Last week I wrote about a few of the reuse projects at our house. Today I’d like to show you a couple more, this time in the kitchen.
When we bought our house the kitchen cabinets and counters were set up in a U-shape. The prior owners had installed new counter tops and when they did, they set up a large half-circle coming off of one leg of the U. They had counter-height stools set up around the half-moon and presumably used this as an eating area because there was no room for a kitchen table. This setup never really worked for us, though. Neither my husband nor I really enjoy eating while perched on a stool. Once our girls came along, the height didn’t really work for high chairs or booster seats and it wasn’t possible to talk to everyone seated there.
What we needed was a kitchen table. The half-moon would have to go, but even with it gone, the table would have to be longer and more narrow than the standard kitchen table. After a bit of woodworking, my husband was able to make us the perfect sized kitchen table out of some old wood he had in the garage.
The same wood that made our square foot garden boxes . . .
. . . was used to make our new table:
The table is rustic, which is what we were after, and it’s working great for us. There’s plenty of room for everyone and no one has to balance atop a stool while eating.
The second project in the kitchen is in the pantry. I’m blessed with a large pantry, but it’s so deep that getting to the things stored towards the back of the shelves is a problem — not to mention having to move everything in front of an item to get it out. The solution was some scrap wood and a few J-hooks my husband recycled from old gymnasium mirrors. He ended up building some shelves on one side wall for canned goods and more shelves on the other side for large pots and small appliances.
The pink things at the bottom are the girls' little rolling pins.
I promise, the fire extinguisher is there because my husband is safety-conscious, NOT because of my cooking. . .
Again, I’m showing you these projects not because I think they’re for everyone. Most of the things my husband makes require tools and woodworking skills. These posts are really about thinking in a more creative way when it comes to reusing items you already have. When you get ready to buy something new, think for a moment about whether or not you already have something that could be re-purposed in a creative new way.
