Daily Archives: January 11, 2009

So I realized that I had showed you the before pictures of my new little studio (emphasis on the little), but I hadn’t yet posted any update pictures so I thought I’d show you what I did with the Kitchen Renovating and bathroom remodeling project.

(Bedroom/Office/Closet Pics to Come!)

So here is the Main Area where I spend a good portion of time. It houses the kitchen, the dining area, and off to the right you get a sneak peak of the bathroom.

The thing about a studio is that there is very little space. This challenge has probably been my favorite part of living here because often I have had to really streamline my material things and be creative about storage. Part of my solution has been to repurpose some items like this bar from Pottery Barn:

This actually functions as a home for my favorite cookbooks, but also instead of storing bottles in there it has become something of a dry goods pantry. And because the space is limited, I really have to be organized about the food I keep on hand, which I love. I took some great ideas from this website about what to keep on hand, and it has really made my pantry not only more organized but healthier! When you don’t have much room for storage, I am more likely to store something that will make up part of a delicious, healthy meal rather than some impulse buy snack food purchase.

One of the other storage solutions I have found instrumental in this space is my Ikea Expedit Bookcase. I turned it on its side and, voila! Insta-storage!

With little cabinet space, I had to find a solution to the question of where to put a lot of my cookware. It also made me realize that the things I stored needed to function in multiple different ways. For example, the bottom right corner stores my All Clad Multi-cooker which is a multi-tasking lifesaver, as it only takes up as much room as a stock pot, but it also includes a strainer for cooking pasta and vegetable steamer basket. This guy may seem big, but in the long run saves me SO MUCH SPACE!

In the actual prep area you will see that the space is limited (are we seeing a pattern, yet?), but I actually found some creative solutions, again from Ikea that really helped me fit everything I needed in there without taking up all my counter space.

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The first was maximizing my wallspace with the Grundtal line of rails, hooks, and holders. It really allowed me to keep the things I use all the time within arms reach but without having them take up valuable prep space.

Yum…Coffee.

I also used that same line of products on the other kitchen wall to maximize my knife and spice storage.

Since I cook A LOT, I still store some spices on the counter, but this obviously helped keep that to a minimum!

Lastly, in the kitchen, I made sure to keep all my accessories bright and cheerful to reflect the vibe of the house. How great is the acid green and light turquoise paint on the walls? I never would have chosen those colors myself, I’m just not talented like that, but I love, love, love them! It’s helped inspire my choices of colorful cookwear — I mean how could you have a plain white tea kettle with such fabulous paint on the walls?

And even though it can get a little cluttered, I love posting my favorite pictures on the refrigerator. It inspires my photography, and reminds me of how lucky I am to have such great friends and family in my life!

So that’s the kitchen and dining area, onto the Loo!

The bathroom, like everything else, is small, but it’s the perfect size for me and I have found some creative storage solutions to make sure I have all my favorite girly products available. Can’t scrimp on those! The paint is a little more neutral, but the tile in here is the real showstopper! Full of greens, browns, and even some purples, it is definitely a great detail. We also got a bathtub replacement.

I absolute LOVE the pedestal sink! But that also came with it’s own storage challenges. The previous tenant left the plastic drawers to left of the sink, and even though they are not the prettiest, they have been super useful, we’ll have to keep them until we’re able to do a major renovations with the amazing products found at www.granitetransformations.com/. And the apothecary jars on top are from (where else?) Ikea and they allow me to keep my most used items at my fingertips at all times.

And last but not least I thought I’d give you a sneak peak of the Little Shower. Not because it is particularly fabulous or anything, but I thought you might want some photgraphic proof that I do actually use the products I recommend here!

So there you have it! That’s my Little Studio — well the kitchen and bathroom, at least. Next up I will give you a little tour of the other half of the house, so Stay Tuned!