More House Pics

We are slowly but surely settling into our new place.  Seeing what works and finding out what doesn't work happens quickly here. Basically, the two older boys and Phil are gone most of the day so it's just the younger children and I here during the day.  We pretty much stick to the kitchen area and the bedroom/playroom and even though the kitchen area is quite small, we tend to congregate here during the day.

We went back to our smaller table and put the big one in storage.  It probably could have fit but this works too and gives us more room to walk through to the bedrooms.  If you are wondering where all the chairs are, there is actually a bench in the back that littles can sit on.  It's squishy cozy but we make it work.  

This is my kitchen help. When trying to decide what to put into storage, I was torn.  I know I can live without them. But really, why would I want to??  

I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture that this is an apartment sized oven.  I know, right?  Most of my casserole dishes and baking pans don't even fit in it.  It's kind of ironic that at the time when my family is all at home and I am making the biggest meals, I now have the smallest oven available.  I guess it could be just a toaster oven.  That would be worse.

Notice the burner covers.  I always thought they were just for decoration but it seems they do actually serve a purpose.  When we first got the keys, I made the big mistake of turning the oven on to see if it worked before I opened it to look inside.  Rookie mistake. It seems there was a nest of mice that had taken up residence in it.  I don't think I have to go into too much detail about the sounds/smell mice make when they are inside an oven that has just been turned on.  Needless to say, the burner covers keep the rodent population on the right side of the burners and keep me (and Phil) from ever having to play our own version of "whack a mole" again.  Can you picture us whacking at them as they tried to escape up through the burners?  I think I can almost hear the collective "EWWWWWW" that you are all saying right now.  If we had an unlimited budget, trust me, there would have been a new stove installed that same day.  However, things being what they are, I had to settle for an extremely deep clean.  Phil and Ben carried it outside and took it apart for me and some 6 hours later, I was satisfied that it was usable again.  We moved our cats here 2 weeks before we moved in and thank you Lord, I haven't seen any evidence of rodents inside since.  Just in case though, I am not taking any chances.

Yes, that is my toaster and Bosch attachments in rubbermaids.  Just the thought of a mouse in there is enough to keep me awake at night.  I really don't like mice.  The only thing worse than mice would be snakes.  The children let a snake inside at our other house.  Now that was a sight!!  My skin is crawling as I type.  But I digress.

(eta Before I get any tomatoes thrown my way, yes, I understand that moving to a farm will most probably entail having to deal with mice.  Yes, I know, they were here first. However, having been given dominion over them, I do not feel we need to, as PETA puts it, "live in harmony with house mice".  They really do say that.  I really will not do that.  Ever.  The mice can live in the fields if they choose to. It's not like I'll be going after any tails with carving knives but if they try to come inside, they won't be happy. That's all I'm sayin.)

Back to how to solve the problem of cooking for all of us with such a small oven. Enter my mom who blessed us with this wonderful roaster.  It is huge!!  I can make two meals for us in it easily.  I can smell soup and chili cooking away in it already!! Thanks Mom!! <3

This is the hallway off the kitchen to the bedrooms.  As you can see, it is very narrow. You have to turn sideways to pass each other in it.  Joey says it reminds him of being on a ship.  It actually kind of does.  All we need to do is think of a name for it now.  The SS Crazy Bunch comes to mind.  Not sure if that will stick though.

This is supposed to be the boot room.  With there not being enough space in the kitchen for a pantry, I had to get creative.  It actually works quite well because it stays pretty cool in there.  Now,  as to where I am going to put all the jackets and boots? Still working on it.  :-)

As you can also see, there is no dishwasher.  I know, poor us.  We actually haven't used a dishwasher for the last few years.  We don't really need one when we have so many dish washers.  Haha Lamesauce, I know but I couldn't resist.  So under the counter, where the dishwasher should be, I turned these rubbermaid drawers into extra drawer space for kitchen utensils, cloths etc.  The best part? Rodent proof. Oh ya!!

Here's the bathroom.  Yup, just one.  We need to take turns.  It's a life lesson.  What a great way to learn.  So far, so good.  I'll leave it there.

You'll see these hangers on just about every single available door in the house.  Both sides.  When looking for extra space, sometimes you have to start going up the walls.

This is the only room with which I am not yet satisfied.  The boys are using the living room to sleep in so ideally it has to do double duty.  It has to function as living space during the day and convert to a sleeping area for the boys at night.  We are looking at getting futons, or foo couches as we also call them, thanks to Nate. :-)  Negotiations are still ongoing but for now the boys are choosing to sleep on camp cots.  

Last but not least is the entrance.  Also where Riley likes to lay and chew on things and jump up on I mean greet people that come to visit.  But we are working on that. 

So that wraps up the tour of our place.  Like I said, we are still working on systems and figuring out what works and what doesn't.  Feel free to leave any ideas you might have. I am what you call a super newb when it comes to minimalist living but I am happy to learn. :-) Also happy to see and teach our children that we don't need so much "stuff". Hope we can carry the lessons we are learning into the next phase of this project.