Kicking the Kitchen Up a Notch

Things have been busy, busy, busy ’round these parts as of late. Work has been unrelentingly busy, all leading up to Annual Busy Time, which starts in less than 30 days.

And, in my attempt to be “less lame,” I’ve been spending more time with a circle of friends I haven’t spent a lot of time with lately. My long-dormant social butterfly is waking back up. I’m loving it.

And least you think I haven’t been knitting, let me assure you I have been. I finished Multnomah (Simon was *very* helpful with the blocking process) and a pair of simple socks, that I gifted to Jenni because I apparently can’t remember how big my feet are on any given day.

Then I whipped out my very first pair of handspun socks, and cast on a pair of Pointelles in one of my favoritest yarns, String Theory Caper Sock, which I think are destined to be my mom’s birthday present. And I started (and dang-near finished) a Super Secret Xmas Project for one of my favoritest faves. More on that way later.

And all that is from stash. Yup, Operation Stash Containment is going fantastically thus far. I’m doing great. What I’m not doing, clearly, is taking pictures of anything.

A good part of this past weekend was devoted to another recent project: Making my apartment my own. I love my apartment, but when I moved in, I never intended to stay very long. Then everything blew up and my life kind of fell apart for a while. I’m getting back to a good place, and a big part of that has been making my 700-or-so square feet all my own. The first project was the kitten-room re-do. This weekend was all about the kitchen.

Mark, putting on some molding Hard Hittin style, which means no miter box, just a skillsaw and a triangle. Can you dig it?

First and foremost, I’d be totally and completely remiss is I didn’t give madd props to my favorite spindlemaker. See, my apartment has no countertops. At all. For almost two years, my only counterspace has been a four-foot kitchen cart—not really convenient when you like to cook. When I mentioned my desire to put in some sort of counter, Mark didn’t just agree to help; he jumped in with both feet and built me an entire, custom, upcycled-wood cabinet that would color any woodworking hobbiest impressed.

Over the course of Saturday, Mark outfitted it with doors and, after a quick-ish trip to Home Depot, hardware. Then I got a five-minute lesson on laying tile, and we went at spiffing her up. A coat of primer and paint, and she got to looking really pretty.

How do ‘ya like them apples?

Course, I’m making light here. It was a ton of work, mostly on Mark’s part. I’m a lucky girl to have a friend like that, and I know it.

The tile still needs grout, but man, it looks awesome already.

I’m totally psyched for how it looks in my kitchen. The red tiles don’t exactly match the wall color, which is perfect. I had something completely different in mind when we walked into Home Depot, but this just screamed at me off the display. I think I made a good choice.

Awesome.

Yesterday I went crazy with three rolls of shelf liner. My mom ingrained in me the need to “do things the right way” as a child. Damask-ish print shelf liner is totally “the right way.”

Have I mentioned my kitchen is huge? This is just half of it. It’s spectacular.

So, there it is, my fabulous kitchen, now even fabulous-er. My steal-of-the-century kitchen cart now serves as an island, and my cooking mojo is about to go sky-high. And a zillion-and-a-half thanks to Mark for being so ridiculously awesome its not even funny.

Next up: The closet known as my bathroom. My landlord has promised me a new ceiling and a new bathtub/shower in the near future. Rock on.