Contentment in the Home - the Kitchen Edition

I have a small kitchen. A small kitchen in that I have less than 6 linear feet of counterspace. It's a weird L-shape with the stove positioned so that I can't completely open one door of a bottom cabinet because it hits the stove. There is maybe - maybe - 2 feet between the refigerator on one wall and the microwave stand on the other. Thank goodness for the built-in pantry on the wall that is above the basement stairwell, or we would not have bought this house! The house we moved from had a large kitchen with an eat-in dining room. It had a window over the sink and French doors leading to the patio. My current kitchen is literally 1/4 that size, and the only window is generally hidden behind the door leading to the steps that go to the basement and the side door. Quite a difference! It's also one of the main sources of my discontentment with this house. Because I love to bake and cook, I would absolutely love a bigger kitchen, but reality is, that's not likely to happen anytime soon, so I need to find ways to be content with what I have.

We did some improvements a few years after moving in. We had some plaster repair done and a new light fixture put in and a laminate floor. The biggest difference cosmetically happened when I had the woodwork stripped. Being an older house, it has beautiful original woodwork, only in the kitchen, it had been painted. And painted. And painted! It took the fellows 3 days (!) to stripe all the paint off, a job they originally estimated to be done in 1-1/2 days. One night after they left, I took a picture, and you can easily count 8 layers of paint on the door frame. Yuck! Anyhow, after they finished the woodwork, we stained it and polyurethaned it to match the living room and then painted the walls a pale blue color. This lightened the room up considerably from the previous dark green woodwork and green/white checked wallpaper. Having the room decorated the way I wanted it was a big step in being more content with the room.

However, I have found there are just some everyday things that contribute in a major way to my attitude towards the kitchen (and really the house in general). I have found that by keeping the counters clear and cleaned off, the room feels bigger. Same goes for the sink - if I keep the dishes done up and not piled elbow-deep, I feel better and the room looks better. The Flylady (http://www.flylady.com/) recommends a leaving shiny sink every night, and I can attest to the wonderful feeling of waking up the next morning and not having to face a sinkful of dishes! Another spot I have been dealing with is the stove. With counterspace in short supply, it is so easy to dump piles on top of the stove and then move them around when I need to use a burner. The stovetop has also become the spot where recyclables are left to go out to the bin. The way we go through milk (3-4 gallons a week), it's not long before it's so cluttered, you'd never know the burners were under all the clutter! But again, by making a concerted effort to keep the stove clean and cleared off, the room feels much better to me. I'm still working on keeping the microwave and stand (across from the refrigerator and door leading to the basement) cleaned off, (and I may eventually get a smaller stand), but I'll get there.

Keeping the clutter under control and off the counters and stove makes a huge difference in how I feel about this kitchen, and it doesn't cost me a penny. When I can focus on making meals and baked goods for my family and others and not stress out over not having room to work, I am much happier and more willing to use my cooking and baking to serve others. And with a better attitude and less stress, I am able to be more attuned to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and hopefully be more joyful in my obedience to Him!