Sometimes it's the small things

I have a new dog food container! Yippee! (OK, it might seem silly, but read on).

My kitchen is teeny-tiny 12'x6.5' with a door that opens into it leading from the common back stairs and parking (our primary door) and a doorway into the dining room. So really, not much space. Prior to the New Dog Food Container! I had the storage container sitting in front of my black storage shelves next to the refrigerator. It wouldn't fit in the shelves and it really wouldn't fit anyplace else. When you walked in the door (which had just enough clearance not to hit the dog food container) the space felt cramped and messy. The useless space behind the container just gathered clutter. See?

My new container is smaller and fits inside my black storage shelves (it took forever to find one that would fit but hold enough food!). It frees up that little corner when you walk in the door and takes the place of the cluttered spot. Gone with the messy, cluttered feeling as soon as I come home. It would always make me feel grumpy as I walked in the door.

Yes, it is ugly. I'm hoping a few coats of spray paint (primed with a plastic primer, painted on the outside only) will help the ugly factor. While I'm at it I'll also paint the cat food containers to it's right. I'm not sure what color. I would really like pumpkin orange, my accent color, but don't want a black and orange vibe going on in the kitchen. Too Halloween-ish for my comfort. I'd love to find a green spray paint that coordinates with my baskets. I'll probably wait until I paint the walls from the current nice looking milk chocolate (not my choice) to a fresh light aqua first and then see what would work best.

Anyway, sometimes its a small thing like a new dog food container that can make a large impact on how a space feels and functions. I only gained 1'x2' of space, but it made a world of difference. (Doesn't that door look horrible? It will get a crisp coat of white when all the trim and doors are painted later this year).

Have you made any small changes that had a big impact?