My New Kitchen at Redstone Arsenal

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I have finally “finished” my kitchen. Meet my ‘”Itsy-Bitsy-Teeny-Weeny-Second-Smallest-I’ve-Ever-Had-Kitchenini.”

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Seriously. This is the second smallest kitchen I have ever had. I had to get very creative with storage. I’ve kind of taken over every closet the house. Okay, not every closet, but it feels like my kitchen has simply invaded the whole house. My glassware (jars, special dishes, and seasonal things) are in the laundry room, because the laundry room has about as many cabinets as this kitchen. I installed three sets of shelving in the large central closet, and all of my canning supplies and appliances are in there.

The two corner cabinets here in the kitchen, have hinged doors that you have to yank open, and once open, they don’t bend to get out of the way – so it gives you about 6 or 7 inches to get pots and pans or canned goods and such out. Um…not happening. So I took them off, put them in storage, and made little curtains instead. It’s still a challenge to get things in and out of there, but not as bad as before. I think I’m going to build a pot rack and hang it over the kitchen sink. That will put the pans in a better place and make them much easier to get to – then I’ll just keep the super-heavy cast iron things in the corner cabinet.

Oh and did I mention I have pink counters again? What is it with old army housing and pink counters!!!??? Not only are they pink, but they are in rough shape. The corner section is completely tacky, like it has some sort of glue on it and it will not come off. So what to do? I went to Lowes and bought some birch plywood. Cut planks to fit the counter, sanded them, stained them and sealed them. Then fitted little rubber feet underneath and placed them over most of the counters – except in the corner where I set my dish pad. It’ll work for now.

Then there was a “butcher block” section of counter next to the fridge. Apparently it is where the fridge used to be. They slid the fridge over, stuck in a 2 cabinet door section and put wood on top. Cheap wood that is stained with food, gross and unsanitary. So…ahem. I sanded it down, and refinished it. Probably not allowed in housing, but who’s going to tell? I also took down the panel of Plexiglas they had screwed to the wall over the stove as a “back splash.” Also completely stained with grease and food residue.

Next I need to get a rug to put down and cover the pink linoleum floor. Heaven help me.

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As I turn to the left, there is a large window. I placed my cookbook shelf/coffee station there. We hung a birdfeeder in a tree out here and each morning I can watch the birdies and squirrels munch away while I fix my morning espresso. And my afternoon espresso. And my evening espresso. Okay, okay…the birds aren’t still out there in the evening.

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The eating area of the kitchen. Our table & benches barely fit, but it’s…cozy.

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And finally, I have taken over the last wall and placed my art hutch in here. So the kitchen is totally my space. I’ll be doing almost everything in here. It was quite a shock to move into such a small house, but we’ll make it work. On the positive note, the kitchen has fantastic light and even has afternoon sun which is when I do most of my cooking.

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One of the major kitchen challenges we faced this past week was a horrifying mouse infestation! Okay…infestation is probably an egregious hyperbole, but one tiny 2 inch mouse in my kitchen is paramount to an alien invasion! Hickory was standing guard in front of the stove. I was praying he saw a spider or something innocent…but nope. A couple hours later, I saw it! Sadly when I talked to the housing office, their idea of fixing it was having a worker place incredibly evil and inhumane (in my opinion) glue boards in the house. Well, I pitched a little fit and told them we had to get them to stop coming in – ain’t no way in <BLEEP> I’m living with mice! – and finally they sent someone out to pull out the stove and seal where they were getting in. Of course after he left, I pulled out the stove and sealed it better myself. Ahem. Then I masked up, gloved up, opened the windows and bleached my kitchen. I haven’t bought bleach in years – I hate the stuff – but I thought this warranted it. My kitchen is once again sanitary and ready to use. Thank goodness!

So that has been my week. Not sleeping, listening for the snap of a trap in my kitchen and then getting my manly soldier to empty them. I can handle a lot of things but I can’t handle a dead mouse in a trap. I peek at the trap out the corner of my eye, and if I see something dark in my peripheral vision, I shudder and turn away as my stomach lurches. I’ll gut a moose all day long. But please, dear heavens, don’t show me a dead mouse!!!

This afternoon we are headed to a barbecue with our new “unit.” Redstone is proving to be a very interesting place so far! I’ll share more about my impression of this assignment soon. Enjoy your weekend!

9 thoughts on “My New Kitchen at Redstone Arsenal”

  1. I think your kitchen is about the same size as mine. The difference is that mine is narrower, and has nothing on the end walls. Most of my food is in the basement. It’s an adventure!

    On the mouse topic, Hubby hates picking up the trap with the mouse in it, so, on the rare occasions that we get mice, he puts the trap in a paper lunch bag. No sight of the mouse, no touching of the trap, unless you want to use it again!

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  2. WOW. That is a small kitchen. But you should see ours. I need to have you over. :) But I LOVE your idea with covering the pink countertops! Very resourceful. And I also love the little shelf in front of your window. You did a great job. It's like you've done this a time or two before. ;-)
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  3. What a cool idea on covering up the cabinets, wish I had thought of it in all those old crappy rent houses we used to live in.

    I feel you on the mouse thing, eww!
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