Before moving in with my boyfriend a few months ago, I hadn't given much thought to the way I set up the kitchen. Obviously we'd have all of our appliances out on the counter, pretty dish towels hanging, and coffee mugs stacked and readily available. Not so fast.
Over any room in the house, we had a major discussion about how to set up the kitchen. A discussion I hadn't expected. It wasn't so much a matter of my style over his style, but a matter of what was really useful, what we actually needed out on the counters, what made sense. I hadn't thought of my kitchen like this before.
Last week I noticed that NPR is profiling Ellen Silverman's photography of Cuban kitchens. Silverman was initially surprised at people's hesitation with her request to take a photo, many noting that the kitchen was a mess. Some kitchens didn't have a table or chairs, others were embellished with fresh fruits and bright colors. She discovered how much the kitchen communicates about the way we choose to live, our culture, and our habits. This had me looking around my own kitchen thinking about what it says about us. It's more spare than my single-girl kitchens ever were, but it's also warm and full, useful and functional. And it's ours.
Related: Spice Cupboard Style: What Do Your Spices Reveal About You?
(Image: Leela Cyd)
How to Bake a Potato: Three Easy Methods
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Straw Mat from The ...
Must-See Small Cool Homes: Week Two
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
...we love to cook, eat + travel, our friends + family are on our minds, we rent, and we don't have enough space.
Unfortunately, that I hate to do the dishes.
our kitchen is the busiest room in the house, and it certainly reflects that. it's always cleaned up by the end of the night, but throughout the day it is inside out and upside down. i hadn't really thought that it would reflect who i am, but i suppose it does in a sense. i do appreciate a clean space, but the mess doesn't necessarily "get" to me. it's life.
One thing I always notice about kitchens nowadays are which appliances + non-perishables are out on the counter. I used to be a stickler about having everything well hidden to ensure maximum counter space. But once I started cooking more, especially majority vegan food, I got sick of digging out the various pieces of my blender and food processor almost every night and ran out of room to store all fruits+veggies in the fridge.
Now, despite what I used to label as "clutter" I now understand and appreciate kitchens that demonstrate more use than organization. It signals to me that these people love to cook and that in turn creates an aura of comforting, less your hair down, home-iness.
Sometimes the way you set up your kitchen has nothing to do with who you are and more to do with the limits of your space. The only things I keep out on the counter are: fresh fruit/vegetables, olive oil, salt, and a pepper grinder. Because we have limited counter space (and also because our kitchen is visible from the living/dining room), I don't want everything out no matter how often I use it. The toaster is in a cupboard unless it's being used, as is the french press, the espresso machine, and everything else.
I try to keep our counters pretty bare with the exception of the toaster (daily use), a fruit basket and a basket of onions/peppers which are also used almost daily.
I hope our kitchen reflects that I like to cook and my husband likes to eat.
It says I hate to clean. And that I view my kitchen as the center of operations. There's usually a pile of mail on the counters and various tools on the raised bar area.
when we moved into our rental apartment it had no cupboard, besides a rusty lower cabinet below the TINY sink. because it's merely a rental, we wanted to put in functional, but budget-friendly storage for our many many kitchen things. open DIY shelving was the best option! so, unfortunately, EVERYTHING is on display, besides what cleaners fit inside the new sink cabinet and 2 12" lower cabinets. whatevs... we make some sacrifices for cheap rent in the NYC area :D
That when I'm working, and boy do I work in that tiny kitchen, I'm not focused on aesthetics. There a couple of touchs of color/art that reflect my style, but really? The scallion regrowing in a re-used jar on the windowsill matters more than the cute clock.
Right now, mine says I'm a little busy and messy. But it's a very well used space. Though recently I've been thinking about re-thinking the usage of storage and space. We only moved in about 4 months ago, so in that time I think we've gotten a better feel for how we actually use the space.
it says we like our sink empty and clean and our counter tops clear of things that aren't necessary. it also says that i spend of a lot of time keeping it that way
That's easy. That we love fruits and coffee and that I am the only one to wipe off the countertops. It also says that while I am at work teenagers leave food debris on the counters. Our kitchen is pretty organized and not much on the counters.....unless it's spring or summer break.
Our kitchen is part-preschool, part kitchen test lab. Before our son, I was a bit of a romantic. I had nice towels, pretty ceramics. When he was born, we moved to an old apartment with a large tiled kitchen. It's entirely utilitarian. Finger painting happens there. Decoration pieces are replaced by wipes and baskets of finger paint. We have a homemade chalk board, children's furniture, an extendable kids' gate to keep paint from getting to the couch. There's a table for me to sit and rifle through the cookbooks (now above the sink) and to have coffee. I used to love my pretty kitchen, but I appreciate the gusto of a well-loved one too.
Allie J, you and me both, lady.
...that I have a toddler: safelocks almost everywhere and everything dangerous hopefully out of reach
That we cook. Our focus on the kitchen is on making cooking as easy as possible, with the things we use as close to where we use them as possible. Our kitchen also says that we are pretty organized, especially if you open up the cabinets--things have their place and go back where they belong when we are done using them.
