chapter 1 - kitchen

oct 27, 2025

step one in setting this place up was cleaning and redesigning the kitchen because eating is one of two or three things that i have to do almost every single day, whether i like it or not, on threat of starving, which means dying. no thanks.

this is not a chef's kitchen, and it's not designed to feed a family, although i could feed a party in here rather than a family. i'm not much into family, but i don't tend to have parties, either. this is a one person kitchen in every way, but i'd challenge you to find me a better one, anywhere.

my new kitchen has three entry/exit points, so i'm going to start by posting pictures from each one. 

i need to acknowledge that my new vlog camera, which was cheap, is somewhat lacking in terms of picture quality, and that i need to address that. i've been considering buying a second polaroid, which was my old vlog camera. however, it gets the point across for now.

this is a shot walking in from the side entrance, looking towards the bathroom. the closed door is for the hot water heater for the whole house.

this is a shot walking in from the living room:

and this is a shot looking back from the bathroom, to the side entrance, with the to-be-installed walk-in laundry closet behind me:

that looks pretty good, right?

so, how did i get here?

first, let me say that i think i've got everything i need. am i missing something? send me an email; it's on the side. i might argue with you, but i'd like to hear as many ideas as you have.

walking in from the side, the first item is this three-tier console table, which is a hallway and not a kitchen item, and which i don't currently have a clear use for, but will probably remain where it is:

this is currently storing cleaning supplies, but i will move them to under the counter when i get a wood plank for it, soon. when i remove them, it will only have that coffee maker. i currently have three extra coffee makers, an extra toaster and a few extra scales, and they'll probably stay on this table. it's otherwise a big random shit table, which i definitely have and will retain a use for, as i always have a pile of things i can't organize or store in a clear way, yet.

i initially bought this on kijiji in june for $20 + $10 delivery to fit into a small area in the kitchen i just moved out of. it was supposed to have a voip phone and a media laptop for zoom on the top, and a stereo system and a chromebook in the middle, with whatever on the bottom. those items would feed out to the kvm peripherals on a small kitchen table. i was going to get some kitchen stools and roll back and forth. 

that place didn't work out, and this table doesn't work in that context in this apartment, but will be a great second entry table to throw shit on when you come in, and a kitchen overflow table if necessary. i will probably leave the voip phone in the bedroom and get a zoom videophone for the couch. i'm almost there with the latter but want to do some further research to be sure, as i was a little turned off by the small video in the model i was looking at. i might want to run the videophone to an external monitor.

beside the console table is what i'm calling my ghetto hutch, which is two stacked cabinets i found on the curb, one of which has become a spice cabinet since i took the doors off and the other of which is a general use cabinet, with pasta and quinoa in tupperware.

this cost a total of $0 for me to recover and reclaim, and it is highly likely that i will continue to use the top cabinet as a spice rack indefinitely. i had previously placed it directly on the stove in order to replace the stovetop cabinets in my last basement, but i cannot do that here. the bottom cabinet, which retains it's doors, could be used for anything, but i like this particular use of pasta on the top shelf and quinoa on the bottom. the real function of the bottom shelf, however, is to keep the spice rack off the floor, which is why it's now a ghetto hutch.

the spices from the top shelf down, left to right, are:

bob's nutritional yeast / frank's hot sauce / garlic or onion salt

paprika / dried dill (empty space) / open baking soda for odours / black pepper

dried thyme / dried basil / dried oregano

cayenne pepper / ground cumin / raw, plain sunflower seeds

i keep my hemp seeds in the fridge nowadays.

next to the ghetto hutch is the start of the counter, and there is a cut out area under the counter that likely once had a garbage can but that i filled in with a plastic drawer system, instead:

i bought four of these modular, stackable drawers for $30 after moving in. i wanted to buy a $40 unit with five drawers, but it wouldn't let me, so i instead bought a four unit version and took a large drawer out of a similar broken drawer system that had been left here by the previous tenant. as can be seen, this unit fits perfectly into the space, which was carefully measured for that outcome, and the reason i purchased this unit, specifically. the tongs and juice maker were both left here; the cheese grater was purchased in roughly 2013. drawers are something you can always use more of, and can always be repurposed for some different purpose.

next, this is a picture of the entirety of the counter:

there are items here that are old, that are new and that were found, but i want to point out that i drink a lot of coffee and that's what you're seeing here - two floating shelves i connected to the walls and the cabinet with oversized pegs and packing tape (it's sturdy, but don't push on it) that have coffee cups and various types of coffee and tea respectively,  a single serve coffee maker i use with cappuccino grounds, a 12 cup or big pot coffee maker and an oversized kettle, along with a knife holder, a new toaster, a new scale and an old blender, the latter three on a microwave.

