Why Didn't I Think of This Sooner?

In one corner of my kitchen there is a tiny alcove that leads to the hallway and to the opening to the living room.  There's just enough space there for a small closet that would be the pantry, except that the AC/heater vent is right in front of it, which makes it far too warm to safely hold food during the winter - instead I use it to stow appliances and occasional use glassware.  There is also a small built in phone nook - an idea I really like, but the location is inconvenient to everything.  We kept the land line phone there and grumbled everytime we had to answer the phone there...and a few months ago, we got rid of the land line and went entirely to cell phones, so ever since, the little nook has wound up being nothing more than a place to set small items and collect clutter.

I was puttering in the kitchen this evening and got fed up looking at the little eyesore, so I took a moment to get ridof the accumulated junk... then dusted it... and then had a wonderful aha moment.

You see, I have another ongoing problem - and one felt by a lot of people who want to keep home altars or shrines... no where to put one where it is usable, accessible, decorative and not in the way.  In my case add not likely to get pounced on by the cat, dog or the grandkid.

There isn't enough room here for a really lavish special occasion altar - but it provides simple space for the basics.  I hung my goddess stitchery where the phone would go, and added two candles (goddess and god), along with elemental icons - incense for fire and air, and a dish filled with stones and water for earth and water.

Hard to see but hanging from a corner of the nook is a peacock.

Beneath the nook there is a shelf designed to hold a phone book - and that gives me a bit of accessible space for other tools as needed. I'm sure I'll fiddle with the arrangements a bit more and switch things out now and then.

This is also not going to be a place where I can safely leave candles to burn down on their own - after all, this is encased in a wooden shadowbox, but the stove is a mere five feet away, and when such workings are called for, it can easily be moved to the safer stovetop/hearth area anyway.

I really do wish I'd thought of this (a LOT) sooner, but I'm so happy to have managed it now...better late than never!