You guys know I like to bake, right? I might like to cook, but I love to bake. It's in my blood. My mom is a baker, always has been. My little sister and I both grew up sitting on the kitchen counter licking batter off wooden spoons, patiently waiting with a pat of butter to slather all over whatever hot and yummy was about to emerge from the oven.
It's long been a little dream of mine to have a corner in a kitchen dedicated soley to baking, and the moment I laid eyes on the gorgeous antique beveled glass window in our kitchen, I knew my dream was realized.
Our kitchen is not laid out well. Of course when this house was built they didn't consider the same conveniences we do today and certainly that's part of the charm. But somewhere over the years there was some renovating that turned part of the counter into a raised breakfast bar. Not a terrible idea except that it backs immediately to a small 'eat-in' area, and just across the room on the other side of the kitchen is the dining room. Seems downright silly to have three eating areas on top of each other, not to mention if you actually put any kind of table in the 'eat in' area it becomes entirely too crowded.
It is however, the perfect space for a baking corner!
I wanted it to be simple and well organized with a side of pretty. Muffin pans, mixing bowls, mason jars of all sizes filled with baking staples. An old metal egg gathering basket stacked atop a antique wooden egg crate holds rolling pins, and a small wicker basket hides bottles of vanilla and lemon and peppermint oils. A little greenery, part of our vintage cookbook collection, the trusty Kitchenaid mixer. What else could a girl want?
Thanks to the gorgeous window and set of sliding glass doors just to the right that look out over the backyard, it gets tons of natural light filtering down thru the canopy of leaves. Even on cloudy, dreary days there's rarely need to turn on the lights. And most of the year when there are actually leaves on the trees this window is full of lush greenery, chirping birds and playful squirrels scampering about.
I spend a lot of Saturday and Sunday mornings here, and the occasional weekday afternoon when Ev is napping. You likely see lots of Instagram photos with this as the backdrop. I truly love it, the joy of recreating my own childhood memories as Everyn toddles around chasing the dogs with a wooden spoon in each hand, or climbs underneath and pulls all the pans onto the floor. We bake for friends and neighbors, play dates, and anyone who comes to join us for a weekend. It's a love affair, me and this little corner.
Eventually we'll rip out all the tile and lay large plank flooring, farmhouse style. Until then, she'll keep humbly bringing joy far and wide to all the friends who share in the fruits of her labor.
Do you like to bake? How do you stay organized?
(Up next on the Cottage Tour: The Kitchen)