With the proliferation of the “tiny house” movement, with homes ranging in size of an incredibly small 100 square feet to a reasonable 1,000 square feet, there’s something to be said about managing small space to squeeze out as much efficiency as possible.
A good place to start in any home is the kitchen. Even if you don’t have a small kitchen, these tips can help you manage your kitchen space more efficiently. These tips are based on what we learned when downgrading from a larger home to something almost 1/3 of the size.
Reconsider your needs.
One of the first things we did when moving into a smaller space was assess what we really needed from our kitchen. After looking at our diet and how we prepared foods for ourselves, it became clear that we could get rid of one of the central pieces in most kitchens: the stove/oven combo. The last few years our diets have been on a mostly raw vegan streak, meaning our need to fry, bake, and boil has been almost entirely removed. In our new home, we decided to ditch the traditional stove. Instead, we bought a table top 2 oven burner. It’s sleek and pretty and only inches thick. Best of all, when we’re not using it, we keep it out of the way, and thus we get back all that counter space.
Another common item we decided we didn’t need is the dishwasher. It’s convenient for sure, but it takes up a lot of space. Is it worth it? Many households with just one or two people find it’s a “need” they simply don’t have once they get of it.
What needs might you have that your current kitchen is over-filling?
Combine appliances.
For instance, do you have both a machine for juicing, such as the popular Jack LuLanne Power Juicer, as well as a food processor? Appliances such as these can be bought as combo units. You might ask “Can a food processor be a juicer?” and the answer is that while you take somewhat of a hit in quality with the food processor, yes, you can have both in one unit and make do just fine. This is an excellent way to manage space in a small kitchen and still have two appliances for preparing healthy foods quickly.
Another common appliance combination that makes sense is an microwave that also functions as an oven. It’s also possible to buy very small 3-way appliances that combine a coffee machine, toaster, and 1 small burner. Unfortunately, the quality of this last item tends to be quite low as its aimed for dorm room living and is not meant to last.
Get rid of appliances.
Even some such as myself, a dedicated minimalist, somehow ends up with kitchen appliances I don’t use and I have to go through my things and purge once or twice a year. I’d suggest putting out all your appliances in a line. Pick the ones you’ve used in the last 4 weeks. Everything else automatically goes to charity of Craigslist. From what’s left, decide if it’s really worth keeping. Maybe you wanted to stop drinking coffee anyway? That’s one way to justify getting rid of that bulky coffee machine!
What other ways have you found to manage space in your small kitchen?
Visit Ben at http://dreaminglife.org for a bigger look at healthy minimalist living.