Space Crunch

We remodeled our 1940s kitchen almost 10 years ago. That was before kids. We knocked out a half wall separating the eat-in part with the kitchen part. The change certainly allowed for more counter space and a more open feel, but we still have by today's standards what is considered a small kitchen. Our love for the neighborhood makes that small kitchen easier to bear as does the latest seating solution my Dad crafted for us. We are determined to use ever square inch to the fullest and this wrap around booth style seating arrangement does just that. Before we had a table for four in the center and had to pull in another chair from the dining room to eat. There is no way I'm serving dinner to my kids in the dining room until they stop dropping and spilling things. Not that our dining room is fancy-smancy but it does have a rug vs. ceramic tile. So suddenly with the booth we are able to seat all 5 without bumping elbows. We can even squeeze in a couple of extra friends.

My clever father also added seat storage which is absolutely wonderful. Here we store our coloring supplies that are easy access whenever someone gets the urge.

I was snapping these pix around evening snack time. The funny thing is when Brendan came in and instead of utilizing all of these new seating options, decided to "share" a seat with Nora. I think it's so cute that they want to be close to each other. Who needs a bigger kitchen anyway?