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darkemeraldsThe unexpected outcomes of Project Empty continue to occupy my free time and brainspace...and, I sheepishly report, my wallet.
I wasn't going to buy new stuff--especially not "storage solutions". The last thing I wanted was new containers for old crap. Which was a great intention, but I didn't see the kitchen explosion coming.
When I was eating from restaurants and packages, the storage space in my kitchen was fine. But when I started preparing twenty-one meals a week at home, things got out of hand.
Here's a before-and-after photo from before the cooking thing started posing pantry problems:
And here's what that relatively tidy dishwasher-slash-countertop was beginning to look like:
So, off to IKEA I and my car went a couple of weekends ago, and home again home again jiggedy jig (a wink to my fellow RayK fans) with a New Storage Solution. A 30-inch Akurum base cabinet with four drawers, one of them big enough to hold a ridiculous number of one-gallon jars of bulk food. (Note to self: a gallon jar of rice is heavy!)
Some assembly required, of course. An acre of cardboard (all going to the compost), a small armload of plastic wrap (garbage, alas), and several days of effort later, a fine new cabinet:
(Conveniently customized for today's modern six-foot tall woman.)
Magic! New pantry space--and with those drawers that pull themselves silently shut the last inch.
And it matches the cupboard I installed a few months ago, thank you IKEA.
So, the level of stuff falls a lot, then rises a little, as the whole lifestyle changes. I wish I could say that I've stopped acquiring new things, but all I can really claim is that the influx of stuff into my life has dropped off sharply.
The quality of my life seems to keep going up.
I wasn't going to buy new stuff--especially not "storage solutions". The last thing I wanted was new containers for old crap. Which was a great intention, but I didn't see the kitchen explosion coming.
When I was eating from restaurants and packages, the storage space in my kitchen was fine. But when I started preparing twenty-one meals a week at home, things got out of hand.
Here's a before-and-after photo from before the cooking thing started posing pantry problems:
And here's what that relatively tidy dishwasher-slash-countertop was beginning to look like:
So, off to IKEA I and my car went a couple of weekends ago, and home again home again jiggedy jig (a wink to my fellow RayK fans) with a New Storage Solution. A 30-inch Akurum base cabinet with four drawers, one of them big enough to hold a ridiculous number of one-gallon jars of bulk food. (Note to self: a gallon jar of rice is heavy!)
Some assembly required, of course. An acre of cardboard (all going to the compost), a small armload of plastic wrap (garbage, alas), and several days of effort later, a fine new cabinet:
(Conveniently customized for today's modern six-foot tall woman.)
Magic! New pantry space--and with those drawers that pull themselves silently shut the last inch.
And it matches the cupboard I installed a few months ago, thank you IKEA.
So, the level of stuff falls a lot, then rises a little, as the whole lifestyle changes. I wish I could say that I've stopped acquiring new things, but all I can really claim is that the influx of stuff into my life has dropped off sharply.
The quality of my life seems to keep going up.
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8/7/08 19:18 (UTC)I remind myself frequently that simplicity, quiet, and order are a big part of the reason for Project Empty in the first place, and if there are purchases I can make judiciously that will contribute to those goals, then it might be a good idea to make them.
There's nothing like a well-designed new appliance or tool to make an onerous job easier and your life simpler.