For those who have been following my annual spiritual journey through spring cleaning (aka my pre-Passover kitchen rants), the Passover stuff finished getting packed up on Monday, and two thirds of it is still awaiting its annual trip back to the store room.
I haven’t gotten all of the non-Passover stuff back out of the bins, and I don’t think I will. At this point, until some of it is eaten down, I will still have four bins of snacks, tea, etc. neatly stacked under the kitchen table. The other five bins have been emptied and neatly stowed in an accessible-by-ladder spot until I shall need them next year. I have followed up the Passover “head 'em up, move 'em out” frenzy with a slightly more relaxed, but no less determined, approach to reorganizing the kitchen. It’s not perfect – but for now it will do.
I did not get the second taboret I was looking for. Instead, I got a low shelf set that fits under the table and holds more stuff.
I did not get the stainless steel mixing bowls out from the oven.
And I was not able to empty out the bins.
However:
I did get the pots and pans off the stove top. The tea kettle remains, but then what is a stove without a tea kettle on one of the burners?
I did get the Corningware bakeware out of the oven.
I did move my rarely-used, specialty tools into neat spaces in “only accessible by ladder” areas.
I did get my cooking oils and vinegars off the table, but still within easy reach of the stove.
I did get my large jars of spices off the “stretch on tiptoes to reach it” shelf and within easy reach of the stove.
There is working room on the kitchen table.
There are drip pans under the burners on the stove.
The secondary/workspace table has been folded up and placed out of the way.
My active potholders are within easy reach of the stove. (The clean replacements are still out in the hall with the clean dish towels, in the bin they’ve been occupying since Christmas. The bin for the dirty potholders and dish towels is still on the floor in the kitchen.)
I’m beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, after about $200 in storage containers and shelving, and a lot of work, I might finally have a “functional” kitchen.
Woo-hoo.