At first, we had a table in the kitchen for an "eat-in" kitchen. That table quickly became too small and we had one like it, but bigger, built by a member of the church who builds cabinets for a living. We loved this table. Unfortunately, with 7 of us we couldn't fit the food on the table along with all our plates. So (thanks to Lori's suggestion) we got rid of the individual desks in the school room and put the kitchen table in there, and began eating exclusively in the dining room. This was about 1.5 - 2 years ago. For that time, my kitchen looked like this:
Very limited counter space. All my baking and cooking and meal prep were done in that corner between the dishwasher and the stove. Sure I was used to it, but it was getting very annoying! The little ones wanted to be up on the stool helping, but there wasn't always room and bickering would begin and I would end up sending them all away.
The kitchen table had been perpendicular to the wall under the picture. Imagine a shaker-style oak table 3ft x 6ft. When we put it in the school room this is what we put in its place:
The coffee/toaster school desk weren't exactly ideal. It was a very small space to butter toast that was finished and to even get to the coffee pot took care and it seemed like that spot was always the one forgotten when kitchen clean-up took place.
The school desk beside was borrowed to us by members and I kept it here so the little ones would have a place to practice their letters. I loved the way the desk slants so it allows them to have their arm in the correct position for writing - especially helpful when they are first learning to write.
The problem was there was no place for anyone to be in the kitchen. It was this giant open space with very little counter space. We thought and thought and thought and finally came up with having a kitchen island built. So we talked to the man who built our table and game him our ideas. That was over a year ago. He is so swamped with building kitchen cabinets, our little project was down the list. But that worked to my advantage.
We began re-thinking what to put on the school desk wall. I finally decided I would love a Hoosier Cabinet and use it as my main baking center. If we did that, we would have to re-think the island. We began searching on-line and finally found what we were looking for. Now my kitchen looks like this:
I LOVE IT!!!!! The island is wonderful. I now have a place for dirty dishes and cooking prep and all the kids can be there watching and/or helping. The Hoosier Cabinet is fabulous. All my cooking supplies are right there. Inside the tambour doors sits my Bosch (I had them drill a hole in the back for the cord). I just love it. Come visit sometime and see it in person, the pictures don't do it justice.
