Our kitchen is a slow work in progress. As time and money come together we are making it the perfect kitchen for us. With all the goes on in our kitchen I wanted a high energy, creative, warm color on the walls. I love red, so that's what I chose. The stove in the island was a must go. We've moved the refrigerator to the left, the stove where the refrigerator was. The refrigerator is the most crucial part of our kitchen. Not only does it hold all of the best foods, it has all of our most important information.
Our oldest daughter came home for Christmas break and was so excited to share her great idea, "We use the refrigerator as a white board. We leave messages for each other on it." Ding Ding Ding!!! Great idea moment!!!! With leftover chalkboard paint from my youngest son's bedroom, I thought, "I can stop the question of 'What's for dinner?'!" So, I painted the freezer door with chalkboard paint. I then painted a blank calendar and made magnets with each child's name and chores. Now if anyone wants to know what's for dinner or who has what chore, we look on the freezer. Just like Kara, we use the refrigerator as a white board. I have a dry erase marker in a nearby drawer and the kids know that if they use the last of something, they write it on the "white board" and that's how I start my shopping list. No more forgotten ponytail holders, toothpaste, mousse or favorite lunch food. I don't know that I would do this to a new refrigerator but this very loved "fridge" is at least 10 years old. The handle cover is missing and they don't make them this big anymore. So we are using this until it dies and can no longer be repaired...or until we no longer need to hold 5 gallons of milk on one shelf. The bucket on top of the refrigerator is where I keep all of our paper plates and plastic cups & forks. Quick grab for extra kids, BBQs or impromptu gatherings with starving kids.
On the wall to the left of the fridge is the remainder of Command Central. I found a calendar at flylady.net that is the perfect calendar for us! It has EIGHT spaces on it...everyone has a space on every date. I LOVE this calendar. The bulletin board has homework deadlines, receipts for internet orders, pictures of our extended family. Once a week we gather the kids around the dining room table and have dessert while we go over the family calendar. Dessert is a must to keep all the kids in one spot long enough to do the boring stuff. We go day by day to find out who needs to be where, who's going to take them, how many drivers we need each night, who's working when, who has what homework deadlines, community, church or school meetings.
So, this is how I do what I do. How we get where we need to get. It takes some time to get us all organized but it's so worth it as things seem to run a bit more smoothly most days. I find it's easier to find the happy when we're not stressing about who needs to be where and we don't hear, "We're out of toilet paper!" or "I need white posterboard for a project tonight!" Life with children, regardless of the size of family, needs flexibility. Which is why I chose a chalkboard, whiteboard, bulletin board and paper calendar. Everything is erasable and can be easily moved around if needed.
I hope these ideas help you or at least inspire creativity in you to find what works for your family.
Until my next post, remember to find the happy in life.
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