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For many people, the kitchen is a sacred space. There are many things done in the kitchen they would never consider doing anywhere else. It is not because the kitchen is the only place they could be done. It is just that thoughtless tradition and ritual says that the kitchen is the right place for certain items and activities.
You would never consider cooking supper in the bedroom. That sounds crazy. But why is it crazy? Insects? You don't want them in the kitchen either. We find ways to keep them out. So that can't be it. Fire hazard? The kitchen is the worst fire hazard in the entire house. That can't be it either. For the record, cooking supper in the bedroom is probably a really bad idea. But it is a good exercise to come up with actual reasons why it is.
My point is that if you stop and think about why your kitchen is overly cluttered and overly busy, you might find that it is serving too many functions, some of which could be offloaded to other rooms in the house. No two kitchens are exactly the same. So here are a few ideas that might make your kitchen more functional:
Set up a Coffee Station in the Family Room
Where do you drink your coffee? Do you really drink it in the kitchen? Why not make the coffee where you actually enjoy your coffee? Whether you like it hot or prefer cold brew coffee, there is no reason to cram all your coffee-making processes in the kitchen. We know it is unnecessary because we have all seen coffee stations in apartment common rooms, doctor's office waiting rooms, gyms, and sundry other places. Yet when we are at home, we feel compelled to keep it all in the kitchen.
You can declutter your busy kitchen in the morning by moving the coffee activities to the family room or den. You only need to go into the kitchen to put water in your pot. All of your fixings can be at the coffee station and always near to hand. By doing this, you will alleviate the traffic congestion that happens in the kitchen area every morning. That sense of rushed and cramped desperation is the wrong way to start your day. Even if it is just you, the kitchen is where you go to do a lot of unpleasant chores. Don't associate your coffee ritual with chores. Associate it with casual relaxation. You will have a better overall morning experience.
Put a Mini Fridge Where It Is Most Needed
The largest appliance in the kitchen is the refrigerator. There is good reason for this to be the case, your refrigerator holds all of the essential perishables. Refrigeration is what allows us to do a big grocery shop and have enough food to feed an entire family for one or two weeks at a time. Modern life would be very difficult without it.
That said, there are a lot of things in the fridge that are not necessarily perishables, like soft drinks and snacks. If you put a mini fridge in the place where your family eats their snacks, you will have a lot less traffic in the kitchen and you will declutter the most cluttered part of your kitchen. Organizing your kitchen can be accomplished by organizing the part of it that is not readily visible, but everyone uses. The inside of your fridge can be much more functional if you offload some of the unnecessary things to locations where they are most needed.
Get Rid of the Microwave
The microwave oven is one of the biggest counter culprits you have. Microwaves are going out of favor. It might not seem like it but you really can live without it. No one actually cooks food in it. And if all you do with yours is pop popcorn and heat frozen dinners, put it in the TV room and get it off your counter where the real business of cooking is done. Besides, have you ever been to a hip coffee shop and seen a microwave? We doubt it.
Whether it is setting up a coffee station, adding a mini fridge to another space, or getting rid of that useless microwave oven, there are a lot of out of box things you can do to make your kitchen more efficient at its most important tasks.
