Suffocated By Oak II

Our kitchen has a completely useless desk in one corner. When we first moved in, I had many new file folders to manage for new household services, utilities, insurers, etc. I wanted to keep them close at hand as I was talking with these companies frequently. But the desk drawer is not wide enough for file folders. Useless!! We are also never going to sit at it because it's child-sized, really, and a chair would be encroaching on the kitty-cat racetrack in our house. And oh yeah, humans walk through that track frequently too.

It's an inefficient area in a room where efficient use of space is paramount. The space under the desk by default stores big handbags, computer bags, bags of rice, etc. And the desktop is an open air junk drawer to catch the mail, spare change, pens, coupons, sunglasses, cat treats, tubes of glue, extra cereal boxes that don't fit in the cabinet, cell phones, Blackberries, etc. What a mess!! Above this junk is about 18" of blank air space, then a wall cabinet above that. Meanwhile, most of our plates and bowls are stored in the family room and dining room nearby, and sometimes-used appliances like bread machine and quesadilla maker sit on the basement floor right now.

A better use of this whole space is sorely needed. I've often envisioned ripping out the desk and the wall cabinet and replacing them with a red Chinese cabinet like this one at one of my favorite websites to drool over vintage and antique Chinese furniture, Antiques by Zaar:

We already have a fair number of vintage and reproduction Chinese pieces, and I think this would contrast in an interesting way with our traditional kitchen. Our kitchen has moss green granite counters with black specks in it, and deep red patterned runners protecting the wood floor from all the sharp and hard things I drop on it. The clean lines of a cabinet like this wouldn't clash and would give us stylish storage. Someday, someday ...