Look What's Up!

My brother is a woodworker.  He can build anything and everything...with or without a plan.  He will see something he likes somewhere or on TV and then just draw it up and build it.

Like a lighted corner display with glass doors for my parents, or a wooden toy chest that looks like a pirate's chest for the kids, or a clock that looks like a grandfather style clock but has cat prints on it to liven it up for our house, or a computer desk with a slide out keyboard tray and a CPU cabinet and a file drawer.

Or a cupola for his house.  (Which, I must say, is very awesome.  It's got a built in bed and shelves and drawers but it's all really tiny and low and so cozy...)

Anyway, last Christmas, no, not this PAST one, but the one before that, I asked him if he could build us a hanging pot rack to fit in our kitchen.

Yes, it's a scary thing.  All of our pots and pans are all over the stove, counter, and sometimes dining table or floor when we really get to cooking on the stove.

Remember now, before you judge, that we are sharing our kitchen with my in-laws, so there are 5 cooks, counting Elizabeth, who use the kitchen daily.

It was out of control!

But, you see, as much as my brother loves to build things, he loves to build the things that he loves to build, not necessarily the things that we would love him to build.

So, the year passed, and nothing became of it.

Now, I know that you can get pot racks online or at Ikea or wherever, but the problem is that they are small, and expensive!  And we have a lot of pots.

So, now that I am officially 'nesting' seeing as the baby is due in 4 weeks, I really couldn't take it anymore.  I mean, how can I add another person into the house, knowing that every inch of the house is not being used to its fullest?

Yes, I am a space hog.  I love to manipulate things in order to get the most out of any space possible.  I have always loved puzzles, and as our house gets fuller, my brain works overtime to think of how we can reduce, reuse and manipulate into the space available.

So, and I know that many of you would have thought of this solution long ago, but I was still holding onto the idea that my brother would make something for us, this weekend, Jimmy and I headed off to Lowes.

Now, whereas I grew up around tools and wood and guys that built and fix things, so I know my way around a tool box, and Jimmy has many talents, and I would not trade any of the talents that he has for anything, Jimmy is not a fix-it man.  He is not a tool man, and he is not a build-it man.

But, since he knew that I had been waiting for so long for this, and because he was tired of the messy stove all the time, too, (and he was probably afraid that if he didn't do something soon, I would get up on the ladder and do it myself) he braved the home improvement store with me and we dug around a bit.

We came up with using a heavy duty shelf with S hooks.

I know, I know, not rocket science.

But for us (read:  Jimmy) this was really something.  I mean, this meant finding studs in the wall, screwing things in...you know all that kind of stuff.

And so, with the advice of:

If you don't use a  level, and it doesn't go up right and sturdy, it will have to be done again...

I left the room, except to sneak in and take some pictures.  NO, I wasn't checking up on him!  I would not do such a thing!

And here is the final product:

I can't believe it!   I actually have somewhere to put the pots and pans!

AND...Elizabeth can't say, when she is supposedly 'done' with the dishes:

Oh, I didn't know that pot was dirty...

There's no excuse!  If the pot is not hanging, it needs to be.  And in order to hang the pot...it has to be cleaned.

I can't tell you how excited I am!

I know it's a bit high, and we may put it a few levels lower, but the problem is that the alarm system on the door hits right at the height where the shelf should be, and any lower, I'm afraid I'll crack my head on it, but at the height it is, the shelf on top is not really that usable because I'm the only one who can reach it.  (My mother-in-law has to kind of stand on her toes to reach the dangling pots!)  But we keep a step ladder close by, anyway, so we'll just see how it goes.

Now...on to the next project...  :)