When I started my eating out challenge, I did well despite being in our tiny apartment, using our tiny, dim, disgusting kitchen. I had the motivation to make it work, so I did. I don’t love spending hundreds of dollars a month on food that I could make at home for much less (and healthier.. and better), so I sucked it up.
But I don’t think I could have gone for long in that kitchen. I know it might seem stupid to some of you, but my environment really can influence my mood. If I am in a cramped, dark space for any period of time, I tend to start feeling claustrophobic and it really can put me in a terrible mood.
Now that we are finally settling in to our house, I’ve been cooking every single day; and sometimes baking, too.
The kitchens between our apartment and house are vastly different.
The Apartment Kitchen
The kitchen in our apartment was horrid. It was a small galley kitchen, with no window anywhere around it. The cabinets were obviously not installed by a professional, and as a result, they were severely sloped toward the back of the cabinet. We would put a carrot on the counter and it would roll back.
Water pooled on the back part of the counter top as a result, particularly when we were washing dishes.
Oh, and there was no dishwasher. I wasn’t too upset with this, because it’s not that big of a deal to wash dishes, but it did take a lot of extra time.
The cabinets were painted black, presumably by the property manager, who forgot to remove the cabinets from the hinges before doing so. She also used the wrong paint for cabinet painting, and it dripped everywhere. One cabinet would not stay shut, and there were a couple that were hard to open because she painted them shut.
The lower cabinets were so dark that we couldn’t see inside them.
The fridge was “apartment sized”, so we couldn’t do any big grocery shop at the beginning of the week because we had no room to keep fresh food.
Cooking wasn’t a lot of fun in a kitchen like this, so I tended to avoid it as much as possible. Being stuck in a cramped, dark, dingy, poorly laid out kitchen when trying to cook? Not my cup of tea.
The House Kitchen
I have to clarify that the kitchen in our house is not huge. But it’s big enough for us. We are coming from an apartment, so we have not accumulated a ton of stuff. As a result, we have some empty cabinetry right now.
That picture up there is a picture of our kitchen. We lucked out with brand new appliances, and we have a gas stove which is fabulous for cooking. The counter top is not granite, but we don’t need granite anyway.
This kitchen is a 1000% improvement from the kitchen in the apartment. I can’t even stress how much better it is. I can actually see the things in the cabinets. The counter is level. The fridge is full-sized, so we can actually store food in it. It’s not perfect, but it’s perfect for us.
The Difference
I thought that, maybe, I was one of those people who just didn’t like cooking, and who would never really get into it. It seemed that way.
But then we moved here. And it turns out that I do like cooking, in the right environment.
If I’m going to be huddled over a pot or chopping vegetables for an hour, I want to feel comfortable with my surroundings.
Every night, save for once last week when we had too many leftovers and had to eat some of them, I’ve come home and started dinner. I’m not talking about easy meals like pasta with red sauce either, I’m talking homemade macaroni and cheese, manicotti with homemade marinara sauce, Indian lentils with homemade naan, enchiladas with homemade enchilada sauce, various soups and baked goods (including homemade raisin bread), you name it.
The improvement isn’t all in just the space, though. It is also in the equipment. Now that we have a full-sized fridge, I don’t have to go to the grocery store every second day to get ingredients. And admittedly, it’s nice to have the dishwasher and know that I don’t have to clean dishes after working on a meal after work.
It’s a huge improvement and it’s helped a lot in my desire to cook. Now, if only there was some change I could make that would make me enjoy cleaning…
I like vacuuming much more now that our vacuum is super light and efficient and easy to use. (a Dyson) Maybe there are things that can help…
I’ve ALWAYS wanted a Dyson, but of course am too stubborn to buy one until our old dirt devil kicks the bucket. Happy vacuuming!
I really enjoy cooking and have never had a kitchen I love, mostly because they are so cold. I was also in a bit of a rut in terms of what I was cooking – the same stuff every week. I’ve started mixing it up again lately and beginning to enjoy it again.
I totally hear you. Our kitchen isn’t perfect, but it’s so much better than a lot of the tiny apartment kitchens we dealt with over the years before buying this place.
Want to know how I make the cleaning better? I have Mr. PoP do it. The deal is, if I cook, he has to clean it up!
That’s our deal, too! Otherwise I’d be in the kitchen for ages every evening. Good tip!
