Dream Kitchen

Whenever I live in a new apartment or house, I always make mental notes about what I like and do not like about the kitchens. When we are looking for new apartments, the size of the kitchen is of great importance to me and thus of great importance to Eric. Janssen's recent post about dishwashers and my recent living in a million places at one time have prompted this post. I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking of all the things that make a good kitchen. And here are the requirements, in no particular order, for my dream kitchen:

• Dishwasher. Janssen really said it best. First of all, no washing or drying by hand. Second, huge time-saver. Third, sanitation. Fourth, no clutter on the counters when you don't have time to wash dishes or when you're waiting for dishes to dry. (Speaking of which, I was telling somebody about Janssen's post and how I'd never thought of the clutter aspect, and the somebody told me she once hid her dirty dishes in the oven when her mother-in-law was coming over and she didn't have time to get them washed!)
• Garbage disposal. A heavy-duty one. I want to be able to send down lemon rinds and potato peels. Mostly because it's so much easier on your back to peel into the sink than it is to peel into the garbage can.
• Side-by-side fridge with water spigot thing. Water from those things just tastes better. And I won't need a great deal of freezer space because I will have a
• Deep-Freezer. Let's face it, if you want to save money, you need a deep-freezer. You can stock up on things when they go on sale, like when Macey's sells chicken breasts for $.99/lb, but only when you buy 20lbs. A great buy, and you need a deep freezer to capitalize on it.
• Island. They create SO much more counter-space, not to mention cabinet space.
• Regular counter tops. Not granite. Some people like granite counter tops because you can use them as cutting boards. GROSS! I would never feel like I could get those counters as clean as a dishwasher could get my cutting boards.
• Wood cabinets. I know it can be very fashionable to have colored cabinets, and I often can appreciate them, but with colored cabinets you have to be wary of trends. What if the color you choose (avocado green, for example) is suddenly not as pretty as you once thought it was? Cabinets are more expensive to replace than other things, and to have to re-do your whole kitchen just because you picked a lousy color would stink. Wood is just more enduring.
• Gas stove/oven. More even cooking. You ALWAYS know when a burner is on, so you are less likely to melt things like cutting boards (2), cheese graters (1), spatulas (1), oven mitts (at least 3). I hate electric stoves, but I especially hate the flat ones. They are really hard to clean. Convection ovens are generally unnecessary because you always have to worry about the conversion times.
• Trashcan with a lid and a foot-pedal because touching the trash can is gross.
• Deep, steel sink. I just prefer this kind. I don't need the room under my sink for the trash because I don't like trash to go under the sink. If the smell of the trash is bothersome, it needs to be taken out more frequently, not hidden.
• Dishes. Lots of styles of dishes. I am tempted to buy a new set of dishes almost every time I go to Ross because they usually have all sorts of fun sets for really good prices. I like the idea of rotating sets of dishes when I get bored. My dishes now are plain white, which is great because they go with everything, and I know they'll never become dated. But, when I have more space and more money, I intend to own several sets of dishes. It will be fun and festive!
• Tablecloths. Like dishes, they really jazz things up. Again, a reason I like my dishes is because I can set them with any color of table cloth. Of course, I only have the green one (which I quite like) that Brian and Brianne gave us for our wedding. But one day I'll have more, and I'll use them frequently, even if I do have to put a plastic one on top to prevent having to wash a tablecloth every day.

I think that covers everything. One day, when I have my dream kitchen, I will invite you over for dinner.