Galley Slave

Back to kitchen madness, it's what's on my mind lately, I, being a small apartment dweller, have a small kitchen.  Just a tad larger than 10x6, or maybe smaller. Too lazy to measure, it is what it is.  ***BREAKING NEWS*** Beans got off his fundament and measured and it's actually 5x8, the size or smaller than a normal non-master bathroom ***BREAKING NEWS***

The layout is... like a galley.  On one long wall there is the sink and dishwasher, with some undercounter storage and some overhead storage.  The other wall has a hole (32" wide by 66" tall) and a standard sized range with cabinet space above and below the counter.  The far wall is literally a wall.  No window, no fancy cabinets, just a wall.  (If there was a window, I'd have to share it with the next-door neighbor, no thanks.)  The upper cabinets do not connect to the ceiling, so there's storage space above them, at least.

Cons are that it is a small kitchen. You can literally stand between the oven and the sink and reach most places in the kitchen.  Small.  No window. Old apartment, so the power to the kitchen isn't up to modern standards so can't run too many things at the same time.  There is no pantry to speak of, just extra room in the hall closet/laundry area across from the kitchen.

Pros of the small kitchen are... that you can literally stand between the oven and the sink and reach most places in the kitchen.  Like a galley (not the ship that is rowed by ranks of galley slaves but the kitchen of a boat/ship (probably not on a galley, that would be weird, a galley's galley.)) Seriously, the apartment kitchen is about half the size of the old house kitchen, but that had a drop ceiling which lost a lot of space from the dropped portion.

And... the wall.  The wall of nothing.  The wall that has no cabinets, storage, usefulness at all other than being a wall separating me from Mr. Smokes 2 Packs-A-Day.  Which is a good thing. (Seriously, after living next to me for 3 years and me saying pleasant greetings about 4 times a month in passing he finally replied to one of my greetings last week.  About passed out.  I thought he was a deaf-mute.  Seriously.)

So, from Day 1 of moving in, the lack of serious storage for the tools of my cooking trade forced me to store the various implements in jars and baskets that took up precious counter space better used for storing other things.  Lack of happiness towards that led me to think of possible solutions, including killing the next-door neighbor and taking over his space (this was 2 apartment-dwellers before Mr. Not-Deaf-Mute whose Indian name is 'Smokes Too Much' but then I'd have double the rent and that's a No Bueno moment there.)

Then a brilliant idea struck me.  After waking up in the hospital from being struck (just kidding) I realized that I could put peg-board on the wall-of-blankness.  But normal peg-board like one would use in one's garage, well, in a kitchen with water and water vapor and oil frying and such things, again, a No Bueno moment there. I saw these plastic pegboard squares, 16"x16", but they were black and plastic and rather expensive.  

I did buy two starter peg sets and a set of peg-board baskets from Lowes, but... no pegboard.  And stashed said pegboard pieces in that stupid asinine little cabinet that they always love putting above the hole where the refrigerator goes.  (Seriously, top of refrigerator is useful space.  The cabinet?  Useless, unless the cabinet extends as far from the wall as the refrigerator under it.  Stupid cabinet.  Should have just busted it out and bought an even larger fridge... maybe not.)

So I pondered.  Lots of pondering.

Then, during the Covidiocracy, I was meandering through the 'Zon (Amazon, that is) and searched pegboards and came across metal pegboards.  Powdercoated and sealed metal pegboards.  Perfect for a kitchen or other high-dirt and smutz environment.  Hmmm.  Ponder.

Just so you know, Beans is a ponderer.  I'll get an idea and can't move forward without thinking a lot about it.  Sometimes the pondering takes only a few moments. But that's rare. More likely days, weeks, months, and, yes, years...  Spontaneity is not one of my strong suits.  So much so that the few times when I've been spontaneous, it's shocked the living life out of Mrs. Andrew.  

So, after weeks of pondering, and having the cash at hand via electronic funds, I... purchased two 16"x32" white powder-coated metal pegboards. 

Like this

From Amazon

Amazon.com: Wall Control Pegboard Rack Home & Garage Tool Storage & Organization White Metal Pegboard Pack - Two 32-Inch x 16-Inch White Steel Peg Board Panels : Industrial & Scientific

On Sale!

And then, I pondered.  Okay, procrastinated, sloughed off, been lazy, but mostly because I couldn't get my head into actually mounting the boards.  Seriously, it's a long-standing issue.  I'll start planning on doing something but it takes time to think about and get the old brain in line to do something (this post has been bouncing around inside my head since, well, I bought the boards mid-2021...)

So... Pondering time.

Finally, last... October, in the Year of Our Lord 2022 (no, not kidding about having to think about things...) I finally mounted said boards upon the wall.  And then immediately began populating it with pegs, pegboard baskets and all the kitchen implements I could hang on said pegboard and in said pegboard baskets.   

And, it's a good thing.  Lots of space to hang, which immediately became cluttered within 3 weeks, but there's a place for everything, everything in its place and I have recovered some counterspace.

And here's proof.

It's a little more cluttered, now.

So... music.

Mrs. Andrew was perusing YouTube last night and found this nice piece.

"Here's to Our Heroes" - The Ten Tenors

Really good piece, from a bunch of Australians

I know, Aussies, but, dang it, makes the room misty it does.

And another piece, this from Opera.  Puccini's Tosca.  Death, doom and destruction.  Man knew how to write and orchestrate.

Puccini's Tosca, Act 3, "E Iucevan le stelle." - Andrea Bocceli

From Wiki:  "E lucevan le stelle" ("And the stars were shining") is a  romantic aria from the third act of Giacomo Puccini's opera "Tosca" from 1900. It is sung in act 3 by Mario Cavaradossi, a painter in love with the singer Tosca, while he waits for his execution on the roof of Castel Sant'Angelo.

The aria is introduced by a somber clarinet solo. The incipit of the melody (heard in outline earlier in the act, as the sky lightens and the gaoler prepares for the execution) is repeated on the lines "O dolci baci, o languide carezze" ("Oh, sweet kisses and languorous caresses"), and also restated in in the closing bars of the opera, as Tosca jumps from the ramparts of the Castel.

If this doesn't strike your heart emotionally, even if you can't understand the words, you may have no soul.  Brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.  Sad.  Powerful.