The little Correze kitchen

I don't know how big Rachel Khoo's Paris kitchen was, her apartment measured 21 metres squared so I'm guessing not huge. Neither is ours, in fact it measures 2.5 metres x 3 metres, a far cry from my last one at  Nelson House

Nelson House kitchen

When we bought the house it had just a ceramic sink and drainer plus an ancient oak armoire. Because we will be moving the kitchen downstairs it's not worth investing in, but we still need to live with it for quite a few months. Improvisation and re-purposing were the answers.

My old dressing table has become a worktop and cutlery drawer and two trestle legs from an Ikea desk hold the Nespresso machine and vegetable box. An emptied Christmas hamper is filled with herbs and spices. We had the foresight to buy a cheap Ikea wooden kitchen trolley which at least gives us a clean prep. area and holds our single induction hob. We also have a halogen grill and a slow cooker. The fridge is in the sitting/dining room which is also where the china resides in another armoire (we were fortunate enough to 'inherit' six of them). When Andrew returned from London he brought back a wall mounted drainer and utensil holder. Nearly forgot but we also have a freezer in the garage.

I've got quite used to it now, meals take a bit more planning and I use more tinned food than I have ever done but they are making life easier. I miss baking but with a boulangerie/patisserie two minutes walk away it's not a real hardship.