Think Outside the Drawer

So I have a super tiny kitchen, as in really small. I have a very small countertop area that holds the sink, a dishrack, the coffee maker and my kitchen-aid. That is all I can fit on that countertop. That is the only one in the entire kitchen. I have a buffet turned work island in the center of the kitchen, but the only thing I have on it is a cutting board.

Our cabinets in the kitchen hang really low, so mounting appliances under them isn't an option. Besides the fact that we rent, and we can't make any changes anyway but work with what's already existing. The microwave and toaster used to be on another small buffet but it was white and had a TON of crevices and was a major pain to clean. Momma was at her breaking point and something new needed to replace it. My only requirement was that I didn't want it to be white and it had to have a somewhat easy to clean surface.
Meet the newest member of our family, the sideboard. I think I'll name her Sally. Sally sideboard is really a dresser that I bought off of Craigslist this last weekend for $80. I wish she would have been a little less, but she fits in our kitchen perfectly and she holds a lot of stuff.

She has ten lovely drawers, all but two are filled up with stuff. Right now I have my cuisinart, waffle maker, george forman grill, cookie cutters, cake decorating stuff, recipe book, blender, a few bread baskets and washcloths for cleaning up the kids tucked safely away inside her lovely drawers. Like I said, she holds a lot of stuff!

I had fun making the top functional and pretty. I had to have the microwave and toaster oven on top. But I also wanted to add some functional fanciness to it as well. The canister you see here is filled with paper napkins. It's sitting on top of a red antique devilled egg tray and the tongs for the toaster oven are within easy reach. Your going to give me a pass on my dirty toaster oven, right? That thing is a major pain to keep clean. Seriously, I love how it works but cleaning it is an almost futile endeavor.
The end of the sideboard was looking bare, as I didn't have any other appliances that HAD to go there. So I decided to borrow a lamp from the living room to give the kitchen some more light. I also wanted to add a decorative element, so I added the potted flower and the pictures. I just bought this Kalancoe plant from 99 cent everything the day before and it looks awesome here. I found some moss growing in the backyard so I dug it up and brought it in, makes the flowers look professionally potted, huh? The pot saucer is an old transferware bread plate that I got for 99 cents awhile back.

Both of the white picture frames came from 99 cents everything as well. If you have that store in your area and you've not gone, you are committing a frugal felony! That is hands down the best dollar store I've been too. Anyways, I wanted to frame something that would be meaningful for me. I spend a TON of time in the kitchen (as most Mommies do) and I need the encouragement. So I framed my favorite picture of me and my Momma, every time I look at that picture I smile.

I also made a frame with a word that I've really been trying to put into perspective as a Mom lately, "Legacy". Anything and everything has the potential of being the building blocks of the legacy I will leave for my kids. They are at an age now that makes me very aware of how my actions will leave a lasting impression. I have a lot of work to do in that area, I need the reminder daily, sometimes hourly, that what I'm doing day in and day out is really contributing to the overall larger picture.

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