Week 2: The Kitchen

I woke up this morning dreaming of pale grey walls and turquoise cupboards.

The plan, however, does not involve paint. Instead, I am going to take no more than the allotted week and do a thorough clean. This is not an apartment sized kitchen. It is a poorly laid out, awkward 10x10 room with three doorways, a floor which needs replacing, and inadequate storage space. It is heavily used for cooking, meals, family games and schooling.

I want to tackle one wall every two days. I plan to clean everything on the wall and the wall itself in those two days. For example. I started in on the East wall yesterday. It begins with a doorway, contains a cart, the microwave, the stove, shelves above and beside the stove and ends with another doorway.

(I took the photos from one corner to its opposite. It's efficient way to photograph an entire room, but not a good way to show an entire wall.)

I like these jars. I like these shelves. I'm sick of the whole thing. I need a change. Actually, that's not true. I need an exhaust fan. I want a change.




I may be able to clean the South wall, the one with the map and the window, in one day instead of two.

The west wall, with the school room shelf, the sink and most of my cupboards will be a bear.

Here's the To Do list:
1. Cull books.
2. Verathane the shelf
3. Replace water filter tap. (We have the replacement, we just can't figure out the instructions).
4. Wash out the bottom cupboards.
5. Wash out the top cupboards.
6. Bleach counter top.
7. Shop for new dishrack tray. It is stained beyond redemption, unfortunately.
8. Replace artwork on that wall.


This last wall has very little: just a few cupboards (the top one I cleaned during culinary therapy) , the fridge with the blackboard on it (which needs another coat of blackboard paint) and the cookbook shelf and utensil rack. Oh and the garbage can which needs a complete hose down. This wall will take two full days.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can get to cleaning the appliances themselves.