I have a lot of kitchen stuff and it won't all fit in my new kitchen. This has always been a problem and adding food preservation to my repertoire did not help. Food preservation requires a lot of equipment: dehydrators - electric & solar, vacuum sealer, canners - water bath & pressure, canning utensils, canning jars & lids, and fermentation jars. The pots and pans take up too much space, too, because what works best in the solar ovens is not necessarily what works best on the stovetop inside or what will work best in a cob oven once we get that built.
And then there's the food. I like variety and that takes up space. If we could be happy with rice and beans - and only one kind of each - than I'd just need to carve out space for a 25 lb sack of each. But, we like several different kinds of rice, various grains, pasta, and a whole slew of different legumes. There are also the 60 plus herbs and spices to consider, along with the homemade vinegars.
In the last house, I filled the kitchen cabinets and drawers with non-food items. For the food, I put a huge steel shelf four feet wide and six feet tall against an empty wall in the kitchen. In some ways having the food on an open shelf was a pain; Arizona is a dry place so the food containers were always dusty. Anyone coming into my house could see exactly what food I bought and ate. In other ways, it was wonderful. All the food was in one place and easily visible. It made meal-planning easier as well as keeping track of what I had on hand.
This house has about the same amount of cabinet space but fewer shelves in the cabinets. There is no empty wall for the steel shelf, unless I want to put it in front of some large windows with lovely views. I certainly wouldn't want my food exposed to the light and heat, although I could perhaps put some pots and pans on open shelves and sacrifice some of the scenery.
I've got a rough plan for the kitchen layout. I'm not happy with it as it feels like some tasks will be pretty inconvenient. And, like before, the food preservation equipment will not be kept in the kitchen, unless I shove it way up high on top of the cabinets which would then require keeping a ladder handy. At this point, though, I'm just throwing things into cabinets and drawers until I run out of space. I'll live with it for a while and then probably rearrange everything.
Did you struggle with setting up your kitchen in a new place the last time you moved? What personal rules do you follow in deciding what goes where? (Most important one for me is not putting herbs/spices near the oven.)
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It is tough when you do not have room. The kitchen is my favorite place. I literally live in it. In our new place we did not have as much pantry space. Luckily the hallway has a linen closet right next to the kitchen. That has become my place for dry goods. It is dark and perfect for potatoes and onions as well. If we were not renting, I would put up shelves in the dining room.
The day we closed on our house, we spent the night over at my mother-in-law's where we'd been staying for the previous five months while we house-hunted. In the middle of the night, while I was dreamily thinking about my new house, I bolted up right and realized that there are no drawers in the kitchen. I couldn't remember opening one drawer. Then, I thought I must be wrong, because every kitchen has drawers. Not mine. I still don't have any drawers - twelve years later.
We keep potatoes and apples in the bedroom closet, because it's cooler. We have an alcove sort of room off the kitchen where we put a cabinet for the canning stuff and appliances (because we don't have much counter space either). We have space above the cabinets for things like aluminum foil and serving platters. I have a hanging wine rack. We ended up buying a pantry cabinet after we'd lived here for several years, because we don't have a lot of cabinet space either. I also have shelves in the dining room above the windows, and I use the archway between the kitchen and the dining room for hanging herbs to dry. I have a couple of buckets on the floor in the kitchen in which I store dried goods (like 25lb bags of flour), and I just move them out of my way as I need to.
I make great use of the ceilings and walls in every room ;). In a house that's only 1500 square feet in which eight people, two dogs, a rabbit and a guinea pig live, there can be no wasted space ;).
Our layout was almost impossible and we've tinkered with it for eighteen years. We decided we liked open shelves and pulled the doors off the huge wall cabinets by the sink -- very Euro. Then we built shelves on either side of and above the stove and hung hooks everywhere -- which we could do because there's real wood in all the walls and ceilings. The fridge moved out into the "pantry" room -- which I think must have been a mudroom in the forties -- with a cabinet sitting on its head, and we built floor-to ceiling shelves in its former place. The zapper lives on a shelving unit across from the fridge. The freezer went into the washer room, where a big set of real honest-to-g_d pantry shelves is filled with Mason jars. But the cold room, downstairs from there, was built only this year.
