For this series, I’ve concentrated a lot on controlling chaos in your kitchen by maximising storage opportunities. But this time I’m going to take a slightly different approach and look at where you store things in your kitchen, rather than how.
One thing that comes up a lot in kitchen design is the magic triangle (sounds like a topic for another blog post!). Essentially, it’s about making sure your kitchen layout minimises the distance between the things you use the most.
So let’s take a look at that concept and how it affects where you store things in your kitchen.
Knives & Utensils
If you do any amount of cooking, you’ll know that having your favourite knives and utensils handy is of paramount importance. If you’re at design stage, it may be possible to install a drawer specially for the storage of these items. Otherwise, attractive storage options that sit on the bench work well. I’m a big fan of the knife storage containers that don’t blunt your knives rather than knife blocks. Whichever way you go, the storage option needs to be right next to the bench space you will use for preparation.
Rubbish and Recycling Bins
Food preparation involves waste, so make sure your rubbish bin as a minimum is close to your food preparation area. Stacking the dishwasher is another time you need access to bins, so having them close to your dishwasher works well too. One of my favourite concepts is a pull out chopping board with a hole at the far end. Anything pushed through the hole drops straight down into a compost container, which can then be removed and the contents fed to the worms or added to your outdoor compost bin. Bliss!
Whatever you do with bins, though, try and make them easily accessible on a repeated basis. Much as I love the concept of pull-out bins, I find it annoying having to open a cupboard countless times during meal preparation just to get to a bin. A solution may be to have the bin cupboard positioned so it can remain open while you’re cooking without getting in the way.
Spices and Common Pantry Items
This may be one for the design stage, but there are some really clever narrow pull-out pantries and shallow drawers that are perfect for your most common pantry items. I don’t have that luxury in my kitchen, but still have a spice rack next to my food preparation area so I can at least grab my main flavourings easily. It’s also close to the stove top for when I want to add a sprinkle or two.
So there you have it – control meal preparation chaos in your kitchen by thinking through the best places to store the various bits and pieces that get used the most.