My kitchen screams "neat freak"! While I do have spice racks, utensils, canisters, you name it out on the counter, everything has a place and there is never a dish in the sink. I have gone so far as to put away all the cooking dishes before even eating the meal.
that I have NO space. My cabinets are too high and I can't reach, so it( what ever it might be) is in the counter. Plus I need to buy stock in Penzys- with the amt of spices of theirs I have
Wow this post made me think about a comment I made yesterday of a photo a friend put up on facebook. He took a picture of my son in the kitchen and I said, "oh my god look how messy the counters look." I don't know if I'm the only one but being a busy stay at home mom of 2 my kitchen counters are normally cluttered with mail, coupons and kiddie cups. I do keep a small fruit bowl and electric kettle but I never have nice clear countertops. I suppose I can dream right?
I'm with Allie J, I'm afraid: my kitchen says that I hate doing the dishes.
I hate a cluttered kitchen. I just tend to keep what I use the most on the counters: cutting board, knives, Cooking utensil container, coffee-maker and tea pot. The most visual enticing object that should be a MUST in everyone's kitchen is a pretty bowl filled w/ fresh fruit or citrus or a vase w/ real or artificial flowers on the window sill. Just so inviting!
My kitchen says that I'm practical and fairly clutter free but not creative.
However, after looking at the Cuban kitchen pictures of Ellen Silverman and I am VERY grateful for my non-creative kitchen.
That I too have a cheery turquoise tea kettle to inspire a cozy feeling. A messy cat and lots of coffee making/drinking on...grounds and spills..'lived in'.
My kitchen shows that I'm organized and like a clean sink. Of course all my kids are gone, so that helps! I have a baking center, between the refrigerator & oven, where all the cookbooks, flour, sugar, spices, baking dishes, mixer & utensils are stored. Then a coffee area where all the mugs, coffees, teas, and hot chocolate are kept. The plates, cups and silverware are stored in the cupboards between the dishwasher and table where we eat. So they just make a circle from cupboard, to table, to dishwasher and then back in the cupboard.
I keep as many small appliances in a cupboard as possible and have a great 4' x 6' island with a bar sink to use for my workspace. I designed my kitchen 25 years ago when we built our house and the only thing I would change is to make the baking area bigger.
Right now mine says: "We are two people with six jobs. Sorry-maybe you'll be tidied up later."
I too have a rental kitchen! Luckily our new apt has lots of light, and there's a window in the kitchen. That said, the stovetop vent (like so many in NYC) doesn't actually vent outdoors, just over the cook's head!
We have a long metal countertop broken up by the stovetop and the sink. so it divides into three parts that can be worked in. We keep the breakfast appliances (toaster oven and blender) out all the time, as well as the espresso maker, even though the biggest user of that machine (me) is pregnant and not using it! It's the prettiest ever and I just love seeing it.
My husband and I still sort of elbow each other around the space, because one is always standing in front of the thing the other one needs--cutting boards, knife drawer, pot cabinet. Would love a hanging pot rack, but there are too many shelves in the way. Shelves are currently holding things like slow cooker, juicer and cuisinart where I can reach them (instead of way up atop the cabinets) and I'm torn about how it looks. But the shelves are there to stay...it's a rental!
We keep a bowl of fruit, olive oil, salt/pepper/coffee/french press and Britta out at all times.
I'm living with roommates who want everything on the counter, and I am the exact opposite, so my kitchen currently demonstrates my worst nightmare: Giant spice rack, even though we only use about 10 of them on the regular, several bottles of different vinegars that are used so rarely they're covered in dust, Sodastream, toaster over, microwave, French press (the one thing that's mine), espresso maker, dish drainer, utensil container, salt cellar, unused butter bell, garlic jar, fruit bowl, and usually half a stick of butter that sits out for at least two days. I understand that a lot of people like to have their stuff close at hand, but personally I would much rather have to take out the things I need than have to clean around all of that stuff. It takes a good 10 minutes to thoroughly clean our counters, and most of that time is dedicated to moving and replacing the stuff that sits on it. Sigh. Will be looking for equally awesome but more minimalist roomies next time around.
My kitchen says that I can have it all- aesthetics, space, function, organization, quirky mix of two different cooking and decorating personalities.
I have tons of art- super large (4x5' pieces) with skulls and super tiny (1x1" paper snails and mushrooms).
I have lots of living, and always at least one dying herb. Stupid herbs.
I have no lighting so I created my own. I put under cabinet lights from ikea (best $20 EVER!- I can see what I am cooking on the stove now!), hanging soft wired lights above my prep area and a small dim light near coffee station (sometimes I forget to set the coffee the night before and the main kitchen light is too scary early in the am)
I have no usable space under my top cabinets. So I put everything in the cabinets. Food and go-to pans go in pantry closet, small appliances and cooking utensils go into cabinets and dishes are on open bookshelves from ikea. Same shelves double as prep area. (perfect height! and open from all 4 sides)
Everything is within reach and people get upset my glasses are not next to my dishes- instead they are across the kitchen next to the fridge. The dishes are right below the prep station so I can go from prep to cook to serve to wash (am I the only one that makes sense to?)
My large toaster oven is next to the bathroom, it gets plugged in next to the hair dryer when used several times a week. floor to floor carpet and no exhaust fan makes for cleaning fun every day. No dishwasher and dish drying rack is conveniently and inconspicuously placed on the floor on a small 6" high stool.
I do not understand why people say "I don't bother because I rent" or "Everything is a mess because I have no space". These are excuses. I cook twice a day in that kitchen. it can work if you work it. :-)
PS I was hoping this post would send us to a cute little survey with results that would actually answer the question "what does your kitchen say about you".