A Money Saving Oven Tip - Thrifty Thursday...

My thrifty tip for this week?  Get a toaster oven!

And for the best bang for your buck - get one from a thrift shop or a yard sale. 

 They are not hard to find.  We found ours in 'like new' 

condition at a yard sale for $3!  And it's sizable!

 Toaster ovens are great for heating up slices of pizza, leftovers,

 baking fries, etc.  Tastes much better than reheating in a microwave.  

And its more economical to heat up this small oven than a full size oven.  

Rolls of biscuits?  In the toaster oven they can go!

Storage is often a concern - so here are a few ideas...  

1. Kitchen island shelf (ours is on our Stenstorp island from IKEA)

2. Nearby pantry or closet shelf

3. Basement step shelf

4. In your regular oven

5. On your counter top 

6. In a kitchen cabinet (not my favorite - found it cumbersome to get out)

Certainly - if you find you dislike 'getting it out' - you won't use it. 

 So get creative.  These can be cute right on your kitchen counter - 

just place a pretty doily and faux herb on top and you're good to go.

I'm not one for kitchen appliances.  I have as few as I can get away with.  

But I do like my little oven! 

Would love to hear if you use one and where you store it.  

Stay Thrifty!  ~Joyce
Linking to Home Sweet Home

Our Lowe's and Ikea Kitchen Remodel...

And finally - my 'kitchen remodel' post...

As you'll soon see - it is indeed a Lowe's and Ikea kitchen...

To jump right in - these are KraftMaid cabinets that we

 purchased from Lowe's - and designed with Lowe's.

(Whew - what a long process... and full of hard decisions!)

We had a contractor that we had experience with do the install.
This cost a little more than a total DIY - but made for way less
 stress for My love and was totally worth it to us.

  They are cream - although may appear white in the photos...

The shelves to the left of the microwave (our only new appliance purchase) - 
I used in my antique booth at one time (they were much longer).
My Love cut them down and now they sit on Ikea brackets...

Our kitchen is U-shaped and opens into a family room.  
This is the family room end...

I found these wrought iron wall hooks in an antique shop 
(actually my sister in law's booth)  and saved them for 'who knows when'.  
And here they are... love 'em!

The other end of the kitchen is a bit more jumbled as it holds our techy stuff.  
You can find more on the hutch (also just Kraftmaid cabinets) 
in this blog post.  It is a dark-stained cherry wood.

The pendant sink light is another Lowe's find for around $25.

We (or rather I) decided to forego a dishwasher this go round.
   This drawer unit (gotta have drawer units!!) is the same size as a
 dishwasher and can be exchanged at any point.  Plumbing is ready to go... 

This countertop corner I'm sure will evolve over time.  
Our countertops are just a high-grade laminate.  They look great -
 cost much less than most granites - and are a no-maintenance option.  
Works for me.  Again - these came from Lowe's.

 A favorite addition to our kitchen is this island from Ikea...  
We found ourselves there on a day trip during the remodel 
and over our 30th anniversary and on impulse - bought it.
  We thought we'd like it - but we abundantly love it!  
We have a big hairy dog -and yes - I have to wipe off things 
sometimes - but I still love it!  
(Our ceiling is too low for a pot hanger.)

The chairs/stools (with backs - gotta have backs) are also from Ikea... 
And check out these great farmhouse cushions - (yep - from Ikea...)

Here are  just a few shots of the 'before' kitchen.  It doesn't look awful - 
but the quality of the cabinets was very poor.  

My Love installed this kitchen himself when we added on to our home
approx 20 years ago.  It was a bitter-sweet addition as it was related
 to some chronic health issues I was experiencing at the time.  
To help afford the house addition - we opted for 'cheap' 
cabinets...hoping the day would come we could upgrade it.

In this picture (the current 'hutch' area) - 
I had already begun unpacking the cupboards.
(A kitchen remodel is lots of work - even when you don't do the install!)

Very few of these cheap cabinets survived the removal process,
but thankfully - served us well when we needed them.

We are beyond grateful that the Lord allowed us this upgrade.  
We give Him all the honor and glory 
and are mindful to use this blessing to bless others.
My chronic health issues are doing much better - 
and I rejoice daily!

I was tickled by a comment from a service man who was in 
our home just this past week.
We were discussing the kitchen and in his own words - 
he referred to it as a 'farmhouse style' kitchen.  
Thank you sir!  I'll take 'farm house' any day!  

  Stop on by - we'd love to have you.  ~Joyce
Linking to Let's Talk Vintage

Our Kitchen Remodel Part 1 - A Hutch Cupboard...