I don’t think it sounds stupid at all – environments can totally effect your mood. I think that is true for everybody. Congratulations on your brand new kitchen. It looks beautiful! Happy cooking!
I do not think it’s stupid that you enjoy cooking in a nicer kitchen. I am the same way and am really picky about kitchen layout in places I rent. The only thing I think I differ on in terms of preferences is I like having a slightly smaller fridge because otherwise I buy too much food! I am more likely to eat everything and not waste food with less storage space. Now *that* is stupid! 🙂
We recently made the reverse change, actually, and I was surprised by how much it affected me, too. Our apartment kitchen was surprisingly large (like the one in your house) but we moved last summer to a townhouse that has a galley kitchen. I’d never cooked in one before and yeah, it is cramped! When my husband and I are both in there we are constantly bumping into and brushing up against one another (actually I kinda like that!). I still cook quite a lot but it doesn’t feel as nice as in our last kitchen. I’m going to be very careful about kitchen choices in the future now that we’ve had this experience because I spend so much time doing food prep.
I know what you mean. I share a kitchen with two housemates which means I have limited amount of storage space (two cabinets only + a small microwave stand with some shelving (3 in total). And I share a small fridge with one of my housemates. Not much space! The kitchen itself is quite large, but not exactly cozy or anything like that. I like cooking, but it’s not my ideal kitchen.
At my parents on the other hand, the kitchen is big, a larger fridge and a separate freezer unit. My mom is a bit of a kitchen gadget fan, so they have pretty much *everything* you might need. And, last but not least, a dishwasher! The kitchen also looks much nicer and as adjacent to the living/dining room area, and it is much more fun to cook there as a result 🙂
Can’t wait to have my own kitchen sometime and enough space for all my stuff.
Oh, gadgets definitely make it much easier to cook! I hear ya. It will help a LOT when you have your own kitchen.
Holy crap, Daisy! That’s your kitchen and you’re saying it’s not very big??! That kitchen is amazingly crazy!! My wife and I are happy with our little home, but let me tell you this, our kitchen is NOT that big! Not even close. But we make it work and we’re happy. girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl, you shouldn’t say bad things about that kitchen for even a second, haha!
My main wish list in any house is a kitchen. I love to cook along with my wife and we do it together most of the time. We want a big kitchen and we use every square inch of ours. I don’t know how you did it in the apartment, but you have a great looking kitchen now, so enjoy!
That kitchen looks great! I enjoy cooking and like an open area to cut and chop, as well as gas (I had electric hobs, not a fan), sharp knives, etc… you get your money back in no time by not eating out so much anyway. good job on your challenge!
Your kitchen is lovely and more than enough space! I think it’s human nature to avoid situations and spaces they don’t like to be in, for you it was your kitchen. I cook a lot and my current kitchen isn’t the best design, which is good because when we do eventually build I’ve figured out kinks I want to avoid but not so great now…
I completely agree that your environment impacts your mood and motivation. I think it impacts a lot of feelings, actually, as I’ve noticed I have a hard time sleeping when my bedroom is cluttered and unorganized. I don’t consider myself a neat freak because I certainly let my room get messy, but I notice subtle changes in my mood and sleeping habits. Same goes with other rooms in the house, and I’ve realized that clutter makes me cranky and totally unproductive! Kudos on your new house and renewed love for cooking in your gorgeous kitchen.
Is the demographic of pf bloggers really skewed or has the entire population grown up with & relied on dishwashers? I never even saw one until after college.
Maybe a bit of both? I didn’t grow up with a dishwasher – we did have one but it was broken and it stayed that way for the vast majority of my childhood. It may be a difference in living location etc.
I did not have a dishwasher until I was post-college, either.
I love your new kitchen!
We have a galley kitchen with very little counter space, and I agree with you- it’s not much fun to cook in. And it is awful to bake in! We actually have our washer/dryer in there too, probably in what should be the pantry. But, we do lots of our cooking on the weekends, so it seems more bearable when we’re only in there to reheat/make lunches on weekdays.
Although I will say that the lack of counter space really forces us to clean up after each meal.
What a pretty kitchen! Way to rock the cooking — I’m so proud of you!
I love your kitchen! It’s so nice!
