my general store

a year ago we were in the midst of our kitchen remodel. 

this morning, as the sun was streaming in through our 

big kitchen windows (free from craig's list!) 

and i was putting vegan pumpkin bread into the oven, 

i was filled with a sense of abundance. 

i'm so lucky my basic needs and beyond are taken care of. 

we have food to eat (too much, really). 

a beautiful, warm, safe home. 

and best of all, a loving family and many dear friends. 

i was also filled with a sense of

"i'm so glad we aren't doing a kitchen remodel again!" 

one of my favorite things in my new kitchen is my 

"general store," at least that's what dear friend jackie calls it. 

i love having our staples displayed in glass jars. 

easy to see when supplies are getting low. 

and a pretty way of decorating the kitchen. 

you can almost see that area pre-remodel, 

to the left of this photo. 

the bakers bench is still there, 

but everything to the left of it has been removed. 

that space was so prone to collecting all sorts of junk. 

a small built in cabinet below became overflowing with 

random bits of everything we didn't want to organize. 

we removed all of that, and started with a clean wall. 

i saw a picture in a magazine of something similar to these shelves. 

ryan built them for me. he is awesome.