Welcome to my butterfly kitchen!
I've been decorating and organizing room by room this spring, and so far each one has a theme. The front hallway is Americana and the living room is birds.
I already had a few butterfly decorations in the kitchen, so I decided to expand on that. I'd like to give you a tour showing what I've been doing to make the kitchen prettier, cleaner, and more functional.
I pulled all of the food out of the pantry cupboards, wiped them out, and reorganized.
I didn't realize how much pasta we had! I put it all on a cookie sheet that can be slid out to see what's in back.
This is part of my magnet collection on the refrigerator doors.
I didn't have time to thoroughly clean out the refrigerator, but I did at least take out the spoiled food and reorganize. It was better than nothing!
I bought a new brown Hefty trash can, and brought in another small trash basket for kitchen scraps to be taken out to the compost pile.
The green trash can at the right is for recyclables. The smaller one we were using before was always overflowing. I bought the white plastic basket to corral brooms and the long-handled dustpan. The tan trash can at the left is to hold wet kitchen linens waiting to be laundered.
This print hangs above the recycling bin. I got it for $5 at Deals. Pretty!
The kitchen window only had blinds on it for years. I bought a new tension rod for about $2 at Walmart, washed the old curtain that had been there before, and popped it back into place. Then I took a butterfly garland (made from feathers, a gift from my daughters), cut off four of the butterflies, and dangled them in front of the window.
I moved this little piece in from the living room.
I still have a lot of work to do. Some of the laminate came off the cabinet underneath the sink. I bought some stain to camouflage it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I also plan to touch up the walls with paint.
Our garbage disposer often stinks, so I bought these cleaning pellets.
Other sink purchases: fresh sponges and a caddy.
This corner between the sink and the microwave is one of my kitchen trouble spots. I tend to throw a lot of miscellaneous stuff back there when I unload the dishwasher, especially plastics that are still wet. What a mess!
I took EVERYTHING out of the corner.
Then I put back only what really belonged there. I bought a new dish drainer and aim to not let it pile up. The plastic canister has anti-bacterial wipes used to quickly clean the counter and sink. I love these! I peeled the label off of it since it looks better that way.
The microwave needed cleaning. It was a lot easier to see and reach the ceiling of it by tipping it backwards.
I keep several things on top of the microwave: baskets for hot pads and measuring cups, a small cup for twisty ties, and a little porcelain butterfly container for other tiny things.
My cooking utensils are to the left of the microwave. A large blue vase holds the tall ones, and two butterfly flower pots (from Dollar General) hold the smaller ones and my paring knives.
Some of my paring knives were misplaced (I found them while cleaning the big pile) and some needed to be replaced because the handles were disintegrating. I bought these two at IKEA, one on clearance. I had never been there before, and decided to drive down with my daughter and look for bedroom curtains. We stayed two hours and could have spent a few more if we'd had time!
I also bought the Popsicle molds at IKEA so we can make our own healthy frozen treats from juice.
A new butterfly hot pad over the stove, as well as a small heart chalkboard. I hope my children get the message: "Have a heart, do your part!" One thing I remembered to do is to clean the top part of the stove hood since it gets so grimy.
New cookie sheets from Walmart!
This is a low counter between the kitchen and dining room. The wire bin holds small appliances. The wicker basket has trivets. The green tin frilled-edge container is my junk basket. I always keep paper plates handy, and I couldn't resist the butterfly tissue box.
We've had this grocery bag dispenser up for years - and it already had butterflies on it!
Well, that's my butterfly kitchen! I hope you enjoyed the tour!
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Grace and peace,
Virginia Knowles
I love the butterfly theme. My kitchen has a coffee theme and it's so much fun to find useful little things that add fun to the theme.
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteVery cute, and great job cleaning and organizing. When my garbage disposal starts stinking I like to pour baking soda and vinegar down it, then scrub the sink, then grind up half a lemon with the peel in it. It makes my whole kitchen smell fresh like lemons!
ReplyDelete