Omg I feel you here with your apartment kitchen. We have to deal with that and we have no counters! The landloard promised to build one but 1 year and a half later nothing…Thankxgiving wo counters is horrible. Your so lucky to have a gas stove, Id be roasting peppers! Enjoy your kitchen!!
OMG! I love your kitchen! That’s like MY dream kitchen. Good size. Good cabinets. Good colour combo. I hate mine. It’s super small. Smaller than yours. Almost no counter space. I want to gut it and redo it all.
I had resolutions for eating healthy and cooking more. We just moved into a new apartment and found the tiny kitchen to be pretty disgusting. So much so that we don’t even have plans on using the cupboards. There is not much counter space either. I cringe whenever I have to go in the kitchen. So far since moving I’ve been relying on things I can cook in the microwave…so much for eating healthy! We’re saving money in this crappy apartment but I really can’t wait to move onto the next one and spend more money to get a place with a nice kitchen!
Haha when you figure that cleaning thing out let me know. We’re considering getting a new property and hopefully we have the same results where we like being in the kitchen more!
The kitchen environment makes such a difference when cooking! My old apartment had a HORRIBLE kitchen and I hated cooking in it. It was small, cramped and had no counterspace. If I wanted to chop vegetables or anything I’d have to carry all my stuff out to the main living area, do my food prep, and then cart it all back to the kitchen one step at a time to actually cook. My kitchen now is much better and I am so much more motivated to cook!
I completely understand what you’re saying. our old love shack, you coud stand in the middle of the kitchen and touch every single part of the kitchen. it was TINY. now that we have a nice kitchen with granite countertops and cupboards, I am in heaven and we cook all the time. It does take more time, but somehow we manage!
Your new kitchen is so nice! It’s so hard to be motivated to cook in a small dark kitchen (I know our old apartment had the worst galley kitchen). BF and I couldn’t even be in the kitchen at the same time without bumping into each other.
My home in the UK was 600sq ft and my refrigerator was the size of a bar fridge (common). I had to shop every couple of days for years on end but you get used to it. My kitchen was not big but I did update the space and it did make it desirable to cook in but I rarely if ever ate out. I’m a big fan of Jaime Oliver who says as long as you have a hotplate and a frying pan or pot you can cook a fabulous meal. It all depends on the person but the space can influence a positive or negative environment for some, for me I’m like JO! Nice Kitchen btw
Nice kitchen! Send some of those empty cabinets my way… I could use the extra storage!
Sometime in the near future I’ll post an article on our kitchen renovation. We had a Kitchen that must have been designed by someone that eats out 7 days a week as it was totally Ub-ergonomical. That was an intense (DIY) project that stressed our marriage to the breaking point! In retrospect though it was well worth doing since we now have twice the storage and counter space that we had in the past. Oh, and yes, I have a dyson! We’re on our second one and we bought both re-furbished at a significant savings!
That is one beautiful kitchen!!!!!! I would love to have that kitchen in my house when I buy one!!!
You have a beautiful kitchen. I love my kitchen now and its very easy to want to cook in it.
Oh I feel ya. I currently share my kitchen with four other people, so my fridge/cabinet space is insanely limited. I also often put something on the counter only to realize that they have left it sticky with who knows what. And our oven/stove is currently out of gas, so all cooking is done on a hot plate… it’s the least ideal kitchen in the world, probably. I dream of the next kitchen I have because it’s almost guaranteed to be a huge improvement.
Environment really can make all the difference. Our biggest problem with the kitchen is keeping the dang dining room table free of mail and other “important” papers…kind of bums me out. But that’s something that’s totally in my control. Your new place’s kitchen is GORGEOUS. Glad it’s helping the eating at home budget out. 🙂
Nice kitchen Daisy.
Your Kitchen is the 3x the size of mine, but I like the cozy comfort o mine. I think you got a very generous size kitchen, not sure why you might feel that it’s small.
I love cleaning in the kitchen. I can’t stand to see any dirt right after cooking.
Your new kitchen is gorgeous!
We lived without a dishwasher at our first house (for 7 years). I grew up without one, so never thought much of it. Our new house (not exactly new – we’ve been here for over 3 years) has a dishwasher and honestly – it has changed my life! To this day I rave about how much I love our dishwasher and how much more free time I have now that I no longer have to spend time washing dishes. And yes, I am one of those people who puts EVERYTHING into the dishwasher…