Skip to main content

My simple kitchen command station

Hello all! Hope your weekend was great! I was sick all weekend -- at first I was frustrated I couldn't get anything done but then I embraced it and just enjoyed laying around and watching movies for 72 hours straight. Now I'm on the mend and trying to catch up from my lazy days. :)

I'll be hard at work on some outdoor projects this week but I wanted to share a quick spray paint project I did a few weeks ago. If you've seen my kitchen you know I added a tray to our island since I expanded it more than a year ago -- I love having a spot to corral all the stuff that we reach for every day. 

I've been using a tray I found at Goodwill but I had been on the search for something a little larger for months. I found this one at HomeGoods: 
Wood tray with metal handles

I liked the big industrial/farmhouse metal rings as handles and loved the color of the wood, but unfortunately it was all wrong on the butcher block island. 

Spray paint to the rescue! I wanted more of a contrast so I sprayed it black and LOVED it. You saw it last week when I shared more about our peonies
Tray on island for kitchen necessities

This has become our "command center" in the kitchen and we use the items in the tray numerous times a day. They're all little things that feel too small and cluttery on their own and gathering up on the tray looks so much better. 

My favorite part of the tray is the new recipe box I found a few weeks ago at a local shop: 

Rifle polka dot recipe box

Of course afterwards I looked online and found the exact same one on Amazon for less. There's a floral one I may have to get for the spring/summer. I don't usually do that but I LOVE that one too and have an Amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket. ;)

Anyway, the polka dot version had me immediately and I love having my recipes so easily accessible. I've started filling in the cards but need to get more:
Crock pot chicken and wild rice soup

That's my yummy crock pot chicken and wild rice soup -- SO GOOD. These recipe cards from this line are so pretty too! They have so many cute designs. I'll probably end up just copying more on the printer but they are adorable. 

The set comes with about 12 dividers too. It's seriously too cute and looks great sitting out on the tray: 
Metal recipe box

 I also keep a dollar store vase in the tray with straws and my favorite butter dish from Target:
Glass butter dish
Of course my pitcher (also from Target) I've had for years holds my flowers every week. This napkin holder was from Target (I think?) as well (do you sense a trend here?). The napkins were from IKEA, but watch out because they turn your face blue!: 
Wood napkin holder

Ha! They sure are pretty though. 

We use at least one of the items on this try every day, if not all. I love having it right out in the open so everything is easy to access: 
Tray on kitchen island

I'm trying to keep the clutter down in our kitchen so having all of these little items in the tray eliminates some of that. At least it feels like it does. ;) 

Do you use a tray in the kitchen for similar items? It would work for the kitchen table too! You can see how I used the tray to make a cute and functional hot chocolate station at Christmas too:
hot chocolate station

Affiliate links included for your convenience!
SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave
SaveSave

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

DIY stacked stone fireplace (where there was none!)

Well hello! I have a BIG reveal for you today! I worked so hard on this basement fireplace and I'm so so SO thrilled it's done. I'm excited to share it with you today! I took a ridiculous amount of photos so bear with me. :)  I'll show you where we started first! We have this little bump out in our basement and from day one we knew what we wanted to do with it. When we finished the basement years ago we went ahead and bought an electric fireplace for that spot. It sat on a bench for four years. 😁 A few months ago we decided to have the fireplace built in since the whole space was torn up for the new floors anyway:  Then I was craving a little more traditional look so we had the hearth added along with a mantel:  Then it was time for me to do the rest! I knew I needed to stain the mantel and hearth before I tiled -- it would have gotten all over the tile otherwise. I sanded both down and then cleaned them really well. A wet paper towel does fine:  I ALWAYS use a pre...

My favorite recent projects and posts!

Well hello! Hope you have a wonderful weekend planned! I'm back with another round up of posts from the past few months today. I used to do this monthly but I don't remember to do it most of the time -- so now you get them in batches of two or three months. ;) It's always nice to look back and what I've accomplished around here and it may show you something you've missed! I finished up our loft makeover at the end of the summer -- I shared how I made the giant chalkboard for this space: This is a room that's meant for the whole family so I wanted to make it a fun space. We created a Disney art wall that we'll add to over time. We are going back to Disney World soon and I can't wait to add new memories to this wall!: You can see how we made that Disney pin art in that post as well!  I showed you how I made the large desk with butcher block and how I finished it here :  I also shared my new favorite sanding technique in that post -- it is a SUPER cool tr...

Fabric and Pillow Cover Sale!

Hey all! Hope your weekend was wonderful! We were out of town this weekend for a quick trip to NYC and it was a much needed break. We had a blast! As I mentioned last week, I've been busy working on purging our whole house . It's a process I thought would maybe take a few weeks and it's been spread over about seven months. :) I'm working on the craft room now because it will be torn apart in about a week when we have the new floors installed in there. Whoohoo! I have so many cute fabrics that I've used (and some I haven't used) that I don't need anymore. There's something about fabric -- I just hate to give it away, especially when I've shared some of these with you over the years. So as I've done in the past, I'm listing them for sale here for some of you to enjoy.  If you are interested in any of these fabrics or pillow covers here is the process:  1. Email me (thriftydecorchick (at) gmail (dot) com) with the name I put under the fabric as ...