saying, but I love my kitchen. It has revolutionized my life, especially as a mom. Now my children like playing in that room while I work because there's room for them. (And I don't go nuts with them playing in there because I'm not tripping over them every time I turn around.) Cooking made a hundred times easier aside, that alone would be worth the renovation.

Needless to say, it's a little hard to pick my favorites, but I'll stick with the Top Ten.

*Be forewarned that this is a photo-heavy entry. Also, these Top Ten are in no particular order, other than what came next in the photo album.*

1. First up, I want to highlight one of the things I took for granted my whole life until being a wife for seven years with only two in either kitchen I lived in: drawers! When I told Eric (aka Cabinet Maker/Kitchen Dream Fulfiller) that I wanted a lot of drawers, he told me I could never have enough. In fact, I believe he said that nobody ever regrets putting lots and lots of drawers in their kitchen.

Truth be told, I didn't really care what anybody else felt, I just knew I wanted 'em!

And now I do: seven glorious drawers!

2. Next up is a little something I'd hoped for, didn't think would fit, and that Eric snuck in for me after scrounging for a few spare inches. If you know me, you know it's bliss for me to have this.

And, no, for the record, they're not alphabetically organized.

(They're organized by "type.")

3. Another favorite new feature is the pocket door we had Bill (aka House Overhauler/Big Picture Keeper) install between the dining room and kitchen. Let me tell you, it's already come in really handy, and we've barely scratched the surface.

For example, New Year's Eve when we stayed up really late playing games, we set up a big table in the kitchen and pulled the door shut so the kiddies could sleep undisturbed. Awesome!

As you can see, Aubrey thinks it's pretty cool, too.

4. Out of the 7 wall cabinets, we had Eric make 2 of them with glass fronts. I would have done even more, except that at some point I just had a lot of stuff I didn't exactly want visible to everyone who walks through. You know, like lunch boxes, paper napkins, and baking soda.

All in all, 2 out of 7 is perfect. The glass opens the kitchen up that much more and lets me put out my more attractive things, while still shoving the 5lb bag of sugar behind a door where nobody can see it. Here's one:

5. Okay, now on to appliances. Wow, am I so glad we bought new ones! I can't believe how archaic and, um, dysfunctional some of our old ones were! I feel so blessed that we were able to do this. And that my husband, after choking on the fact that it's actually legal to charge $1000 for something that keeps your food cold, told me we should go for it.

What a guy.

Readers, meet my range, the love of my kitchen life:

Okay, bad second picture. (Man, my photography skills are terrible!)
Still, here I am demonstrating the awesome ability to bake cookies and bread simultaneously. Did I mention that it has 2 separate timers (with the option of delays on both), too?
And the glass cooktop? Yeah, it's a dream. Totally makes up for the disadvantages of cooking with electric.

6. Almost equally as awesome as the range is the refrigerator. It's amazingly huge and comes with all sorts of controls for keeping everything just right.

I love the freezer on the bottom. I was nervous about the pull-out drawer vs. swing-door, but I am completely converted and will never go back. It's so much easier to organize and access, which is especially imperative as long as I only have the one freezer.

And it has an ice maker.

7. And, yes, it's true that our dishwasher isn't anything remarkable. Except that it is! And it doesn't even hook up to the kitchen sink when in use, which might not sound like that big a deal, except that going without the kitchen sink for even an hour is... a pain.

I'm thankful for it, that's for sure. It saves me a great deal of time everyday, especially since I'm one of those people who will wash dishes about once an hour because I can't stand having even a couple dirty dishes in the sink or on the counter.

8. Now, my microwave. Yes, yes! This is the first time since getting married that I've owned a full-size microwave, which is just way cool for leftover nights. I love that it's above the range, saving valuable counterspace. I especially  love that we picked it up for a song and a dance because it was technically last year's model (though not a bit different from this year's, aside from a product number).

9. I have to mention the recessed lighting. Wow! What a difference it's already made! My old kitchen had one little light above the sink and then one fixture in the middle of the room that was so ugly I rarely turned it on. Now I have four recessed lights (one isn't shown in the below picture because it's over the little hutch). Lighting is so important!

10. I cannot say enough about our floors. They are astonishingly amazing.

No, really, pretty much everyone thinks they're about the coolest thing ever. They're not hardwood, but they look it. And I know you're thinking right now that there's no way faux hardwood looks like the real thing. Believe me, I was the most skeptical person out there. In fact, when we realized hardwood was out of the question for us, I was about to go another route entirely: ceramic tile (which I must confess did make me tremble for our water glasses). Then Bill showed us this flooring and, to my surprise, the sample looked... good!? I figured we could get it for now and then replace it down the road whenever we have money for the "real thing." But I don't think we ever will. These floors have won me completely.

It's not laminate: it's even cheaper. It's not hardwood: it's waterproof.

And it looks terrific.

And with that Top Ten, I'll stop gushing.

I promise.

Okay... except that I want to do some highlights of the rest of the space, too. Like, the mudroom/laundry room with the cool little shelves Bill built in for me. And the cathedral ceiling. And the view, which is amazing. But we still have a lot of chipping away to do before it's all finished so, fortunately for you, I think it will be some months before that Top Ten comes your way.