What My Kitchen Is Teaching Me
As a home owner if you’ve not already done a kitchen renovation I bet you want one.
For us, right now, it’s out of the question. So I have come to appreciate our odd little kitchen for what it is... where the dining table takes up the whole room and the cereal sits nonsensically with the saucepans (I said appreciate, not love!)
I have been thinking back to when I first saw the space, first cooked in it and couldn’t fathom using it for more than a week, so what has changed, what has this space taught me?
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Tidy Space, Tidy Mind.
No I’m not talking about clear, appliance-free counter tops, they have nowhere else to go! I’m talking about that chef mindset, the tidy-as-you-go mentality that they, and now I, swear by. Balancing hot trays on top of the chopping board with knives and half the veg peelings still sat on it leads to more stress than is needed. Keeping tidy, clearing as I go has made our tiny worksurface space usable. Even better, get your kids to do it, my son is currently training as my sous chef and it’s fabulous!
Even the most well-designed kitchen will feel stressful if your workflow is constantly interrupted. In a small space the rhythm of how you cook really is integral to the design.
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Clear out your cupboards.
Boy oh boy do I dream of a wonderful walk-in pantry lined with jars and baskets all neatly labelled, something called back stock waiting patiently to be used, a vision straight out of The Home Edit. However, I am rudely reminded it is still a dream when I am cursing the packet of pasta that won’t fit into the cupboard because it turned out we still had one.
This kitchen has made me very aware of how much storage can shape our daily mood. You don’t need a huge amount, you need the right kind and you need it to be easy to access. Small kitchens are brilliant at exposing what actually works.
I have tried a few different configurations, a couple of freestanding units, we utilise drawers for tins which has helped. But the truth is we just need to stay on top of what we have, clear out the dry goods and make sure it is all getting used and check before you shop. Of course this is best practice anyway, we just no longer have the option of being a bit lazy with it unless we want to look at a sad bag of pasta sat by the kettle for the next week.
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The importance of colour.
When we first moved in our house was 50 shades of grey and definitely not in a sexy way. As an interior designer I know the importance of colour, but it can still surprise me what a difference it makes.
Our kitchen is north facing, which means it really gets little to no sun. Add in sad grey walls and cabinets and it made for a cold gloomy room that was slightly depressing to start your day in. So now it is ‘Ginger Kitten’ (from Valspar), a warm rich yellowy orange which has just lifted the whole space and made it so cosy, I really love it. And the cupboards are a classic warm white, which has brightened the space wonderfully.
Colour isn’t just decoration; it can totally transform how we feel within a space. A well-chosen shade can compensate for lack of natural light, enrich the mood in a room and make a modest space feel loved and not compromised.
You can still have guests!
I love having people over, everyone round the dining table, passing plates, sharing stories, the feeling of being a host and gathering people together.
I don’t, however, love cooking in front of people. I’m not someone who can elegantly swan about the kitchen with a glass of wine in one hand, casually whip up a soufflé and finish off a hilarious anecdote at the same time. I put 10x more pressure on myself when people are round, I can either cook or host. I can’t physically do both and with our dining table less than a metre from the work surface there is nowhere to hide!
But do you know what… one-pots exist for this very reason, tray bakes, things you prep before, bung in the oven and chuck straight on the table. And no one cares if your kitchen is tiny (or at least they are too polite to say it to your face!) They are just happy someone else is cooking and they have some good company.
A kitchen doesn’t have to be “perfect” to be a social space. Warmth and ease matter far more than square footage and clever hosting habits often achieve what cabinetry can’t.
Make it work for you, invite the people, we don’t do it enough anymore.
Separate your wants from your needs.
I’m sure when Maslow was creating his hierarchy of needs he wasn’t thinking too much about kitchen islands and pantry cupboards. It’s obvious when you think about it that you don’t need those things, they are a want, it’s all keeping up with the Joneses and I’m sure working in interiors definitely doesn’t help my perspective on things.
We count ourselves so fortunate to be in our dream home and although I thought the kitchen wouldn’t work for us long term, we are still here over 2 years later, we’ve adapted. I’ve discovered what I thought was a need really is just a lovely want. I can still dream of my extension and one day we may be fortunate enough to undertake it. However, for now, we are making wonderful memories in our little kitchen/diner, we bake cakes every now and then, we have the breakfast routine down to a fine art and a couple of weeks ago my husband made his best roast ever.
And perhaps that is the biggest lesson. Good design is never just about the space, it's about how we live in it. A kitchen that teaches you what truly matters (and what doesn’t) is doing its job, even if it isn’t your dream version yet.
