I am so excited to announce the first of what I hope will be many giveaways from The Picky Gourmet!
I may have mentioned before that I have a small kitchen. It is the bane of my existence and I cry about it to anyone I speak to for more than four minutes. I am pretty sure the baggers at Ralph’s have heard about how tiny my kitchen is. Anytime I fix something in my kitchen more substantial than a slice of cheese, I come near to tears because I quickly run out of space. My legendary clumsiness doesn’t help matters any. My sous chef would be the first to tell you the deep pain my kitchen causes me. It is definitely a one person kitchen and that one person is attempting to be a chef/food blogger. Not a good combo. Because my kitchen is so small, it sometimes tends to overflow into other rooms of my (also tiny) house. Sadly, my kitchen tables are used more as shelves than places to dine. I eat off my coffee table because my dining room table is loaded with pots and pans that have nowhere else to live.
You can see the layout in this (pre-painting, pre-tile floor) pic.
PLEASE ignore the mess, we were preparing to paint the kitchen the lovely color you will see in the next series of pics. I show you this picture just to demonstrate the size of my kitchen and the sad state of affairs that is my “dining room.” Woe. Is. Me.
This is how much space I had after painting and before I put all the kitchen gadgets back where they sit on the counter.
This is the other half of my kitchen. Not pictured are the low ceiling and the total lack of natural light (try taking appetizing photos in those conditions. I dare ya!)
You may be wondering what my kitchen crises have to do with my giveaway, so here it is: If you help me, I’ll help you. I am giving away a $40 gift certificate to CSN.com and their affiliate sites (you can use this gift certificate at any of their 200+ sites but you will be responsible for shipping costs.)
To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post and tell me how you would deal with a lack of kitchen space (bonus points if you utilize products from CSN stores, they sell everything under the sun, go check em out!) I am looking for the best organizational solutions and ideas to help me and my fellow readers suffering from Puny Kitchen Syndrome. The winner will be chosen at random and notified next Wed. You have until Aug. 21st to enter the giveaway!
Please note: I must have an e-mail address in order to contact the winner so make sure you leave it in your comment!
you need a few shelves and a pot rack! you can find all of them at CSN
Callie we hung our pots pans and colander on the wall. Then added some plate racks in the dining room for display and yet functionalityit free up mor cabinets. I also turned my linen closet into the pantry and minimized my linens. Good luck. Shawna
Utilize the cabinet space to the inch! CSN has some great stacking solutions for cabinets, as well as pull-out drawers and such.
Like other said utilize cabinet space, but one good way to add natural light, if you have the means is a skylight. We did that in our back dining room that had nothing good going for it and it really help out the space.
You could try open shelving. This way you have all your pot and utensils on the wall, and can make a quick grab for them whenever you’re cooking!
Nowhere – NOWHERE – on any of these walls do I see any hooks, hangers, pegs, cables, or other dangle-able/hang-able objects. Throw a few hooks around your doorway and you’ll be able to free up some cabinet space by hanging some of your larger pots.
If you’re willing to get a bit more creative, and are also willing to temporarily and significantly sacrifice the aesthetic deliciousness of your cooking space, either A: Bring an ironing board into your kitchen and put it where your trash can currently is, running parallel to the wall (providing a little boost of counter space), or B: (and I like this idea the best) when you’re going into full on “I’m not going to leave the kitchen for the next 40 minutes” mode, run three or four 2″x4″ planks of wood (preferably screwed/glued together) across your kitchen from the top of your dishwasher to your countertop on the other side of the room. While this will make the kitchen entrance impassable to anyone over 3 feet tall, it’ll also quickly and easily increase your counter space by probably about 50%. Once you’re done, just slide the beast under your bed and go back to having a pretty kitchen.
No, I’m not gay, and no, I’m not a sociopath. Pinky swear.
A rolling cart is your best solution, something you can pull into the center to work on then roll away and hide somewhere when you’re done.
My biggest challenge is lack of storage space and counter tops even though I have a roomy kitchen, which is perplexing. Adding a large shelving unit in our dining room to act as pantry/appliance holder helps the kitchen stay organized and our minimal countertops stay clear. I have also found doing all my prep and the bulk of my clean up before starting cooking helps me max out kitchen space and avoid disaster.
Also smitten kitchen has some great tips for this very problem: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/11/how-to-max-out-your-tiny-kitchen/