First things first: Minimalism to me does not mean sterile like an operating room. It’s fine to decorate with pictures, dried flowers, or the like. It just shouldn’t get out of hand. The art of minimalism lies in omitting the right unnecessary things.
Especially in the kitchen, chaos often reigns - whether in a single household or a large family. Moreover, there are certain kitchen utensils and dishes that tend to accumulate, which are hardly ever used. By the way, I am no exception. For example, I have soup cups that I feel I have never used - but they have moved with me dozens of times. The same goes for the immersion blender - because I use the stand mixer 99.9% of the time.
As a rough guideline, one should throw away anything that hasn’t been used in the last six months. Of course, there are the famous exceptions to the rule, for example, cookie cutters.
I must confess that I am an absolute hoarder of storage containers and lids. I have a lot of containers without lids and vice versa. I will keep a few of the lidless containers as they are quite useful for the fridge. The rest will go into recycling - as well as the orphaned lids. Likewise, with a heavy heart, I must sort out the surplus dishes, such as the aforementioned soup cups. Those will also be taken to the recycling center.
In the new kitchen, every appliance that we keep will have a permanent spot (at least that’s the plan). In the future, we will also prefer to spend a bit more money on a kitchen appliance, but then use it until it falls apart. I dream of a certain kitchen machine that starts with a K (no, not the one that starts with T.)
Minimalism in the kitchen always has something to do with clarity and functionality. This is especially true for kitchen cabinets, where things often disappear into the depths, only to reappear years later. A tool that prevents such unpleasant experiences is the Smantry App. As a storage location, once I have scanned the food item, I can easily assign it to the kitchen cabinet. This way, I’m always informed.
What also contributes to organization are divider or organizing systems. In my case, the lidless storage containers will be used for the most part.
Keep track of supplies, groceries and durable products before small price increases turn into unnecessary extra costs.
Or try it right in your browser — no install neededDuring the move, I started to sort out cups and glasses that I hadn’t used for more than three months. By the way, a lot of glasses and cups accumulated. However, there will always be dishes in my cupboard that I keep for sentimental reasons and which I would really regret throwing away. I’ve mentioned it before, minimalism is different for everyone. Since we mostly cook at home, we also have more than two pots and a pan - and I don’t feel guilty about it at all ;) I will also never give up my coffee machine.
Even if it might make some minimalists cringe - storage space is simply extremely important. Because the things that don’t stand on the work surface and that I still need have to go somewhere. We managed quite simply with shelves and additional cabinets. I find kitchen items in the bedroom or on the balcony quite odd. I actually found this tip while researching on another blog.
By the way: A minimalist kitchen doesn’t have to cost a fortune. For example, we took the kitchen from our old apartment and spiced it up with furniture from Ebay classifieds and the second-hand store. For me, minimalism is also about sustainability - and that’s something that the PantryApp stands for. I think it’s perfectly okay to buy used furniture - but I also know that’s not for everyone. When everything is finished (right now it looks a bit chaotic) I will also post a picture on this blog.
Where there is definitely still a lot of room for improvement for us is the issue of dishes. We combined two households and therefore have many things in duplicate or triplicate. Cups and plates will probably be stored in the basement for now, because they do tend to break. This way, we always have a spare on hand at home - which is also sustainable.
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