Kitchen Chit-Chat

Over the weekend Princess and I spent time in the kitchen rearranging our workspace with heartening results.  PC had made a passing remark a few weeks previously, about the flow challenges of the kitchen, which had encouraged me to stop and evaluate how effective our kitchen was/or wasn’t working for us. Once I began focusing on the kitchen’s functionality I realised a number of areas in the kitchen irritated me and I’d just been working around problems instead of addressing them.

Thus we began our assessment by considering ‘prime real estate space’, firstly the overhead cupboards, they are the easiest to access yet of the four shelves only one shelf housed everyday items, the other three shelves housed items rarely used. Next we considered the cupboards underneath the bench and realised these were the items we used daily and needed much easier access to. The storage cupboard on the other side of the room, next to the pantry whilst suitable for lesser used items was being treated as a ‘catch all’ thus not maximising space potential. We have little bench space and with many appliances on the bench we lose half the footprint space we do have.  We have been storing some of the appliances when not in use, but the storage cupboard is difficult to access.

So what to do? My friend Jen’s favourite word ‘intuitive’ kept coming to mind, I knew we needed to make the flow of the kitchen intuitive. We began freeing up the ‘prime real estate spaces’, by moving rarely used items to the storage cupboard, first though we cleared it out, creating more space. Then we moved the casserole dishes, the glass mixing bowls and storage containers to the overhead cupboards where we can easily access. This then freed up space in the cupboards below the benches, which excitedly meant we are able to devote a whole section as an appliance cupboard, allowing easy access to remove or store.  We are now able to house most of the appliances here which in turn has freed up space on the bench!:) I’m a visual person and I didn’t realise how much the appliance clutter bothered me but to now have the bench space nearly empty brings me much peace. The kitchen space flows far more effectively and intuitively now:) I’m really amazed that it has taken me so long to consider what was/and wasn’t working and how to address the problems.

Inspired by our new space Jelly Bean and I enjoyed baking a cake together Sunday afternoon, then fired by our creativity I turned my hand to again trying to bake a sourdough loaf and this time was successful!! Thanks to Marijke for ‘steering me right’ with her sourdough starter.

We’re also currently trialing a new ‘kitchen duty roster’, instead of each family member having an assigned task, we simply expect all to gather together in the kitchen immediately after dinner and collectively clean. All together in a small space, it’s amazing how quickly and enjoyably clean up is.

Sometimes it is the ‘little things’ that bring a sense of Peace:)