A Really Small Kitchen

Long before we ever moved into our own place, Doug and I talked about what we would want for our ideal home. He wants a garage for his motorcycle. I want a huge kitchen. Paying rent in Hawaii means that these things we want have to be altered to fit our budget: covered parking for Doug's bike and a kitchen that I don't have to share with roommates. So though the kitchen is used only by the two of us, it is a teeny tiny kitchen.

When we moved in, this was the kitchen in its entirety:

The fridge (for which you can only see the handle) ended the kitchen space. There is nothing but a wall opposite the the sink/stove/fridge side of the kitchen. Though it is hard to see in the picture, the cabinet space above the sink is actually quite high, and since I cannot reach very high, the space is not all that usable. Good thing the stove top is flat, so I can use it as additional counter space.

Since I do enjoy cooking, the provided cabinet space was, well, not enough. Just the basic pots, pans, and dishes take up half the space. The other half I filled with spices and such; the things I use most while cooking. This left other food lined up against the wall in shopping bags, until I found a pantry solution:

Someday I hope to have a bigger kitchen. But for now this is a major improvement when compared to roommates who have different cooking/cleaning ideas in the kitchen.