i discarded a gross old toaster oven when i moved in here, partly because it hadn't been cleaned in eons. i have a toaster and i have a microwave and i have an actual oven, too. i don't quite get the point of the toaster oven; my mom liked them for making sandwiches, but i actually tend to avoid toasting sandwich bread because it decreases the nutrients in the bread. i'll toast white bread, and i like to toast bagels, hence the new bagel toaster.

my counter items are all inexpensive small appliances.

i've had this microwave for over 20 years. it followed me from my parents' basement to my first apartment, and i've had it ever since, with no reason to upgrade it. i guess my parents ultimately bought it. microwaves used to be a lot more expensive in the 90s than they are now. this is pretty big, compared to most microwaves nowadays. i really only use the microwave for one thing, which is to melt cheese.

this new scale came in recently in the mail for about $1.

i bought this single person small blender on sale in 2013 at best buy, for around $20.

the bagel toaster came in this month, for around $15. it replaces a toaster in bought in 2014 for around $10 that was no longer working correctly.

this very large kettle has a heating component under it and is plugged into the power bar behind it. this was abandoned in the unit, and something i was looking to pick up, although i planned to get a $5 stove kettle.

this $10 knife holder came in this month. the pink betty crocker samurai fish knife and the scissors were left here, while i've had the black butcher and bread knives forever.  

this $20 full coffee maker was purchase in june, and is the first full coffee maker i've had since i dropped a carafe in 2020 and had to bike down to walmart to get a single serve.

i also bought this $20 single serve maker in june, and it replaces a single serve of the same model because the long shaky electrical finally shorted. i can't get the proprietary screw out of the back to resolder it, yet. i bought some italian cappucino a few weeks ago when imported coffee was $30/tin, and i realized it works better with those types of grounds. that's how i'll be making coffee with this device from now on.

i know i've had this cutting board since 2006. i don't remember how i acquired it. i probably bought it in ottawa.

you can see the pegs and the tape i used to keep the shelf in place. the pegs are enough support for the shelf; the tape is to stop the shelf from moving around and keep it flush against the wall.

this lower shelf has coffee grounds, coffee filters and tea. it will also have espresso grounds, and more coffee ground and more tea.

 i found these shelves on the curb with some bookshelves they didn't fit into around 2021.

the higher shelf has mugs and other coffee (and tea) cups. i use the beer mugs for big cups of coffee.

so, that together, then, is my coffee station, which takes up a lot of my time in the kitchen.

i don't currently grind my own beans. i might one day soon if it's cost effective. i could add that.

under the counter are two drawers:

i have had too much cutlery for a while now, and the fact that i found a pile of it when i moved in here exacerbated the preexisting issue. i need two cutlery drawers, at this point.

under the drawers is a pretty big cabinet, currently full of cereal and canned food from the food bank. i wouldn't normally have a pile of cans like that.

when i get a plank of wood for in there. i'll put the cans on top and the cereal under it, along with cleaning supplies. normally, this would be for cleaning supplies, mostly.

next to the counter is a pretty standard sink and cabinet, with an old dish drainer.

the single cabinet is big enough for all of my actual dishes, i just have a lot of tupperware, and i use it all because i eat a lot of vegetables. there's more in the cabinet than usual right now.

this is under the sink, which has been cleaned. the mountain dews are kept for water and for other items, during concert trips. the coffee containers are kept for storage.

this drain was leaking, but i tightened it, and now it's fine.

i also dumped a bottle of bleach down the drain here:

the last thing i did was scrub the floor, although it had been washed in bursts as i was doing other things (like cleaning the stove). i had also already scrubbed under and behind the fridge and stove, and under the kitchen table.

that, then, is the north side of the kitchen, itself:

next is a short hallway leading from the kitchen into the bathroom that i first wanted to extend the counter into but realized was really the best place to build a one person eat in space. if you removed the second plastic drawer system, which contains an assortment of tools and plastic bags, and then took the side table out from under the main table as well, you could maybe seat two or even three people at this table, but i don't need or want that. i want somewhere where i can sit down with a big salad or plate of pasta and watch a lengthy documentary, or participate in a lecture series. this does that extremely well.

i might have bought an actual computer desk for twice the price of the table, but i instead spent the extra money on building the table into a custom desk, using an industrial side table and a cheap monitor stand.

the table itself was $60 and purchased this month.

this is a different angle on the three component composite computer table, including the side table.

i purchased the chair in june on kijiji for $5. it's also made of metal, with leather cushions.