As I've been hinting - we've just remodeled our kitchen.  

There are still unfinished areas -  but operation 'move everything

 back into the cabinets' is finally finished as of today.

Since we changed the layout of our kitchen a bit - I had room to do

 something 'different' at one end of the cream painted cabinets.  

I did this... 

 Inspired a bit by this...

Via Better Homes & Gardens/Pinterest

Here is a glimpse of this same area 'before' and 'during' 

the mess of deconstruction...

And now - I have a pretty and safe place for my 'fancy' dishes...

(which I actually use fairly often - call me 'old fashioned'.) 
This is not a separate piece of furniture - rather just
standard kitchen cabinets from Kraftmaid that we 
put together to look like a 'hutch'.

When arranging things on shelves - it's good to vary heights and

 leave some blank space for the eye to rest.  My 'hutch' doesn't have all the 

blank space it should perhaps - but the dishes are in there and I'm happy!

Formerly they resided in the glass doors wall cabinet you see here.

  They were crammed in there! 
(Just trust me when I tell you our former kichen was very cheap and showing much wear - 

photos can lie!)

Glass dishes do not show up well in dark cabinets.  

So we put in a light colored back wall.  White doilies also help...

The few depression glass dishes I have were from my mother.  

So of course - they are special to me...

I would have liked to fit a desk into the kitchen but there wasn't enough room.  

Turns out - the bottom of this cupboard may serve us well as a

 computer/telephone center.

I'm sure I'll continue to play with what goes where - 

but I'm truly enjoying my new 'hutch' cabinet.

More kitchen pics in the days ahead!  ~Joyce

Domino Sugar and A Toy Stove Display...

Recently - I sold a little sample box of Domino Sugar...

The happy buyer was Kim in North Carolina.  Her plan?  

To include it in her child's vintage stove display in her kitchen .

It fits right in!  That's one sweet 'Little Lady'!

I love it when customers follow up regarding a purchase.  

Makes my day!

And there's still one more little sample box left...

Gerber Oatmeal Sample sized box available here

Anybody have a kitchen display that needs a box of baby cereal?

Hope you're having an awesome day!  ~Joyce

A Barn House...

This weekend I did a local Christmas House Tour with my sister.  

Fun!  The highlight of the tour was this barn...

 Believe it or not... it has been completely redone 

to be a house - a double house at that!  

This young man's family lives in one half of the barn... 

(That's a cement countertop.  But I loved the backsplash... 

a simple product from Lowe's and not metal at all!)

...then you walk through a doorway and enter

 his twin brother's family's space...

 

 ...a close-up of the corner screen door pantry...

My photos are so far beneath the grandeur of this place I hesitate to post them... 

But they'll give you a glimpse...

The brothers are graphic designers for some big names like Coca Cola, Evian water  and the NBA.
This is their office space which sits in the center of the barn between the two living quarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The cow was an animal they had befriended at a former workplace. 

When she died of natural causes - they brought her home...

 The grounds of this barn property was filled with great buildings.

  The original mansion house is now used for events and parties...

 The spring house with one of several old cars

 on display here and there...

This cute cottage sits across from the barn. 

 And they actually have a few animals...

Have you ever been in a barn that was converted 

into a house?   I was just blown away!

Kitchen Countertop Pantry...

Tupperware?  Plastic?  I'm discovering it's not the best for long term 

pantry storage.  That plastic smell leaks into the food after a while.  

I've decided glass will be the wave of the future for me.  

Trouble is - right now I've no good cupboard or pantry area 

that can handle the weight of all the glass.  

  I like easy access - and this little corner is my food prep area 

'cause its the only area close to the stove.  This is the 'before'...

 And after today's efforts....

bummer - this one got blurry!

 I picked up 4 canister jars at Target (under $6 each!) and used 

Mason & miscellaneous other jars to help corral my ingredients.

 Yep, right there on the kitchen counter...

This stretch of counter needed a bit of rearrange too.

  Believe it or not - this is the 'after'.  Looks a bit cluttered I know...

 I grouped in small vignettes to help calm the chaos a bit. 

Some things are 'out' because I want to remember to use them soon.

 I'm hoping some of these jars can eventually be in a  lazy susan pantry

of sorts that we'll have to create - but for now - a countertop pantry it is!

 And talk about awesome!   Don't even attempt to clean a kitchen 

area without some orange cleaner.  I think I bought this at Dollar Tree.  

The spray trigger doesn't even work right it's so cheap.  

I simply dumped some onto my wet rag to use it. 

Does it ever do a number on grease!
Linking to Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk