Now that our project is nearing an end, I’m finding that my eye is much more critical. And what I mean by that is whenever I use something, or more importantly DON’T use something, I question whether it is necessary to hang on to. It’s a good thing, I think.
I also notice when I’m wishing I had another of something – right now that’s only one thing in my kitchen: a spatula. There are many times I need the spatula and it’s sitting in the dishwasher. But, it takes 15 seconds to hand wash it, so do I really need another? So far I haven’t purchased a second one, if that tells you anything. I’m afraid that if I buy another spatula, I’ll buy another fill-in-the-blank and we’ll just wind up with an avalanche of stuff again.
We still aren’t finished with the whole house, which I’ll show you in the coming posts. But, today I’m welcoming you into the kitchen and, by extension, the breakfast room. This is it right now:
And this is looking from the breakfast room into the kitchen:
There are only two appliances on the counter – the coffee maker and the Vitamix. These get used nearly every day, so I want them to remain there.
Here is the cooking area:
The right upper cabinet has our spices, extracts, etc. The left upper cabinet has first aid kit and bowl with bandaids (top shelf), dog related supplies and the vaseline The Girl uses to make homemade lip gloss (second shelf), and people related medications like motrin, neosporin, etc. (bottom shelf).
And the cooktop and under cabinets/drawers:
On the left are two casserole dishes and three lids. We still have some things in the sunroom and I’m waiting to see if I find the casserole dishes that fit the lids (I have one). If I don’t locate them (most likely because they were donated somewhere), I’ll find somewhere to send the lids (other than the landfill). On the right is the juicer we have. We haven’t used it in a while, so I’m not sure whether we’ll ultimately keep it, but for now that’s where it lives.
And now, for the drawers:
We’ve got three pots and one colander, which we use regularly. The lids are in the bottom right drawer and also get used frequently.
Three pans are on the left and our pots are on the right. I know we have 3 cast iron skillets in the sunroom and those will find a home somewhere. I don’t use them, because they are extremely heavy, but Stephen likes them.
The top right drawer holds our potholders and trivets. We used to have a lot more, but we donated/recycled the ones we didn’t use. Now we have one oven mitt and three potholders. That’s plenty for us. I don’t care for those rubber things, but Stephen likes them. They don’t take up much space, so if he wants them, we’ll keep them. Two trivets is plenty for us.
The left drawer has the utensils we use for cooking. I’m not totally sold on the need for two of those brushes, but I haven’t dealt with that issue yet. Two pairs of tongs, one pizza cutter and one spaghetti/pasta doodad is good for me. The pasta strainer I sometimes use and could go either way on. The spatula, we’ve talked about that.
I’ll show you the rest of our kitchen and breakfast room in another post. But for now, let’s see how far we’ve come from the beginning of our Simple Year to now. Hold on to your britches friends:
This is mid-kitchen reno. This picture was easily accessible. I’ll have to dig to see if I can find the true before picture.
Oh. My. God. THE CLUTTER. It makes me gag just looking at it. Like literally. I want to be sick.
This year has been one heck of a challenge, but oh my goodness, it’s been worth it. Totally worth it.
wow!! thanks for showing the after first – gave even more impact to the before. You’ve been working so hard & it shows. congratulations to your entire family for your many accomplishments. You inspire us to relook at our clutter items.
WOW you have done a awesome job I’m having a garage sale in 2 weeks and have tons of things but I’m going to do another sweep of the kitchen cause I’m about 100% sure there is more that can go. You’ve done a great job not just you but the whole family can’t wait to see more. I’m really working on the less is more idea.
Wow is right! Is that really how your counters looked. You’ve done an amazing job!
Pretty much. I had a pile of papers to the left of the refrigerator that I moved to my bedroom to sort through and Stephen and the kids had an item or two that I moved to their bedrooms. But, yes, that’s how I like the counters to be when I go to bed. Throughout the day, of course, we have homework, food prep, etc. going on so they aren’t that empty. But this is how they should be at the end of the day. We aren’t perfect, obviously, so it doesn’t happen every day. But this is the goal.
What a great job you did..my kind of girl and it is all so much easier to keep clean and looking nice. Congratulations.