this is a shot of the industrial strength metal side table ($40) and the stereo system on it:

this is just the moniter stand, which was $20:

in total, it was $120 + hst, which is about the price of a computer desk, but it would not have been as customized for this space.

here is the stereo:

the receiver is a vintage nad 3020e that my dad found for me when i was looking to pa my pod:

the cd player is a sony that also plays mp3 discs and my dad also gave me at some point, although it's less clear when; i think it was about 2009. i could potentially use this for dvd video, but it's currently not connected, and there's almost no possibility that i'm ever going to watch a dvd.

the video source is a falling apart mini lenovo thinkpad chromebook i bought brand new in 2018 for $100 from factory direct because it was end of life, then. it needs a mouse and keyboard to be plugged in. this model could be converted into a laptop and, because the chrome os is end of life, i might do that. for now, it just streams youtube, and it does it fine. i may need to replace this soon, probably with the busted dell chromebook i'm typing on.

and, there's an ethernet switch on the bottom that i bought for $10 about 2022ish:

this is the mini keyboard i just got for $15:

the monitor is a philips. it does not have high end specs, and takes a vga in, but these fall of civilizations videos are vibrant, if you ask me. if i'm watching a lecture, it doesn't matter, and this is a good size without getting too big, which is the actual concern. but if i'm watching some vivid film with vibrant production, the goal is reproduction, and this monitor will do fine. what this monitor won't do is make dull source material glow, via over saturation.

these are 6 ohm yamaha ns-e55s that are rated at 50 watts. they pair well with the low powered nad, which can do about 35-40ish at 6 ohms (much lower at 8 ohms). there's also a button to cut your input volume from cd or digital media, which is helpful for cds mixed during the loudness era or youtube videos mixed into the red, with people yelling at you in them.

these speakers were sold with subwoofers, which i don't have.

this the the $5 chair i bought in june. it's a nice chair, but it was dirty when i bought it, and i take it nobody wanted to clean it, so they just sold it.

in the far corner next to the computer table/desk, is my first plastic organizer, which i bought in 2018 because the previous basement had no drawer of any sort at all. i have taken the cutlery, pills and other kitchen things out of it and distributed it more loosely, so that at this point it's largely a tool box, but with a lot of plastic bags in the bottom shelf.

above the toolbox is a small floating shelf with a bottle of vodka and a little tin container with rolling material in it, along with an assortment of lighters. the pill bottle is a shot glass, but i haven't touched that bottle of vodka since the start of 2020.

this is a combo shot of the northwest wall of the kitchen/hall/dining room.

this is the south wall of the kitchen, facing towards the living room. it's much shorter, and contains only the two fridges and the one stove.

this is the new mini fridge i bought for $100, to store produce in, mostly:

this is the fourth floating shelf, right above the mini fridge, connected to the two walls, and with an old scale as a weight to keep it put. it will just hold light plastic containers. i keep margarine containers for storage, specifically. this wood was purchased in 2013 and cut for a corner shelf.

this is the big fridge that came with the apartment:

the fridge was dirty and required a lot of effort to clean it, but it's otherwise fine, besides the missing piece of plastic. i added a piece of wood and really just taped it to the side. the bottom drawer was from a different fridge or not from a fridge at all and i just took it out as i don't need it.

the stove was far worse than the fridge, but look at it now. i scrubbed it inside and out. i added a shelving unit to the side of the stove to hold two items i want to plug into the stove, namely a coffee warmer and an indoor grill / panini maker. the idea is you move the grill to the stove top when using it. 

not all of the elements worked, but i cleaned them and that fixed it.

the stove was particularly gross, but i got most of the grease out.

the pan compartment was one of the grossest things i've ever seen, but i cleaned it up:

here is a picture of the shelving unit from the side. this is another $0 curb pickup. it's mostly full of food bank food now, but it should eventually be full of items like doritos, when i get back to my normal diet.

this is the coffee warmer, with a coffee on it. this was left by the previous tenant.

this is a picture of the grill, open. it was $30.

and that's it.

what's left is (1) that wood plank for under the cabinet and (2) if i can find a very tall, skinny bookshelf, i will park it in here for bathroom stuff, but i might leave it in the bathroom, instead.

