I believe my kitchen has the standard amount of cupboards. Not banks and banks of them like those dream kitchens featured on HGTV, but definitely a normal amount. As a matter of fact, I’m positive that I’d have ample storage space if it weren’t for a certain husband 1 live with, a certain husband named Mark who can’t seem to breathe quite right if there isn’t a pair of pliers or a flashlight within his reach at all times.

It doesn’t matter that there’s a workroom in the basement, mere steps away from the kitchen, loaded with saws and hammers, levels and files. Nor does it seem to matter that said workroom is all his. I haven’t tried to use his workbench or decorate the basement windows with cute curtains or do anything to impinge on his man space. His workroom is as macho as he is, with a concrete floor and cinder block walls, and that’s just how Mark likes it. I’ve given up any claim on his workroom. I wish I could say the same about my kitchen.

“I just need one drawer in the kitchen to store a few of my tools,” he told me shortly after we’d moved in.

“Why do you need to store tools in the kitchen?” i asked.

Looking at me as if i’d asked him why it was necessary to drink water, Mark replied, “It makes sense to keep duplicates of tools 1 use all the time upstairs so 1 don’t have to run down to the basement whenever 1 need a hammer or a nail.”

“One drawer,’ I conceded. “This is the first kitchen we’ve ever had where I won’t have to keep the Bundt pan on top of the refrigerator. I need all the cupboards For storage.”

“One drawer,” he promised.