I cook every single day just about, which means that my kitchen is the hub of the home. We are always in that area preparing food and connecting as a family. I’ve had small kitchens in the past, which made it difficult to function. However, we have always come up with ways to make it work.
Today, I brought on Rhonda Hart to share with us a few tips on how to make the most of a small kitchen.
Here’s what she had to say-
It’s something of a rite of passage that your first home or apartment will be a touch on the small side. Finally, you have your own space! The spacious part you might have to wait a few years for.
Making the most of the space is the best you can hope for. In no area is this so apparent as the kitchen. The days of the large kitchen-diner that can host an entire family may be in your future, but that doesn’t mean you have to cook and eat in cramped surroundings in the meantime. You just need to follow some golden rules.
DON’T: Buy every gadget going.
It’s so tempting when you see a gadget that promises all, just stopping short of guaranteeing to make your life 100% better in every conceivable way. We want it to be true so much that we can be taken in by the hype, hoping this latest cheese separator* will be what we need to make our lives complete.
Unfortunately, all it will do is reduce the space you have in an already small kitchen. Resist the lure of gadgets, for now, instead of sticking to the basics that you know you are actually going to use.
*Doesn’t exist, but someone will inevitably come up with something like it…
DO: Utilize gadgets that do more than one thing.
This may seem to fly somewhat in the face of the above “don’t”, but there’s a reason for the exception here. While you don’t necessarily need an entire cupboard’s worth of gadgets, it’s always worth making space for something that does more than one thing.
There are certain areas of cooking preparation you can group together into one appliance. For example, if you’re a fan of your fruit beverages, you could easily end up with several different items: a juicer, a blender, even a food processor. Or, you can buy something that does all three.
It’s easy to think it’s not worth it because of the higher cost price of a multi-capable unit versus an individual appliance, but if you add the price of three individual, specialist appliances, then multi-capable comes out on top every time. It’s not just fruit drink prep, either, why not try these to combine numerous different aspects of cooking into one.
DON’T: Buy in bulk.
Being able to buy in bulk is the height of being sensible with money. There’s no arguing that the savings are well worth it – but it’s not something you can do without the space to accommodate all of your bulk purchases. You can find yourself with mountains of stored kitchen clutter and nowhere to put the weekly essentials such as fresh fruit and vegetables.
If you do want to buy in bulk, then relegate the non-chilled items to another area of the house until they need to be used.
DO: Enjoy it.
One day, you will look back on your first home and smile fondly – so enjoy it while you can. You may crave your space but, for now, let what you have for the moment be the thing you need.
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