Kitchen Minimalist: How to Simplify Your Kitchen Supplies

Kitchens have a way of exploding with supplies and utensils. You need this pan for that recipe and you got this spatula with that set.

Soon you have cabinets of pans, dozens of spatulas, and more spare dishes than you know what to do with. You may have three different sets of silverware, flippers and scrapers of every design, and specialty utensils for every weird recipe you've ever tried.

How do you simplify? How do you get back to that comfortable just-moved-in space where you only had three spatulas and five pans -and everything worked great?

It's that golden balance where everything you cook and eat with fits in one dishwasher load. Where you never have to rummage for the right utensil and the dishes you need are always on-hand. Kitchen minimalism takes work, but you can reduce any kitchen back down to the enjoyable essentials.

Here's how to do it.

Reducing Your Cookware

Start by reducing your cookware. These supplies can grow overwhelming if you let them. But really? You only need a few pans and utensils to make most of your family's regular meals and recipes. By removing the clutter, you make room for your best cooking gear to be stored near and at hand.

Pick Your Top Six Pans

Pick your top six pans. They can be nonstick, stainless steel, cast iron, skillets or saucepans. But pick just six that will cover all or most of your recipes. These will be stored in a cabinet or on racks nearest the stove.

Take Two Roasting Dishes

Pick just two roasting dishes for oven recipes and only one of each size of cookie sheet.

Decide on Ten Cooking Utensils

Now pick your favorite cooking utensils. Choose only ten out of all your options. Discard utensils you never use and choose the most universally useful utensils to keep in a canister or bin near the stove.

Reduce Your Silverware to Eight

If you have an overflowing silverware drawer, reduce your count to eight (or about double the household) for each type. Prioritize matching pieces.

Minimizing the Rest of Your Kitchen

What about the rest of the junk from your kitchen? What about your wok, your cast iron skillet, and your crystal punch bowl that only see once-yearly use? What about the gear you only use when you bake, or the stuff that is only useful for one recipe you sometimes make?

Clear it all out of your cabinets and away from your primary storage spaces. It's time to prioritize.

Package Recipe Gear Together

Have special recipe gear? Package it together and designate a recipe-gear cabinet where you will retrieve these items only when making special recipes.

Donate Duplicates

If you have duplicates of utensils, roasting pans, and other kitchen supplies, consider who you can give it to. Friends and family, especially young people, often benefit from a more complete set of practical kitchen items.

Deep Store Annual Equipment

For things you only use once a year, like the bread machine, tuck it into deep storage instead of keeping it in your kitchen. Use the top shelf of your pantry or a shelf in the garage instead of prime kitchen space.

A minimalist kitchen is a joy to cook in - once you manage to minimize. Put all your essentials in easy-to-reach places and remove the clutter from your kitchen to eliminate rummaging. By removing things you don't need from your kitchen, you simplify your entire cooking and cleaning process with just the gear that makes your cooking the most efficient and enjoyable.  Contact us today for more great kitchen design ideas or to start your renovation planning.