6 Simple Tips For Creating A Minimalist Kitchen
A cluttered kitchen can leave you feeling a bit deflated. If you’ve ever struggled to find a particular utensil or failed to open a drawer that’s rammed full of junk, minimalism might be calling you.
If you want to live with less stuff cluttering up your life, minimalism is the way forward. Not only can embracing minimalism impact your physical environment, but it can also make a big difference to your mental wellbeing. It’s surprising how the less unnecessary ‘stuff’ you have, the more content you find yourself.
Possibly the most difficult place to truly declutter and get organised is the kitchen. We are terrible for hoarding extra utensils, unused kitchen gadgets and barely cracked cookbooks. It only makes sense then, that we should look here first in our quest for minimalist bliss. With that in mind, here are some decluttering tips for transforming your kitchen into a minimalist’s paradise.
Discover Your Style
When undertaking any home improvement or organisation project, it’s important to have a starting point to work from. Knowing your preferred style will help you make design choices that complement one another and reflect your personality. Minimalist design needs a central theme. Once you have decided on your design theme, the process or decluttering will be far simpler.
So, how do you determine your theme? Firstly, it’s important to consider what is important to you. Do you love entertaining? If so, you might want to prioritise space for hanging out, with easy access to the wine rack! Or perhaps you love trying new recipes, in which case plenty of counter space for experimenting and dedicated cookbook storage is key.
Minimalism means choosing your decor wisely, not filling the space with tons of knick knacks and ornaments. Choose pieces that go with your theme and don’t overdo it. When it comes to colour, try to keep your colour palette to a few complementing colours. Lighter shades tend to work well for minimalist design.
Embrace Built In Appliances
Built in appliances aren’t prerequisites for a minimalist kitchen, but they definitely won’t hurt! The clean lines and matching surfaces can help the kitchen look more put together and tidy, not to mention stylish!
Say Goodbye to Unnecessary Stuff
At the heart of minimalism is decluttering, getting rid of the things you don’t really need and creating space and ease. Take a look around your kitchen. We’d wager it won’t take long to find something you’ve had for years but barely used. That cake stand perhaps? Or that fancy vegetable spiralizer? Be ruthless with the contents of your drawers and cabinets. If you haven’t used it in over a year or you hardly ever use it, sell or donate it.
Hoarding unnecessary duplicates is something we are all guilty of. Maybe it’s those extra utensils or spare set of placemats. When you really think about it, you only need one (maybe two) at a time. This is particularly true of dishes and cutlery. Keep a spare set, but other than that, try to restrict the amount you have. If you’re prone to hosting the occasional dinner party, ask your guests to bring spares. Or borrow from a neighbour.
Clear Your Surfaces
Keeping your kitchen worktops and surfaces clean and tidy is much simpler when you opt for surfaces that are smooth and easy to clean. Subway tiles make a great splashback, but when it comes to cleaning, a solid glass splashback is much easier. The same goes for countertops. Materials such as laminate and marble are preferable to surfaces that require more attention, like butcher blocks.
While many of us treat our countertops as additional storage for things like spices, cookbooks and random things you can’t find another home for, if you’re going for the minimalist look, you should try to keep them as clutter free as possible. Which brings us to our next point…
Develop a Strict Kitchen Storage System
Once you’ve decluttered all that unnecessary stuff (see above), you should find yourself with a lot more storage space. Now is the time to plot out a storage system for those remaining necessary items. Everything you own should have it’s own place, where it can always be found. No more time spent searching for hiding utensils. To help your household get on board with your new storage system, use labels. For putting things away, remember the rule: if it takes less than a minute, do it then and there. And don’t forget your fridge and freezer shelves, for easy to find ingredients.
Smart Multipurpose Kitchen Tools
While stocking up on pointless kitchen gadgets is definitely not minimalist, some gadgets can be our friends in our quest for minimalism. This is particularly true of space saving multipurpose gadgets. Instead of a separate electric whisk and food processor, invest in a tool that does both. Or instead of an oven and a slow cooker, get an oven with a slow cook feature built in. Don’t get carried away with buying kitchen gadgets though. First, consider whether you’ll actually use it, before investing your hard earned cash.
When it comes down to it, decluttering your kitchen isn’t so difficult. Follow these simple tips to create a minimalist kitchen you’ll be proud of.