Why Our Kitchen Walls Now Make Me Smile :)

Hi Honeys
Back again, as promised, with another post following our recent kitchen makeover, which you can read about here and here.  I know I've waffled about our kitchen but it really has made me so ridiculously happy :)

In this post I wanted to share how we've planned our kitchen walls to include not only extra storage space (always useful) but also to make a place for a few things that make us smile :)

As with the rest of the kitchen, we wanted everything to have a function, but a home should have some elements of the personalities of its residents shouldn't it?  To that end we've added tiny personal touches too. With this post honeys I want to try to share the little finishing touches we've added :)

As you saw in the first kitchen makeover post (which you can see here honeys) one wall of our kitchen has cabinets & worktop/counter wall to wall. That takes us to the corner shown on the left hand side of the photograph below.

The worktop or counter then turns in a sort of L shape and goes towards our cooker, which in the above photo has our Union Jack tea trays sitting on it :) The wall above the cooker (and small freezer nearby under the worktop) like the rest of the kitchen was tiled by my dear Hubby and these tiles act as a back splash.  

In this area of the kitchen we've used glass shelves & some rails, baskets and tubs from the BYGEL range at Ikea. Forget Disneyland, Ikea is my own personal happy place :) You can see the whole wall in more detail in the photograph below:

These glass shelves were originally on the wall over by the fridge/freezer and have now been replaced by wooden shelves, but you'll see that later in this post.

Since this wall holds other treasures, such as the gorgeous glass bottles bought as a housewarming gift by a very dear friend, we moved the glass shelves to this side of the room. Here, they're being used to display a very pretty set of cappuccino cups, while underneath the cappuccino cups we have a set of Lurpak egg cups and matching butter dish. Both of which we've had for many years.

Above the cooker I asked hubby to hang a canvas he bought for me, for no other reason than that I love it, I love that he bought it for me, I love the Beatles (don't start me on how I was born too late...) and that it makes me smile every time I see it :) Isn't it wonderful?     

Just to the side of the cooker is the glass panelled doorway through to our downstairs hallway.  On the back of this door hubby attached a wooden coat hook bar.  I then used these hooks to hang a wonderful pocket storage system called Kusiner, again from Ikea.  I've used this to store stock cubes, fajita seasoning, cheese sauce sachets and assorted seasonings for oven bakes etc.

This is such a wonderful way to store these packets! I can see at a glance what I have (so no wasteful buying repeat items) and it's just like having my own little store in the kitchen where I can "shop" ideas for dinner :)  I really do love this little organizer, it's so useful and no more digging in cupboards to see what packets we have, which is a blessing for my achey bones.

By the door is the long straight wall which faces the wall lined in cabinets (and which also has our sink too.)  I've already shown these cabinets in another post which you can see which you can see here honeys. honeys. 

This long straight wall saw the biggest changes in our recent makeover.  As you from the photo below we've added a wooden shelf to hold baking ingredients and underneath is another BYGEL rail (and basket) which hold baking utensils and decorating staples such as sprinkles. 

The new worktop or counter runs along the length of this wall, stopping just at the fridge/freezer.  Above the fridge/freezer are two more shelves which hold large containers of flour, oats, pasta etc. I love this because it's cleared much needed space in our tiny larder cupboard.  Joy!  Under the shelves (on top of the fridge/freezer) we have a breakfast area which has our cereals all in one place, right near the milk in the fridge. Sometimes it's great to save that minute or so in the morning :) You can see the details of the shelves in the photo below... 

The little two tier stackable organiser at the front of the photo is full of healthy snacks in an effort to be a little more health conscious in the new year.

That brings us to the back door, leading through to the tiny hallway leading out to the garden.  Even this is being used to squeeze out some extra storage. 

Again, hubby added a wooden coat hook bar.  This one is holding two tea cosies (there is a red and white one with little minis (cars) printed all over it hidden by the two oven mitts) an oven glove with keep calm written on it, the aforementioned oven mitts and five vegetable bags. 

These bags are great! They are cotton with a fabric lining and help keep produce fresh that little bit longer. I use them to store potatoes, onions, carrots and sweet potatoes. I don't even have to lift them down (which is just as well given my poor shoulders) because they have a zip in the side for easy access to their contents. I got them from Poundland honeys, and would definitely recommend them.

So, that's the tour of our kitchen walls at an end honeys.  What do you think?  Any comments, suggestions and storage ideas welcome.  I'll be offline for a couple of days but will be back on Monday with another post, till then dear ones, stay warm and have a fabulous weekend, hugs always xx