total cost for kitchen, including items previously purchased for last apartment, but not including food or cleaning supplies, including hst or shipping per itrem:

console table: $30

plastic drawers: $34

knife holder: $10

wall pegs for shelves: $10

computer desk (main table + side table + monitor stand): ($60 + $40 +$20) + hst = $136

chair: $5

mini fridge: $115

indoor grill: $35

wood shelf: unclear

--

kitchen scale: $14   <----replacement item

bagel toaster: $17 <-----replacement item

single serve coffee maker for cappuccino grounds:  $23<-----replacement item

12 cup coffee maker for regular grounds:  $23<----replacement item

mini keyboard: $17 <-----replacement item

--

ghetto hutch: $0 (curb find)

stove side cabinet: $0 (curb find)

extra utensil holder: $0 (curb find)

--

kettle: $0 (left here by previous tenant)

coffee warmer: $0 (left here by previous tenant)

extra cutlery, dishes, mugs, pans, tongs, juice maker: $0 (left here by previous tenant)

============================

$375 new items + $94 replacement items = $469 + wood shelf, probably $20-25

that's not bad, i don't think. 

here's a vantage shot of the new eating spot that i'll be sitting in to eat at.

nov 11th update

i have some of those wall pegs left over and also bought a few more. i have enough to finish the kitchen, but then i'm going to need to buy even more. i also bought a lot more food and cleaning items. as of this morning, i put two further shelves up on the other side of the above the sink shelf on the computer/tv/stereo system side and there's going to be two additional shelves under the counter, not one. i've decided to buy a circular saw and get the wood delivered from home hardware because i'm also going to be putting similar shelves in the bedroom and maybe elsewhere for books and maybe cds. for that reason, i should have leftover wood for the under the sink shelf, so i'll do that, after all. i will maximize storage in the kitchen, even if i don't always use it. unfortunately, i don't think they'll drive the wood down the street, but i should be able to use a cart. that's the best choice. it's going to warm up on the weekend, so i want to plan around that. in total, there are now two further shelves coming and then the kitchen is probably completely redesigned, to the extent that i'm going to redesign it.

i was going to leave everything unorganized until the shelves came in, but then i took a better look at it and realized i didn't really need to wait, so i've moved everything in here around and the items are now more or less in their permanent places..

here is a picture of the side shelf full of the food items in my normal diet. i moved the food bank stuff off and put it on the console table, for now. these are items the food bank gave me and that will not be replaced in time, so the console table is doing what it should, which is holding random shit.

here is a picture of the shelves i put up this morning with cereal on them, which will be their purpose.

here is a picture of the coffee shelf full of items, including tea, cappuccino and ground coffee:

that means i now have a coffee shelf and a cereal shelf. breakfast is important.

here is a picture of the ghetto hutch full of spices:

everything in the ghetto hutch is full except the dill.

here is a picture of the walk-in table full of random shit (food bank food, storage containers and some spices in packaging) like it should be. i took the cleaning supplies off and put them under the sink.

here is a picture of the under cabinet storage, more or less as it will be, minus the shelf in the back, and the things on the shelf (tupperware containers and the drainers). i will normally have a lot of caesar stored in here, but it's currently in the fridge and i don't want to take it out; instead, i'll buy more, so i have double for now. i won't have to buy any for a while, but i go through 5-6 of these a week, sometimes. i took what was in here out and either put it on the console table (if it was food bank food) or on the cereal shelf (if it was cereal).

could i survive on franks, soy milk, caesar, cereal, coffee, doritos, mt dew, spices, pasta, quinoa and nutritional yeast? don't answer that.

here is a picture of the under sink cabinet, which is full of cleaning supplies. the shelf in the back will have some smaller cleaning supplies like jclothes, comet, gloves, etc and anything else that should go back there and fits.

i will add pictures of the under cabinet shelves when they get here and are cut to the right size, but i need the wood and the saw first.

that means everything is off the counters and cabinets and where it ought to be and the kitchen is now normalish.

i bought two extra large wood tables yesterday on kijiji for $50 so i should have the work area needed for the saw to cut the wood, even if i have to do it in the laundry area or even just in the kitchen for now.

here is a picture of the back wall of the whole kitchen, zoomed out. you should see the cereal shelf near the computer, the coffee shelf on the other side, the cleaning cabinet under the sink, the bulk food storage cabinet under the counter, the full ghetto hutch on the right side and bits of the console table with food bank stuff and the side table beside the stove.

as everything is now put away and in it's right place, and without the need to wake up sucking on any lemons, this is really down to (1) getting those extra shelves from home hardware and (2) filling in the missing food supplies.

i will need:

- two pieces of wood, cut from one 36"x24" piece

- the circular saw

- 8 pegs (i have exactly that many)

- kleenex x 4, caesar x 15, soy x 3, ice cream x 4

- hemp seeds (with one new container) x 2, wheat bran x 2, flax x 2, dill x 2 (with two new containers),