Wednesday, September 02, 2009


The giraffe cupboard... after tidying!

As this is my last day before real life starts up again, I've decided to tackle the last remaining area of mess (apart from Phil's bit of the study and the least said about THAT the better...) - the kitchen cupboards.

One set of cupboards is original to the house and has survived a number of kitchen makeovers; despite being threatened with new doors or complete demolition. In my mind I call these cupboards "the giraffe cupboard" in memory of a cupboard in my mum's kitchen. I'm very attached to them for reasons I don't really understand!

We moved house when I was 14, to a new-build semi lacking in any individuality but which my mum swiftly made into a cosy and comfortable home. One quirk it did have was a large deep cupboard built into the kitchen, with an alcove underneath for the fridge. Much of the cupboard was inaccessible for people of normal height and with normal arms so it became a repository of things seldom needed or used although we did keep the crockery and few other everyday items in there right at the front. Mum christened it "the giraffe cupboard" because she said only a giraffe with its height and flexible neck could really see into every corner.

It seemed quite normal for someone to ask "where's that really big vase, the one we hardly ever use?" only to have mum say "it's in the giraffe cupboard - you'll need a chair". Flasks, enormous casserole dishes, jelly moulds, empty biscuit tins etc - all sorts lurked in there, just out of normal reach.

My giraffe cupboard isn't deep but it is tall. I can't really see what is on the top shelf and it's a while since I've been up there so today will be a bit of a voyage of re-discovery!

Still on an animal theme, yesterday I tried on a new top that looked nice from the front but from the back made me look like a zebra's bum! Not flattering & I won't be keeping it!

6 comments:

Akelamalu said...

My Mum's house had a 'giraffe cupboard' too! Did you find anything interesting when you tidied yours?

photowannabe said...

Love your giraffe cupboard. We have a similar one over our oven. Can't see whats there and need a stool to even reach it. Of course being 5 ft. 2 inches doesn't help either.
Happy tidying and hope your first day back to the schedule goes well.
Love the comment about the zebra's bum top.

Dianne said...

those cupboards look very tidy to me as they are!

I always thought zebras had lovely bums

there I go - being all perky ;)

Scriptor Senex said...

I thought every house had a giraffe cupboard - it's just that we haven't been as imaginative as your Mum in naming it. By coincidence we sorted ours a couple of weeks ago. "So that's where the lid of that box has been hiding." Pity we'd thrown the box away a few days earlier having given up hope of finding the lid...

Tim Atkinson said...

But has anyone also got an alligator cupboard? One with doors so fierce you can't get in without it biting you? (Used to teach in Frodsham, btw... small world!)

cheshire wife said...

I have also been busy re-arranging cupboards after a trip to the Denby shop at Cheshire Oaks. I didn't think that I could get a post out of it. You are very imaginative!