Saturday 12 November 2022

K is for Kitchens

 How many kitchens have I cooked in? I counted and made 13, which is more than the number of houses I've lived in and more than the number of gardens I've grown in!

How can that be?

I've counted the caravan we lived in for a year  in the early 80's while renovating the very old cottage, then two kitchens at the smallholding - the original from 1992 until 2011 and the new one after we did the big extension  plus the stripped out small caravan I used as a kitchen all summer 2011 while the extension was being built.

I've had two large kitchens but the rest have all been much smaller and almost every house we owned had a kitchen that needed replacing or modernising while we were living in it and I've had all sorts of colours and finishing touches - from orange in the late 70's, red in the mid 80's and back to red in 2011

Below is my kitchen here, and I've not done anything to change it........yet! not very big, but very easy to work in, with cupboards in every available space. The cupboard doors are glossy grey and the work-tops are wood -  neither of which I would chose. I always wanted a Butler sink but Colin always did the washing up and he didn't want one - too deep he said, and now I have one I can quite see why - it's a pain, especially as there is no proper draining board - which is still needed I think even with a dishwasher.



 I like to have everything easily available to use so the bread-maker and food-mixer are stood out and I like the storage drawers on the right.
To take the photo I'm standing right against the back wall of the kitchen. The double oven cooker is just on the right of the photo and to the right of the oven is a pull out narrow larder cupboard and the fridge/freezer.
The door to the hall is on the left of where I'm standing. The top shelf of the cupboards are way out of my reach, so I have folding steps stood behind the door ready to grab.

The kitchen window looks out to the front and I don't have to be stood there for long to see someone walking by with their dog - or dogs - one woman has 3 small poodles dressed up with matching coats in winter and neckerchiefs in summer. Many people are glued to their phones as well as walking the dog and no one looks happy.

Thank you to everyone who's said they are enjoying the A-Z, I may get stuck next week........need something for N, better get my thinking cap on over the weekend. 
Although  not everyone is liking the November posts as follower numbers are going down rather than up!


Hope you all have a good weekend, I'll be back Monday.
Sue


60 comments:

  1. I am enjoying your A-Z as well! I especially liked this post, as I’m always curious about other peoples homes. Maybe if I left my bread maker out I’d actually use it! - Jenn

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    1. My breadmaker gets used most weeks - it makes the best bread for toasting and I like toast!

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  2. I think I have cooked in 7 kitchens if I don't count cooking I did at my grandmother's. My current kitchen is very chilly. In the winter, I really need a space heater going in order to spend time there. I just bought a new refrigerator, however, which seems very fancy compared to the old one but was very ordinary compared to most in the shop. Getting rid of everything in the old freezer was quite liberating (although I was ashamed of the items with expiration dates that should have been used in time).

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    1. I've always fancied one of those huge double American fridge/freezers but have never had a kitchen big enough

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  3. N is for November! Ive lost track of the kitchens I've cooked in, but the bigger ones have not always been the best designed. One of the best I ever had was a galley style kitchen, small but very well designed and easy to work in.

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    1. One of my worst kitchens was huge and I seemed to spend too much time going round and round the table in the middle

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  4. I am enjoying the alphabet posts, I like the look of your kitchen, we currently have a very dark coloured laminate wood look one which I'm not fond of. I also love the look of the butlers sink but enjoy the practicality of a polished up stainless steel one. Have thought of just replacing the doors and drawer fronts,as the layout is ok but does seem a bit of a waste in these uncertain financial times!

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    1. I won't be replacing this kitchen for a very long time - even if the butler sink is very annoying

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  5. Looking back to the kitchen in our first house, a 1970s new build, I cannot believe now how small it was compared to later houses.

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    1. I think the smallest I've had was in the Victorian terraced house, luckily there was only the two of us and a baby there

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  6. Your comment about how many kitchens got me counting. I'm currently working in my 27th kitchen (places I've lived over the last 51 years) - I was stunned at how many I counted :)

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    1. Wow - 27, that's amazing. I thought 13 seemed a lot

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  7. I'm really enjoying your alphabet Sue. It's a really good idea. I agree about butler sinks. When we had one we had a custom draining board made out of wood and was totally unsuccessful! Glad I'm back to stainless steel now.
    How about N for New? Could be things that you've replaced?

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    1. I have the dish drainer standing on a stainless steel drip tray and underneath have an old tea towel, but a proper draining board would be better

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  8. Neighbours, Neighbourhood, Nanny, Norfolk, Notebooks, Not For Me.

