My friend Marc is about ready to take that leap and get his first apartment. We’ve had much discussion of how to decorate. I’m lucky- I get to design for someone and spend his money!
This is just the first of many ideas for a kitchen. I figure the red and other bold colors would perk up an all-white rental kitchen.
Most of the items are from everyone’s fav, Target. The glass plates and drinkware from Libbey, casseroles from pyrex, the repro vintage tin sign from Classic Kitchens.
So, in a fit of energy the other night, I decided to finally get around to lining some of my cabinet shelves. This is a prime example of my ocd tendencies. You see, I’ve had these four rolls of cork shelf liner for nearly three years, and all of the sudden I just had to fix this cabinet. Now. It couldn’t wait. Never mind that it was 10:45 on a work night.
See, way back when mom and I first finished the cabinets, and they were finally ready to load, I wanted to line them with cork. Only I couldn’t find the stuff anywhere and had to order it. Then it took weeks to arrive, and I gave up. I layed out paper towels- supposedly a temporary measure- and put all my glasses and mugs where I thought they made sense.
Lewis gets confused sometimes because there are some glasses that I like to reserve for guests. About a year ago he requested that I put them on the top shelf, out of the way, so that’s just what I did. Never mind that this task has been in the back of my mind for ages, suddenly it was a top priority.
I got to work emptying the top shelf, wiped everything down with a damp cloth. It had a bit of fine wood-colored dust, although for the life of me, I can’t figure out where that may have come from. I gave it time to dry as I trimmed about an inch off the entire length of the roll of cork liner. Then I loaded all the guest glasses and infrequently used tins on the top shelf.
Rinse, lather, and repeat for the second and bottom shelves. Somehow, there is more room now. I guess I should have had a before picture to compare.
Snazzy, right?
I have one roll of cork liner left, so if I want to do any other shelves, I’ll likely need to get more. Does anyone know where I can get cork to use as liner that does not have the adhesive backing? Because I didn’t peel the paper off. I remember what a pain it was to peel off that old red and black contact paper when mom and I refinished the cabinets, and we went through way too much work to risk damaging the pained surfaces again.
Plus, what would that be like to peel away? Would it peel away? What happens to cork as it dries? I envisioned chiseling it off the shelves with a putty knife, coming off in little kernels. What a hassle. No thanks. I’ll just pick up the whole sheet when this wears out. Much easier. Not that that should happen anytime soon. I figure this cork will hold up for about 5 years.
I’m a bit germ-phobic. I’ll admit it. I wash my hands a couple dozen times a day. I realize that is more than most people, but I’m okay with that.
First, that I had plenty of room under the spigot to scrub my hands without scraping my knuckles against the sink.
Second, that I could turn the knobs easily, and possibly with the back or heels of my hands, so I have minimal contact with them. For me, that meant lever-style handles.
Third, that they could be easily cleaned, with few nooks and crannies for gunk to build up.
I’ve been in kitchens where the sink is so shallow that you can hardly submerge a soup pot in the dishwater. Or the faucet spout is so low, you have to move it aside to maneuver dishes around as you wash. What a pain!
We were determined to get the deepest sink we could find, but we ran into a bit of a snag. We found out that our choices would be rather limited because we had a width restriction. I think there were about three models for us to choose from. We picked one we like, and I am very happy with it. The sinks with three bowls are awfully nice, though, if only one would have fit.
Just look at all that work surface, would ya?
This is what I aim for:
But it rarely stays like this for long. 
Green Bungalow Craftworks 