Since we also cook over wood in the dining room, I think maybe half the house is kitchen now...
I haven't moved in quite literally 20 years when I moved back here from the East Coast, from Bethesda Maryland.
I didn't have quite as much stuff especially in the kitchen. Then once I got interested in the solar oven, then another solar oven and a dehydrator and having more food supplies on hand and containers for the food supplies on hand and .... it goes on.
My dishwasher, which hasn't been used for that in years, has all my solar oven accessories in it these days and all the strainers, foil, etc.
I actually use part of my living room shelves for canned goods that won't fit in the kitchen cabinets and then I have several books sitting in front of them so you can't see them so easily.
It's hard to decide what to put where until I just stnad and look at it all and then it gets rearranged--again.
peace, Shamba
Two Vegan Boys - Yeah, I live in my kitchen, too. This house has very little built-in storage space. The bedrooms have closets but there is no pantry area really, coat closet, or linen closet. I had those in the last house and am struggling with where to cram all the stuff that was in them!
Wendy - oh my! No drawers would be tough, especially with limited counter space. This kitchen is big enough for my rolling cart to live in the middle. It has two drawers and two shelves so that's a tiny bit more room. I'm hoping to also fit in the smaller rolling cart that holds all the cookbooks.
The house has vaulted ceilings which may mean creative use of space down the line. And a ladder...
Risa - I see more shelves in my future. And a lot of tinkering over the years.
In the last house, there was food or kitchen equipment in every room except the bathrooms. Every single room...and closets, too. I was so hoping to consolidate better in the new place so I didn't have to traipse to the office for the stored pumpkins or get the pressure canner off the high shelf in the entry room or the cookbooks from the living room...
Damn, I keep forgetting to bring the winter squash from the old house. They are still in the office there!
Shamba - I generally used dishwashers as giant drain racks. When I cook, I get a LOT of dishes/pots/bowls dirty! However, I am seriously considering having my sweetie remove it and put in more shelves.
Nice idea with the books in front of canned goods. Hm...
I went from a 12X60 nnobile home with an 11X9 eat in kitchen to my current home with a 12X12 kitchen with a dining room (that I added)The kitchen while being bigger, is poorly planned out, but in short of demolation and rebuilding I chose the more earth friendly option of adding a pantry cabinet, a prep area for all my mini applainces and refacing the cabinet doors myself. I still have some plans in the works, but am pretty happy how it all ends up!
This was the hardest part about moving in to our new house. Though I might be biased. (I suppose fixing the 3-in sink in the foundation should technically rate higher.)
A pot rack was a huge help. We got one that's a shelf, so all the skillets, cutting boards, and the wok hang from the hooks, and sauce pans go on the shelf. It doesn't fit all our pots, but it cleared up a ton of space. And the giant 3- to 5-gallon pots are in the garage. We use them infrequently enough that they need to be washed before use anyway.
We also got some of those wire baskets that screw onto the inside of the cabinet doors.
And we still ended up needing three shelving units for all the kitchen supplies. I'm OK with that.
I stuck hooks up everywhere and hung everything that had even a suggestion of a handle. That frees up quite a bit of space. I'm still working on space for preserves etc. Probably a whole heap more shelving where the door is coming out.
Sun is a bit of a problem so cupboards tend to get the foodstuffs rather than the utensils.
Its still a work in progress and will be for some time barring we win a lottery or something:)
viv in nz
I moved 3 years ago and about every 12 months I pull a part of my kitchen apart and move it round cause it just isn't working. The first year I think I pulled almost everything out an moved it, this year it was just the pantry that was giving me the irrites.
I am pretty sure at this point I have the best I can with the resources I got but we will see how that comes out in 12 months as I have only just reordered for this year.
Kind Regards
Belinda
Sounds like a new item on your to do list is an outdoor kitchen/pantry area to hold all your outdoor cooking items.
