I love to look at home-design magazines and their spreads of lovely kitchens with nothing but a jar of pasta and a vase of flowers on the long run of countertops!
But that's not my reality.
I have 11 linear feet of countertop in my whole kitchen. Today I cleared off the whole thing and rearranged the things I keep on there: toaster oven, bread machine, coffee maker, tray with coffee canister, sugar bowl and coffee grinder; stand mixer, tiny TV, knife set, clean dish-rack and crock of utensils.
There's no place else to keep these things except where they are. Every so often I rearrange them to see if I can find a way to gain a few inches of workspace here and there.
I have good bench space in this house luckily. Instead of a breakfast bar I have a little half bench that hides the kitchen mess (great invention) I do try to keep my bench tops clear as possilbe all the time. I have my coffee maker on the bench and that's it. I have a hide away cupboard that houses my jug and toaster. My half bench has the fruit bowl in the corner. I have a wall with 18 hooks (ikea) that holds assorted wisks, spatulas, scoops.
This was not possible at my last house and although I tried to keep it clear there was still the micro, jug, utensil holder on the bench, toaster went in a cupboard, which left hardly any room for preparation. I also did not have as many items, bread machine etc at this last house, I guess I've now collected more.
Is there any way you can put shelves on the wall to hold some pretty jars, pasta or smaller things?
I think if you can't spread out go up LOL. Isn't it funny how we arrange and re arrange things in the hope that it may just give us a centimeter more room, cause you just never know .....
Counter tops, you can see your counter tops? My kitchen is very small, sigh, and I have so many things out. There is no where to put them and I use them all the time. I have my Kitchen Aid, blender, small food processor, and steamer on my dishwasher. On my counters (I have 2) are my racks, cookie sheets etc., microwave, coffee maker, cutting board, s&p, plastic wrap, knifes, junk keeper my dd made, 2 stacking baskets, toaster and more. I have no space whatsoever left. I am searching for ideas to clean up this mess. I never had a problem in my last house, loads of counters and double pantry in the kitchen. sigh. I keep telling everyone I could just stop cooking and I would have a tidy kitchen!
I give up on my countertops. Cookie jars (3- 1/cookies, 2/instant oatmeal and snack packs) Coffee filters n grounds, napkins, canisters, cookbooks (only a few of what own) , dish drain(no dishwasher), bread box, and stuff that doesn't fit in cabinets like chips fill every inch. I have the front areas sometimes for meal prep. I hope when it's just me and dh it will be better but that is a big pipe dream.
I have tried moving things around to have one of those pretty counter top, but it never stay that way. Soon the rush I'm in and working, it gets in a mess.
in fact right now I need to get it all clean off and organized again.
so I better soon go and get that done.
I thought I had a lot of counter space but I realy dont so I have only put out what I use the most of and we have a shelf to put the others on and then When I need them we can use it on the one end that I use just for that.
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Oh Bunny, you will be truly missed by your FC friends God's speed.
I have very limited counter space in my kitchen - probably about 4 linear feet total. I have several hanging baskets which I keep potatoes, onions, garlic, etc. in. Fortunately, I do have a small "appliance bar" that is just big enough to hold my toaster, mixer, blender, bread machine and food processor and can opener. I do not have a pantry in this kitchen. I use shelves in the basement for a lot of my canned goods.
We are in the process of looking for a new house right now. At the very top of the list is a more functional kitchen.
I have quite a bit of bench space, but all too often it is cluttered with everything that has come in the door in the past couple of days. I am trying to clean it every second day (sort of a Flylady hotspot) but it gets out of hand quickly.
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Meg and Kathy, it's interesting that you use the word "bench" for what we in the USA call a "counter."
When I worked in a bakery, the tables/counters where the bakers would prepare or decorate different foods were called "benches." Different bakers had different benches, so the bread baker and the pastry guy never worked at the same spot.
I have my counter space mostly cleared off.The only areas that are bad are the main one which i am always trying to clear off and the one by the telephone.I should go clean them now.
I give up on my countertops. Cookie jars (3- 1/cookies, 2/instant oatmeal and snack packs) Coffee filters n grounds, napkins, canisters, cookbooks (only a few of what own) , dish drain(no dishwasher), bread box, and stuff that doesn't fit in cabinets like chips fill every inch. I have the front areas sometimes for meal prep. I hope when it's just me and dh it will be better but that is a big pipe dream.
God's speed.