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    1. How about Nice--everything you like about your home, your life, your country--whatever.

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  9. I'm loving these posts, Sue. Thank you.
    Mum and Dad had a butler sink at first in their 'forever' home (the one that we sold this year) and Mum hated it. As soon as every they could afford it, they replaced it with a stainless steel sink. I think they look nice but it's stainless steel for me too, every time. xx

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    1. The butler sink is so big - and gets really messy - I'm always cleaning it

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  10. I’m enjoying these posts. It’s always interesting to hear views on our home environments. I’ve had two new kitchens in my present home since purchasing in 1988. Have to say I find this kind of updating so stressful. Also I’ve always wanted a butler sink for large pans, soaking clothes etc but I’ve never actually had one. I’ve not had a draining board since 2001 but find a 1&1.5 bowl sink suits me just fine and I use a tea towel to drain the odd larger item. The one thing I’m most appreciated after the recent kitchen update is a quartz top. So clean, so cool, great for pastry and bread making - Emma

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    1. I've been told the kitchen here is only about 7 years old, so I don't really want to replace yet, but there are several things that are annoying

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  11. Another enjoying these posts. A useful kitchen. I am so glad this trend for grey (especially battleship grey!) is waning. Leaches all the colour out of a room. At least your grey units aren't too bad. I have a Butler-type sink here, chosen specially, with an attached ceramic drainer. It's not as deep as the real thing, but I like the aesthetics of it. I had a proper Butler sink at our old farmhouse, and sourced an old Victorian teak "wraparound" drainer, though the fit at the back left something to be desired.

    I love my new kitchen, and chose it all from start to finish so am quite pleased with myself as it works well. Everyone loves the colourful splashback. I have a stand-alone pine sideboard where I keep all my baking things.

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    1. The houses done up in Homes Under the Hammer are always painted in grey and grey carpets - so boring!

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  12. It might be November rather than the posts that is affecting readership. It always seems such a stressful month of impending deadlines. Your blog is like an island of calm sanity in a wind tossed ocean of chasing our tails.

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  13. I, too, am enjoying your eclectic A-Z series. Your kitchen seems to be a very efficient layout, which is not always the case with larger ones.

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    1. Every space is used well in the kitchen, but I'm not keen on the grey cupboards or the wooden work surfaces

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  14. I don't like my kitchen but it functions as a kitchen and I am a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" person so it will stay forever. The lady who lived here 20 years ago told me recently that her father built the kitchen for her in 1992 and she was surprised to see I had still got it. It is oak and of a style of the time. I did think of painting the doors but then decided it would probably look worse so left it. The cooker is the one the previous owner left here. The carpets were his too and the curtains. Yours looks ok to me. I am not keen on Belfast sinks but have one in the utility room, an old one of the type long before they had become desired and posh. I gave you some N suggestions earlier.

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    1. A lot of people would have had 3 new kitchens in that time!.
      I shall put off having anything done in mine until it falls to pieces

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  15. Nature, Nuts, NIMBY (not in my back yard), notebooks, novels…..make what you can of those 😊

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  16. I’m really enjoying your posts, Sue, and as someone who is old enough to have washed dishes and clothes in a double butler type sink with a wringer in the middle on washday, it’s stainless steel all the way for me now! We built an extension on our house about 16 years ago and it’s all kitchen. The breakfast bar is used by us both for doing little jobs and also where the Remoska sits on heatproof mats when in use. It’s dreich today so it will be a sewing day I think. Catriona

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    1. It's funny that I always wanted a Butler sink but now I have one I don't like it!

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  17. Your latest kitchen looks just right. Not a fan of Belfast sinks either, you have the same tap as us, and the water sprays everywhere and I find my sleeves are always wet. Moan over ;)

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    1. This tap dribbles so after turning it off there's still water running and splashing - it's annoying

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  18. We have lived in eight different houses, but I've only cooked in seven, as the kitchen in this bungalow is my husband's domain and he's not happy wih it at all. I have seen the sink being in/on the central island in more modern kitchens without a draining board and that alone would stop me from buying it, I prefer kitchen sinks to be under the window.

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    1. I've never wanted an Island in the kitchen - too much going round and round!

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  19. Nature? Novels? Nut trees? Nattering?

    Ceci

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  20. I like your a to z posts. I'm on my 8th kitchen in 52 years. Two were temporary while having work done on permanent home. I had a butler sink when the children were little and loved it. I would sit them on the wooden draining board with feet in sink to wash them. I now have an open plan kitchen cum living room and it suits me now.

