Image credit: flickr.com/photos/chalonuk/[/caption]
Your kitchen is where the heart is – and in some cases, where the most amount of mess can be found. Considering you spend so much time in the kitchen, it’s no surprise that your kitchen needs the most amount of TLC when clearing and cleaning up. Whether you have a large or small kitchen, you seem need the most amount of products, gadgets and accessories to assist with your day-to-day chores of cooking. So it’s pretty easy to get lost in the mess and have over-crowding worktops and cupboards that are not organised in a clear and concise way and a kitchen draw that gets continuously jammed from a million and one spatulas you just don’t need.
Oversized appliances are our worst enemies and yet as a nation we seem to succumb to their size and do nothing about it. The attitude has become ‘the bigger, the better’ and we all find ourselves wanting a bigger kitchen. But the size of the kitchen is not the issue – there’s an appropriate way of grouping your appliances and gadgets together and assessing exactly what you need and what gadget can do a number of things – hey, why not kill two birds with one stone?
The first step for anyone with a congested kitchen is to re-model and clear away your counters and products that are eating up your storage. After all, the kitchen of your dreams may be lying beneath your busy surfaces.
RULE 1:
When you buy something new, think before you buy. Cliché, we know – but the magic of 21st century technology means a lot of the kitchen appliances we tend to use are now 2 in 1 and it is utterly genius!
John Lewis Smeg SF4920MCX Victoria Integrated Compact Combi Microwave Oven Stainless Steel £799
Amazon Morphy Richards Soup Maker with Serrator Blade £49.99
Amazon Victor Cast Iron Skillet Black 11 5-inch £30
John Lewis Ingenious Plastic Fridge Pantry Bin small £23
RULE 2:
Store all your items by their use. When organising your kitchen resourcefully, it makes complete sense to put your everyday dishes in an easy to reach shelf or cupboard. Once you have assembled all your everyday dishes into one area, you can assess where to put your ‘special occasion’ dishes. You may find that to increase space in the kitchen, you can pack away your occasional crockery into a plastic sealed box and either place above your fridge, overhead cabinets or in a weather-proof garage.
RULE 3:
Everyone owns large saucepans, knifes and BBQ tools which are an everyday necessity. But when you have a kitchen that is not your ideal size, it can be hard to store items such as these in a condensed manner and out of the way. One way you can achieve this, is to use a blank wall in your kitchen/diner area. By this, we don’t mean hanging up a calendar or artwork for visual appeal, but to make the most of available space by mounting racks on the wall. You can use S-hooks to hang kitchen tools and for knives, you can use magnetic racks. If you don’t have a blank wall, many families choose to display their pots and pans above their central island using a steel or metal rack.
RULE 4:
Fridge space is key. It’s easy to get carried away at the supermarket with a desire to try new things. The good thing – you’re trying new foods! Congrats! But the bad news is that you don’t necessarily have the space for it at home in the fridge. It can take a while searching for something in the fridge without having to empty out an entire shelf. The solution? Fridge binz, which are see through, and slide-out drawers for your fridge. Not only can you use it in your fridge, it can be used in your freezer too.
RULE 5:
If you are lucky to own a beautiful, oak-inspired kitchen that offers bundles of space, you may wish to keep it spick and span and without clutter on the surfaces. A kitchen island with storage space is a fantastic solution. You can add your hob and extractor fan as well as storage for pots, pans, spices and even a pull-out bin. A compact all-in-one island is becoming a popular choice for many homeowners and not only keeps everything in its place, but looks elegant and country chic.
