Out of all the places we viewed around Bangkok as possible new home we decided to settle into a funky new building just off Sukhumvit Road. It is spacious, partially furnished, clean, came with Wi-Fi, located near a sky train station and between two shopping centers.

The one thing our apartment did not have was a proper kitchen. We have shelving and cupboard space in the living room area and a tiny balcony leading from the balcony with a sink and small work surface, but nothing like a working (or workable) kitchen.

This was a problem to us as we were both so hungry for being able to have a home and begin our own cooking again, but we decided to view it as a challenge. We really wanted this place and so we decided we would make it work somehow.

Over the next couple of weeks we browsed around kitchen departments at numerous department stores around town, measuring tape at hand, and came up with some ideas of how to organize the living room and balcony into becoming a working kitchen/pantry/living space for us.

The shelve became our pantry. We searched out attractive colors for our crockery to brighten up the living space and the bottles of sauces and spices added some additional fun colors to the shelve. We bought the stuffed toy animals beside the blender from a lady selling them on her street side table on Phra Arthit.

I bought the large shopping bag for Alexander in Siem Reap, Cambodia and the slightly hidden pink one for myself here in Bangkok. It cost only B10 and it is pretty strong and very funky.

We picked up a camping stove to use for cooking. The large cutting board doubles as a work surface when we are preparing meals outside. I got quite used to cooking outside on the balcony, but it is a bit of a bother when we are hit by monsoon rains sometimes and the whole area gets flooded.

Below are two of my favorite items in the kitchen. I believe the soy sauce brand name translates to something like ‘fat baby’. I love the image and design as well as the colors. The basil plants was a surprise for me from Alexander. It brightens up our balcony and has served us well in the kitchen!