I've moved 34 times in my life - no exaggeration! The thing I found most helpful is to designate zones for things in the house and put all related things there. Baking zone, craft zone, laundry zone (If I could store all my clothes IN the area where my washer and dryer are I would be a very happy homeowner - but the washer is too far from the bathroom, alas.)
Storage problems are frustrating, but also offer the best chance for innovation and creativity. You can do it Chile! I can imagine a library ladder type setup for your canned goods in that high ceiling area you have. Good luck!
Rob - We talked about adding a little dining table right by the windows so we can enjoy the nice views. I'd still like to do that...
mollyjade - hm, those wire baskets would be helpful. Also the wire free-standing little shelf things, often used in china cabinets, I think. I'll have to keep an eye out for those. These cabinets have one shelf only instead of the usual two inside which limits space even more. I don't have that many tall items!
Viv - Before I go crazy with hooks, I need to check on the status of the walls. It might be best to mount something (like a 2x4) that I can load with hooks.
Belinda - I suspect I'll be rearranging in less than 12 months. ;-)
Young Snowbird - yep, an outdoor kitchen with storage area is in the plans, just not a high priority compared to a shed/workshop and garden.
I do like zones and am working from that model. And I had to laugh at your library ladder comment because I thought the same thing!
Luckily for me, I moved from smaller to larger kitchens each time. There is never enough space, but it is easier when each kitchen has a little more than before....
I choose to keep all my canning items, as well as the larger "seasonal" stuff (like the gigantic roasting pan for Thanksgiving turkey) in our porch off the kitchen. That area works as a kind of extra pantry, as well.
The very top cupboards I reserve for smaller things that we don't use often: coffeemaker, serving dishes, great-grandma's china that we only take out for the holidays, etc. And, sad to say, I purge. If we don't use a kitchen tool, I donate it. Hubby has a weakness for kitchen "gadgets", so it seems I am always finding something else that I don't really need hanging out in a cupboard or drawer!
Good luck making the kitchen work....
When I bought my 1900's house ten years ago the 1st thing everyone said was I bet you can't wait until you demo this retro kitchen ... ten years I've just gone with the flow - ditched the dishwasher & installed hubby's 1949fridge which fit perfectly in the existing cupboard lay out. It took will power to pare down kitchen stuffs but it is easier to keep clean.
All things canning; extra long tongs,cheese cloth, squeezo Amish canning pot, are keept in a huge plastic water tight tote in the cellar which I haul out to the patio in June when canning season starts. I could soo get caught up in canning utensils but there is only soo much room in that tote.
I also installed shelving on the back stairs that lead to the cellar for dry goods & my old roncho dehydrators.
Did you see MEN's article on the multi use stove & outdoor kitchen ?
In addition to some of the other ideas mentioned here, I also keep my overflow pantry upstairs. Part of it shares a linen closet and part of it is in an extra bedroom.
So instead of storing all those beans by the kitchen, I keep smaller containers and refill as needed. I bring down extra canned goods as needed.
It's a hassle bringing the stuff up and down the stairs, but I don't have enough room for it in the kitchen.
I hope you won't mind a drive-by comment from an anonymous lurker (but long-time reader). Have you considered installing a peg board wall? I have long been in love with Julia Child's kitchen (she drew outlines of her pots on the peg board so everything always ended up back in the right place). With all the hooks and shelves and hangers you can attach, it seems like a great way to take advantage of any unused wall space (if you don't mind seeing everything all the time).
barefoot gardener - at this point, I'm thinking I'll just live out of boxes forever...
pelenaka - the only thing I like about the dishwasher is it's like having 3-4 large drainracks at my disposal.
No, didn't see the article. Recent issue? Online?
dogear6 - I'm used to keeping 'overstock' in other areas. Guess I was unrealistically hoping to find a gigantic kitchen to store it all together. haha
Anonymous - we're considering that idea. I need to lay out everything that might be able to be put on hooks to see what the best option would be. With pegboard, we'd want to do it up nicely - paint it and stuff to match the kitchen.
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