Note: This is that out-of-order post I warned you about on Friday. I’m working on my book edits this week, so I’m just glad I had this post “in the can” to use while I shut out the world and try to make my upcoming book the very best it can possibly be. Sorry for any redundancy!
People coming over, kids included, means I like to take advantage of the fact that we have two dining areas. Even without an official Children’s Table, the split naturally happens. I love having adult conversation while I listen to the laughter coming from the other room. (The other room with a table, so there’s no reason for kids to “need” to eat on their laps in my living room).
But my second dining area, my breakfast nook, is a beautifully hidden spot. Seriously, real life friends who have watched some of the videos of me decluttering it have asked to see it. These are people who have been in my kitchen many times, but this connected area somehow escapes their notice.
And that is one of the reasons I like the layout of this house . . .
But in anticipation of the table-splitting, I straightened my breakfast nook. Straightened. Which meant some throwing away, some moving of randomly-placed stuff to its home eighteen inches away, and such.
Here you go. So not perfect, but so much better.
Several have suggested removing the decorative items (giving up on the dream that this will be a place to display anything) and using it only for its real-life purpose of holding various kitchen things.
I like that idea, and totally plan to act on it one day. I just find myself moving this space down the priority list since it’s so rarely seen!
But seriously, y’all, doesn’t straightening make an amazing difference?
--Nony
The breakfast nook does look great! I was wondering how much time you spent straightening it. I am terrible when it comes to estimating how long a project will take and often give up before I have even tried.
I am not huge into nonfunctional decroize items but I have found that for me when I desegregated an area as decorative and have it exactly as I like it I won’t let clutter land there like a flat surface. I had a sleeve that my mom but about chest high it fit storage totes for fabric I made a curtain to cover that but the top could have been prime flat surface clutter collector so I made it a decorative surface the more perfect I made it the more I resisted puking anything else there depending on your test and function making certain shelves finished or polished in the decorative Ness and the others refillable with consumables
Bless your heart. I truly thought that my cabinets were the only ones that got like that…repeatedly. Looks great!
See, there’s progress for you. There was a time when you would have called this a decluttering project. Now it’s just straightening. Way to go.
Dana, The next time you make your iPhone list for shopping, put some cobalt blue pull knobs on it. That way you can quickly replace those drawer pulls. Eagle eye me noticed one is missing. Lol
I realize that it’s 2018 now, but I remember you like that color and it would give a splash of color to that area. Btw, Happy Belated Birthday 🎂
“Time Traveler” comments are probably less helpful since you’ve had a couple years of revelations I haven’t read yet, but… I finally figured out what bothered me about this space: it was the intermingling, undefined-ness, “one of these things is not like the other” situation (like the office/game room/guestroom). (I know from “yesterday’s” post you’ve already solved this area). It was the decor next to food next to paper towels that made this an undefined space and it always looked cluttered, to some degree, even when straightened. Your solution of removing almost all decor was a big improvement, but I think it also could have worked to segregate the categories (bottom shelf is for food, upper shelves are for decorative things). It would have helped it to make “visual sense”.