Welcome to my kitchen

Thought some might like to see my new kitchen. Here's a before picture of one side - bear in mind that in Germany you quite literally need to move everything including the kitchen sink (and tap come to that). I took this picture on the day I moved in.

This is how it all looks now - I have, of course, not gone with the traditional fitted kitchen style but rather cobbled together what I could for as little as possible.

The fridge and washing machine are both new but not big-brand names - I wanted to get the highest efficiency rated possible for the limited budget I had. I have had the tallboy for a long time. It used to be in my dad's bedroom and then mine and has travelled with me since and served so many different purposes. The nice dresser is one of my second-hand bargains (40 euro).


This is my cooking corner:



I bought one of the butcher block type units from Ikea and the second from the second-hand Ikea stuff website, from a couple round the corner from me and 10 euro cheaper than the new one. The oven was donated from my sister's cellar - I went to visit her in France in December and brought it back on the train with me, worked well as a conversation starter I can tell you. Until I have enough saved for a proper cooker the two ring hotplate and oven do very nicely although I miss having a gas cooker.

And here's my new sink. Built the whole thing myself (from flatpack - special offer from the local big DIY place and never again. Didn't realise before I would become so opinionated about sinks!). I did get a plumber in to hook it up though which was just as well as I didn't realise that when he told me to "get any standard tap" he meant "get any standard tap that fits the pipes coming out of your wall" and I had bought entirely the wrong shape one. So he ended up having to go out and buy one for me which cost twice what the sink and cupboard did. Lesson learned and at least I'd feel a bit more comfortable having a go at hooking up a sink and washing machine myself next time. I think. Maybe.


And, the last corner with my second-hand table and chairs (60 euro) and a lamp donated by a friend. Will get around to getting the electrician in to fit lights to the ceiling one of these days. One of those things I would have just done myself in Ireland but the wiring here looks completely different and I want to get it done properly the first time.


And finally, a shot of my new dishes. Well, new to me anyway. I saw this set in the second-hand shop when I first went in and bought the table and chairs and thought it looked really nice. But, I had enough plates and bowls and mugs to do me and more important things to spend my money on. Told myself I’d go back at the end of the month and get it if it was still there. In the end I couldn’t afford it then either so didn’t even bother going back and then at the end of the second month wandered in to see if they had any more decent furniture in and yer woman recognised me and said she still had the pottery I liked but had put it away in the back as it wasn’t selling and if I wanted it she’d give me a good price. Couldn’t really argue with 60 euro for the whole set! There are 70 or 80 pieces altogether so it’s less than one euro a piece. The picture doesn’t do the red colour any justice at all though. It looks a bit pink here but it’s really a vivid, vibrant shade of red. I did some checking on the internet to see where it was made and it's from a ceramic works in the Black Forest (which might explain why it appealed to me so much as most of the time I lived in Germany before it was in the Black Forest) which closed in 1989 so I know it has to be at least 20 years old. That's practically antique!