When we moved here, to our little house in the countryside, I had to accept a few things in order to get the lifestyle we wanted. Firstly, I would have to do a fair bit of driving to get the girls to school. Nights out would either need to be very sober or cost a lot more if we factored in taxis. We’d have to accept that our internet went about the same speed as dial-up, circa 1997. And, perhaps most horrifyingly of all, I would have to accept that there wasn’t space in our kitchen for a dishwasher.

I’d never had a dishwasher until we lived in the house before this one, and getting one at the last house felt like all of my dreams had come true at once. You see, I’m not naturally domesticated, and the washing up was my BIGGEST nemesis. I absolutely hate washing up. And so does everyone else who lives here, so it would often go undone for days at a time, which as you can imagine, is a less than ideal situation.

I won’t lie, I had a bit of a meltdown at Husband and told him that something needed to change, so he put his thinking cap in action (as well as chucking a bit of cash at the situation!) and worked out that we could have a dishwasher if we did a bit of shuffling around in the kitchen.

We’re seriously lucky that we have some super handy and practical people in our family, so after a call to Husband’s aunty (although you could just hire a plumber) we worked out that we could put the dishwasher where our washing machine currently stood and do a bit of a retrofit with the pipes to move the washing machine along a different wall altogether.

We have a galley kitchen, so it wasn’t immediately obvious that we’d be able to do this, but sometimes it takes a new pair of eyes, and someone with a bit more expertise than yourself, to come up with this sort of solution.

Husband’s aunt and uncle ordered all of the parts they’d need and came round one evening a few months ago to get it all done. It only took them two or three hours, and by the time they finished, we had a shiny new dishwasher, ready to go, and a washing machine that actually worked MUCH better in its new position because the floor was more level and it was closer to the dryer, too.

It sounds dramatic when I say it’s changed my life, but I cannot understate this fact enough. Instead of permanently living in limbo between “don’t use the kitchen, I’ve just spent hours cleaning it” and “we’ve got no clean plates, we’ll have to have a takeaway”, the kitchen is permanently clean and tidy and we ALWAYS have things to eat and drink with.

This has also had other knock-on effects too – we eat far fewer takeaways, so we’re saving money and being healthier, both of which are really positive. It also means that the rest of the house is tidier, because there’s a place for all of the dirty plates, cups and cutlery to go. I also enjoy cooking SO much more now. Before, I’d cook a roast or bake a cake and then be faced with the reality that I had to hand wash every single item I’d used in the process. Now, it all goes straight in the dishwasher, nothing is untidy, and I can just enjoy the whole experience of being creative in the kitchen.

If you don’t think you have space for a dishwasher in your kitchen, it could be well worth getting a plumber or kitchen designer to have a look and give you a professional opinion as to whether there might be a way, and if you’re as undomesticated as me, it could genuinely change your life!