Friday, May 2, 2014

Microwave Dies and Causes Kitchen Chaos and Lots of Work.

Little did I know when my microwave died what chaos and work would be involved in replacing it. My new policy is to buy better as I replace items around the house. I research the item on the internet looking at reviews of the product as well as buying guides. I ended up getting a bigger microwave/convection combination. Don't ask, I haven't used it yet except for heating a cup of water for tea. I'm just too busy.

First of all there's the decisions of what shelf height you want.  I decided I would make the second shelf up from the bottom high enough that I could put in the green plastic bins I had around the house. Sometimes bins look better than stuff on shelves. Microwave shelf at a comfortable height, and the shelf above it high enough to clear the top comfortably.  Top shelf at the top. 

One of the chrome shelves I had in the kitchen that housed the microwave was too shallow to hold this microwave, so I bought new, deeper chrome shelves. The shelves that housed the old microwave has been moved over towards the stove.  Plenty of room between it and the stove.  Nice place to put pots and pans when I can get to them.  The shelf that used to be where it is, is now in front of the cupboard with the pots and pans in it while I empty the shelves and find new places for the stuff.

Then you have to decide what will go where and there's moving the stuff you don't use so much and that's all covered in sticky grease from cooking, so that all has to get washed either by hand or in the dishwasher, which I obviously prefer to use. I'm getting smart in my old age - the stuff gets washed and dried and then if I don't use it too much it is going in one of three bins on the bottom rack of the shelves. Much easier to wash 1 plastic bin than a ton of small items. 

 Arranging, rearranging...stacking, finding bins and containers to put stuff in. Like my measuring spoons. They were on a clip that went onto the side of the wire basket that holds the measuring cups. It didn't work because you had to take a lot of spoons off to get to the different sizes. I had a lovely shiny, light green flower pot I had always wanted to use for something, so it became the new home for the measuring spoons now loosely stacked in it and ready to be grabbed. It is a lot of work, but I am taking it slow and thinking very hard about everything. 

 During the cleanup of the storage closet, which is still in progress, I found a potato ricer. It has a fixed hole setup unlike my new one which is adjustable and which I bought because I couldn't find the other one.  Potato ricers are my secret to fluffy mashed potatoes.  Why was the ricer in the storage closet???? Who knows. I don't know if I will keep both or stick with the newer adjustable one.  For now, since I don't use them daily, they are in one of the three bins on the bottom shelf.

I now have three chrome shelves in my kitchen of which only two will stay. The other one will go out on the balcony and get a bit of a scrub down and then it will go behind my couch, after it has dried, to hold some crafting stuff I don't get to as often. I might use the top shelf for my knitting and crocheting books because it is higher than the back of the couch...of course, the shelving is adjustable.. There's one more chrome shelf in my living room and ...hmmmm....maybe it should go over there in the corner...

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