I am getting ready to remodel my kitchen and would like to get rid of a lot of the clutter. I am not the greatest cook but would like a well stocked kitchen, pantry and cookware, utensils, gadgets. My kitchen is on the small side with plenty of cupboards but not a ton of counter space. Any suggestions?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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I would try to keep as much off the counters as possible. I also have limited counter space, and I would rather take 30 seconds to pull something out of a cabinet when I need it, and have more counter space the rest of the time. If you don't have small children, a magnetic knife strip is a great way to store knives in very little space, and you don't have to use counter or drawer space for a knife block. Look at other ways to get things off the counters - you can mount things under cabinets or on the walls. (Ikea has some great Grundtal hanging rails that can be mounted on the wall and used to store everything from skillets to salt shakers.) Also, consider storing items you use less often outside the kitchen, if you have more room elsewhere. I store my mixer, cake pans and other baking supplies on shelves in my dining area. I don't use them every day, and it frees up my kitchen cabinets for items I use more often.
I love kitchen gadgets, but it's most important to focus on the things you use most often. I used to have a lot of pans, but I realized that I didn't use many of them. (This often happens when you get sets of pans - often you don't use some of the sizes.) 90% of the time, I used just 3 or 4 pans, so those are the ones I keep close at hand. I either got rid of the others or stored them in the backs of cupboards, if I still wanted to use them occasionally. It's the same with the other kitchen items - I cooked for a couple of weeks and noted which items I used over and over, then put those things in easy reach. Also, if you are organizing drawers, check out office drawer organizers as well as ones made for the kitchen. I have one large drawer, and I keep it organized with little bins I bought at the dollar store. (The larger bins at the dollar store are great for organizing smaller items in the pantry or in the refrigerator. The larger Ziploc disposable containers are also good for this.)
Since you're remodeling, you might want to look into making your cabinets more accessible. You can buy pull out racks for lower cabinets that make it easier to reach items in the back, or lazy susan spinners for corner cabinets. I bought some inexpensive folding shelves for my tall cabinets so I can store two sizes of plates. You might want to browse The Container Store web site to get some ideas.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I have a tiny, tiny kitchen with almost no storage space, yet husband and I make almost every single meal at home (and he has a home office and so makes lunch every day there, too).
Consider NOTHING sacred. Everyone has a toaster, right, so you should have a toaster? I love toast, but my husband doesn't eat bread, and it took up a lot of space. I use the toaster at work and eat it every chance I get at my parents house...if I really want a piece at home, I toast in the oven. However, my rice cooker (just a 3 cup model) we use at least twice a week, so that stayed even though the toaster seems more logical.
My friend got pull out shelves in her cabinets when she remodeled...said it was well worth the money. I'm jealous...
Like toberead, I don't store all the kitchen stuff in the kitchen. I keep unwieldy large pans (lasagna pan, for example), fondue pot, cookie press, etc in a cabinet in the garage since I use them infrequently. I also move coffee mugs into the garage once hte snow has melted since we drink hot drinks less frequently in the summer.
In addition, I have a friend who borrows my wok pretty regularly, but honestly, there is no reason for both of us to have a wok. In return, I have only a 3-quart crockpot and I am free to borrow her 6-quart if I ever need something bigger.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I found this article rather helpful:
http://lifehacker.com/5387890/declutter-and-purge-your-kitchen-to-the-necessities-the-checklist
Also, Apartment Therapy's "The Kitchn" does what they call "Cures" twice a year. They just finished one, but you might enjoy looking over their posts:
http://cure.apartmenttherapy.com/2009/kitchen-fall/
(Start with the oldest posts at the bottom and work your way up to the recent ones at the top.)Posted 2 years ago # -
If you are replacing cabinets, I suggest having the new cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. In my very small kitchen, I use the tops of my cabinets for storage of lesser used items. Not only is it fairly unattractive, the stuff up there gets dusty, and then as oils and things collect from cooking, they get sticky and gross. I would much rather have larger cabinets and have those things inside where they are better protected.
Posted 2 years ago # -
We remodelled our kichen last summer. Everything went into boxes in our sitting room apart from the stuff I could obviously give away. We then had a temporary kitchen (microwave, camping stove) for a couple of months. I brought stuff into the kitchen as I needed it.
Later the hob and the oven arrived and in. But at the end of the remodeling I did have several boxes of stuff I knew I had not used for three months. Now some of that was stuff you use at sometimes of year (e.g. jam making equipment) and some of it I gave away. None of it have I missed.Posted 2 years ago # -
I highly recommend having a large pantry area as far from your appliances as possible. Pantry food stuffs stay fresher longer if they are far away from anything that creates heat because they need to stay cool and dry. Our kitchen (an old one) has the pantry right next to our hot water heater... awful! I know store the majority of my pantry items in my china cabinet!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hello,
I got this article very helpful in remodeling the kitchen. Thanks for sharing here..
Regards,
OliviaPosted 2 years ago # -
One of my luxury musthaves: The milk frother
Posted 2 years ago #
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