This is my kitchen.
It’s old – it’s been old for the whole of the 27 years Mr WI64 and I have owned it – and it’s way past time for a facelift.
There are aspects of this old kitchen I love. Like the round table in the corner where we eat most meals and is a natural gathering place when people drop in.
It’s the kind of kitchen people make themselves at home in and no one worries whether they’re wearing shoes on the ancient linoleum.
Check that top picture again and you’ll see what the kitchen lacks.
A couple generations of people – from kids to siblings to friends – have bemoaned my lack of a dishwasher.
Not so long ago my niece picked up the theme with Daughter #2. Your mom really needs a dishwasher, she said as if intervention were required.
Does she ever, agreed #2, a long time promoter of the dishwasher theme. It’s time.
My lack of a dishwasher has been an annoyance for the whole of the time we’ve lived here. We have the odd dinner party and, while I’m not a bad cook, I’m messy and with no dishwasher, there’s no hiding that.
Then . . . this week . . . enter Tom, a high school pal and cabinet maker who offered to update the WI64 kitchen. Tom’s a guy I trust with my old kitchen.
Yup. These have to go, he said when he spotted the cupboards, .
You’ll want space for a new fridge and stove. Do you want an island?
That would be nice.
No room for one, he said, tape-measurer snapping. Especially if you want a dishwasher.
He paused.
Do you think you need a dishwasher?
Of course, I need a dishwasher. Everyone has a dishwasher. Who wouldn’t want a dishwasher?
I’m overdue for one, I told him. And I think if we’re ever to sell this house, we have to have one.
I doubt it, said Tom. Nobody’s going to not buy your house because it lacks a dishwasher.
He continued, like a kitchen psychologist. How does dishwashing work here?
I explained that MrWI64 does the evening dishes shift and I do the rest.
Ideas happen at my kitchen sink, I told him. Hands in water, I daydream out the window and get writing inspiration.
Right, said Tom. No dishwasher.
So that’s that. Within the next couple months my happy, yellow, dated kitchen will get a new look with new appliances. The round corner table will stay, edging out room for an island.
No island. And no dishwasher.
Watch this space.
When I'm 64 
One thing I think we really need is more deep drawers rather than “lower cabinets” . I love my bottom drawers: (similarly, driving around with my top down). I have a half “new” and half “old” kitchen. No crouching on hands and knees to peer into a dark cavern to look for a long lost saucepan or can of peaches, taking a chance on being the target of a “goose”. Just pull out the drawer and view everything inside. Absolutely….everything… in plain sight. In the drawer that is.
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Yes! Drawers are in the plan.
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Gery! I’m totally with you: No Dishwasher! I use mine to store clean dishes. I have a rule (fairly easy for a down-town guy, but takes discipline): Every time I go into my kitchen I have to do five things: * clean a counter * rinse the old sponge in hot water (ugh/ouch!), *put away cans of soup/vitamins/herbs/ whatever is lying about *pop a Purdie’s dark ginger chocolate in my mouth * wipe a dish with clean-ish cooled-down sponge and put it in my…dishwasher.
Ricky
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I’m part way there with your program, Ricky. I have the dark chocolate ginger bit down pat.
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Forgot to mention! Another thing I do, once a week or so, is use my Dad’s old Micronta Battery Tester (circa 1970) to check the AAA batteries beside the fridge. If they still have some life I put them in the bottom drawer with old pennies. If not: being a conscientious re-cycler I take them to London Drugs. God knows what they do with them? Probably put them in the garbage. Rick
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And there we have it. Your entire kitchen routine in two paragraphs. ☺️
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I have a dishwasher but not the comfortable, cozy, corner of love where your table sits. I would give up the dishwasher in an instant ❤️
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Ohhh, honey pie. Come sit. ❤️
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*Purdy’s
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Great post!
I would have gone for dishwasher and an island that has four stools where you can still congregate…everyone ends up in the kitchen during parties.
I didnt have a dishwasher in my house where I entertained big but I am sure glad I have one now in my condo.
Cant wsit to see your Reno! ja
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A dishwasher was top of my list…my hands show every day of my 60+ years. But mine is an old house/small kitchen and I’d lose cupboard space and/or my dining corner. Surprised myself as I thought of the value – the zen – of dishwashing for me.
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