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    1. Our extension at the smallholding was supposed to be kitchen/living room but it always felt to big and cold so we always went and sat in the original living room in the evenings

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  21. Agree with Boud- N is for November.
    I like these posts and loved seeing your kitchen. I, like you would have all my kitchen gadgets on the worktop - not much use in a cupboard, but OH is always squirrelling them away *sigh* . Also like you, I need a small step stool to reach top cupboards - what a pain!
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. I've never had such high cupboards before - so try and keep the things I don't need often right at the top

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  22. I like how bright your kitchen is. It is great to have that window over your sink. Those are called farmhouse sinks over here I think. We had our kitchen done in the 90s so it is probably out of date now with the oak cabinets but it works for me!
    I like your A to Z series but, of course, I like all of your posts! :)

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    1. Glad you are enjoying the A-Z - we had dark wood fronted cupboards in the very old house that we renovated in 1983/4 - they made the kitchen seem really dark, never had them since.

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  23. Nice to see your kitchen it seems quite well laid out, it's actually a lot easier to work in a smaller but well-designed kitchen isn't it. I think the best thing I did here was to have large drawers for most of my lowers for storage rather than cupboards, it has made life so much easier.

    You made me add up how many kitchens I have cooked in, and I got to 17 not counting my two shop kitchens, which I only ever cooked toasted sandwiches and coffee in, so not proper cooking.

    I'm loving the A-Z by the way, it's nice to find a new way of posting for a while isn't it.

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    1. I was quite happy with low cupboards until I got old........ now the drawers are really easy,.

      The A-Z would have been better if I'd thought what I would do for the difficult letters before I started!

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  24. That's a nice bright kitchen. Plenty of lovely storage.

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    1. Room for everything as long as I keep it tidy!

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  25. You have a great kitchen and it is very nicely updated. I love the drawers in your kitchen. My kitchen is all large drawers and no cabinets. Opening a drawer and seeing all the contents is great.

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    1. I have as many pull out drawers and cupboards as it's possible to fit in which is good

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  26. I'm enjoying your A-Z posts too, and think your kitchen looks a very efficient space. I've always hankered after a Butler's sink, because I thought that would give enough space to submerge the whole of an oven tray. I'm glad to hear I can tick that off my 'if wishes were horses' list! I've had 7 kitchens, designing them in 3 of the 4 homes we've lived in. The worst kitchen I worked in was an all-wood affair, with cupboards so dark I kept a torch on the bench. Finding a buried pan, or cake tin, otherwise was impossible!

    My current kitchen is an all drawers affair, and works very well, but required careful planning to make sure the drawers were deep enough for what was going into each one, but didn't waste space. The real winner though, is drawers tucked into the toe space at ground level. It's given me nearly 5 sq metres - 50 sq ft of extra space.

    I love your posts, they're sanity in my day in today's difficult world.

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    1. Drawers in the under cupboard space haven't really caught on yet but seem such a perfect way of making more space. If I can bend down low enough when I redo this kitchen I shall have them - but might be to decrepit by then!

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  27. Your little kitchen looks very bright and airy. Just the right size, really, at least for my stage of life. I love a window over the sink, and my next house will have one. I also envy your great thick cutting board. N is for novel. What are your favorites?

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    1. The big chopping block on the right came from a boot sale a while ago but is too heavy to move! so I use it as a permanent hot pan stand.

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    2. I bought a huge chopping block on legs for my next kitchen from an old well known restaurant here. It will be used for the same thing.

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    3. N could also be for nature.

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  28. Thoroughly enjoying you alphabet posts and this one in particular. Our home sink is no nonsense stainless steel; our holiday cottage was kitted out with a snazzy butler sink which never looked clean.

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  29. I always enjoy your posts and this A-Z one is just awesome.

    God bless.

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  30. Well, count me as a new follower, although I could have sworn I was years ago too. But then Blogger can be ornery like that -- didn't they have an issue several years back having to do with dropped followers? Anyway, while I jumped into the alpha in the middle, I always like checking out other ladies' kitchens. So this was fun for me.

    I've only had 4 kitchens - 2 in apartments and 2 in homes. Ours is due for a redo in 2023. I am unfamiliar with a Butler sink, but my rule is that the sink has to be big enough for the glass plate from the microwave to sit down in it to soak. I can see where too deep would be uncomfortable - but wide is always good.

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