It has been so wonderful following your journey. Are you sure you want to go? We readers are going to miss your inspirational posts! I love what you have done with the kitchen. There’s nothing quite like the sight of bare counters and open spaces.
Thanks, Stephanie. 🙂 I’ll hang around until we find the next blogger…
Beautiful. I am downsizing to a tiny house on wheels soon, because I dislike having a 400 sq ft place that has unused space.
Absolutely amazing transformation!! Your kitchen looks so big and roomy now, I love it.
This week I’ve been pulling out piles of stuff, mostly paper related, and throwing away or refiling. I have been writing since I was a child, have started an Etsy shop, and I’m a teacher so I have a lot of paper clutter. I’ve always used bins and file boxes and plain ole boxes, but I’m moving everything to two four drawer file cabinets. That will take care of the paper clutter and allow me to keep years worth of my writing. Then I’m moving on to the rest of the house–I’m holding onto things for my children until they have houses of their own, but if they don’t hurry a lot of it will be gone! I look forward to reading your other posts and catching up with you.
P.S. The last picture in this post with all the clutter is exactly what I’ve been dealing with in my downstairs bedroom–fortunately, a lot of it is gone now!
Congratulations! What a beautiful and calm space. I’m not sure it’s been a simple year, but your success has been very motivating to your many readers. You have a unique and thoughtful voice that resonates with many of us who also feel a desire to downsize our cluttered lives. Thanks for taking on this blog challenge. I do hope you continue writing with a blog or a book or both.
Thank you Rebecca. I appreciate the kind words. And, I do plan on writing a book. Once the blog is handed over to the next person, I’ll work on a book proposal. But doing all of that at the same time is too much. Gotta know when to say no, right?
Beautiful change. If you can’t find that last casserole dish, thrift stores usually accept lone lids too, and it will find a home with someone who lost, cracked, melted or destroyed their original lid. My husband has bad luck with lids, so I’ve benefited from the “lid shelf” at Goodwill. 🙂
Good to know!
Great job decluttering your kitchen. I notice you have a lot of cupboards – are they all used? I’m in the process of renovating an old stone house in France and in a couple of months time I’ll be building my kitchen from scratch. I’ve already decided that I’ll use a (large) portable oven rather than having one fixed in place permanently and for the hobs I’ll be using portable induction hobs similar to the ones used in the first Life Edited project. I’ve resisted everybody’s advice to install these appliances (it’s my house and I’ll build it to suit my lifestyle) but for some reason I feel compelled to add plenty of cupboards, yet I’ve no idea how I’m going to fill them or make use of them. I guess I just feel I need to fill some of the space or at least make the kitchen look like a kitchen. I have a similar dilemma in the dining area where I wanted to build some bookshelves and create a bit of a library – only I’ve gotten rid of most of my books as part of my decluttering / minimising project.
Some of the cupboards are empty, actually. The two above the ovens and the two above the microwave are empty. I’ll be sure to point out other empty ones as I go along. I know what you mean, though, about feeling like there should be cabinets or book shelves. But just because they are there doesn’t mean you have to fill them up. Empty space is good.
The best thing about that last photo is that you haven’t just cleaned up and organised, (like making it spiffy for visitors) you’ve actually done the process to make it work long term. It’s one of the most satisfying parts of minimalism, for me, that even if things get messy and pile up it’s not what it was a couple of years ago. Cleaning up is pretty quick, not a insurmountable challenge that requires multiple steps and time. Cause you’ve done that!
YES!!! Exactly.
that’s a total contrast from the cluttered stage to the after – looks like someone can live there and it is so open and friendly – I hope it is wonderful to live in every day.
It is! So. Much. Better. 🙂
Wow! Just – wow! I’m totally a non-clutter everything has a place and should be in its place kinda girl. Totally impressed with what you’ve accomplished . . . I actually clapped when I saw the before! I hope you take time to truly enjoy the awesome space you’ve made for yourself and your family. We spend lots of time in our kitchen as a family . . . yours is so inviting, I’d hang out in it all the time! Can’t wait to see more 🙂
Your comment made me so happy. Thank you! Yes, it’s much, much more peaceful. So much more.
This is fabulous! It must make your heart sing seeing how far you have come. I wish I could come and cook in your kitchen. It’s wonderful!
WOW!!!!!!!!