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Show me your uber small kitchen.. please. - Page 2

post #21 of 32
6/17/07 at 3:21am
I love my little kitchen! It keeps me on my toes with cleaning up, as I don't have space to leave anything out for longer than it needs to be. Dishes go straight into the sink, or dishwasher. Food goes immediately back into the cupboard or fridge.
I have plenty of space for storing dishes, bake ware, pans etc. I did have a huge declutter though when we moved into the house. Now I only have what I really need.
I also have a large counter area which is great when preparing meals.

Here are a few photos. Ignore the lack of blinds, and decor. We're getting ready to paint!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ure033_web.jpg
There is a little pantry directly opposite the fridge which really helps with food storage.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ure031_web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ure035_web.jpg
I bought this little rolling cart to store pots, and pans, and it also holds recipe folders in the drawer, and a basket full of kitchen towels, as well as the fruit bowl.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/2lilbugs/Picture037_web.jpg

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post #22 of 32
6/17/07 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LilWin View Post
Here's ours. It's small, but we have enough space for everything. And we have more than one spoon and dish for everyone! I took the pics on a messy day, it normally doesn't look like this! Really.

Kitchen to the left, counter etc.
http://home.wanadoo.nl/x.r.kooter/Kitchen1.jpg

Kitchen to the right, fridge, closet, microwave
http://home.wanadoo.nl/x.r.kooter/Kitchen2.jpg

Kitchen behind me, door to the hallway and storage.
http://home.wanadoo.nl/x.r.kooter/Kitchen3.jpg

Our kitchen's from IKEA.

What's the huge thing above your sink in picture 1? A water purifier?
post #23 of 32
6/17/07 at 3:08pm
Some of you have great kitchens. And space I wish I had! Some of you have full size fridges. I am jealous. I hate my small fridge. I feel like it is stuffed all of the time. My kitchen has room for one person at a time. It is very narrow. There is no real counter space (one side, cabinet sized is for my drying rack and drying dishes and the other is the same size and is used for everything else). I never thought of sitting at the table to chop, and I think I will try that. I agree with keeping as much off the counters as well. I finally have one counter free and clear and the one with the dish rack.

It has really small, bad cabinets. And only 6 normal sizes ones and 2 small ones. They are short and shallow and hold very little. I had to really purge everything kitchen related I did not used and need. I have 2 small drawers that barely hold anything. I have high ceilings so potentially there could be fantastic space, but there is not. I am in a rental and did not have much money so I bought wood, cut it and made shelves.

Before shelves
My kitchen
View from the dining/living area

I had bookcases for storage, and they were really inefficient. I got rid of the bookcases and put shelves in. It is not the prettiest, but at least there is a place for food now. I have moved it all around since this photo was taken, but you get the idea. I want to stain the shelves at some point.
Shelves

I can recommend hanging as much as possible. I hang things like utensils I use a lot.
post #24 of 32
6/17/07 at 6:30pm
Here is our tiny kitchen. I've posted notes next to the photos.

http://freespiritmama.vox.com/
post #25 of 32
6/18/07 at 1:37am
We have a very small kitchen, big enough for two closely related adults to stand in, but not much more. There is no pantry space, just cabinets, and our refridgerator is not big.

One thing we did at first which we turned out to like was ditch the microwave. They are such counter-space hogs! Then we found that we could put in above-stove microwave for not that much money because somebody was freecycling a white one, which matched our white appliances. So, we installed that. It's a huge space-saver, having an above-the-stove microwave.

Basically our goal is to leave the counters as free as possible. So, we hung as much up as possible. We also built a spice rack into the wall. We keep very few electrical appliances on the counter, just a coffee maker and my food processor.

It was hard to adjust at first but now I'm so used to it that I don't even think about it. Our family rule is to keep the counters clear, and we all do it automatically now.
post #26 of 32
6/18/07 at 1:58am
Stand back......... they don't get smaller than this.
Of course we live on a boat... and these pics were taken BEFORE we moved in, so it doesn't show the STUFF. But you get the idea.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108Abt2zZwzYtv

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108Abt2zZwzYtv

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108Abt2zZwzYtv

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108Abt2zZwzYtv
(you can see both sides here and why we call it a "one butt kitchen")
post #27 of 32
6/18/07 at 7:19am
Boatbaby - I was thinking about you with this thread & wondering if you would post. Do you do a fair amount of cooking in there?
post #28 of 32
6/18/07 at 7:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bu's mama View Post
What's the huge thing above your sink in picture 1? A water purifier?

No no, it's a water boiler, it holds our warm water.
post #29 of 32
6/18/07 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bu's mama View Post
Boatbaby - I was thinking about you with this thread & wondering if you would post. Do you do a fair amount of cooking in there?
Well I manage to feed my family and friends -- but in general I don't like to cook. I was never into cooking though -- just into eating

The biggest challenge is entertaining. We just had DS's 3rd birthday party this weekend. There was NO WAY to make stuff like salads and such ahead of time for the party. So I went to a friend's house and cooked there the day before and she kept it all in her fridge and brought it on party day.

Right now we don't even really have a real fridge. We have a small "dorm room style" fridge and in the winter it's no problem b/c I just use the outdoors. But this time of year it's a bear to keep fresh food. I broke our original fridge (which was only a hair larger) and we're saving and planning for a new one (custom marine fridges are $$$)

No dish washer obviously, we conserve water, small 3 burner stove top, SMALL oven.

We have a nice huge freezer up in the salon, so that helps. But... it's still challenging.

The pay off is the view
post #30 of 32
6/19/07 at 5:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mum2be
I would say we have a pretty small kitchen, but we have a large island which helps tremendously! We utilize every space we have though. It looks bigger because it is part of our big "great room" so there are only walls on two sides of the kitchen.

Here is a pic. You can also scroll through that set to see more.
What an amazing house! So beautiful.
post #31 of 32
6/19/07 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by boatbaby View Post
Stand back......... they don't get smaller than this.
Of course we live on a boat... and these pics were taken BEFORE we moved in, so it doesn't show the STUFF. But you get the idea.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108Abt2zZwzYtv

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108Abt2zZwzYtv

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108Abt2zZwzYtv

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...108Abt2zZwzYtv
(you can see both sides here and why we call it a "one butt kitchen")
You live on a BOAT?!?!?! That is SO COOL. I don't want to derail the thread, but what made you decide to do that? And where are you at? Lake, ocean? Sorry, I think that is so neat and I am curious!
post #32 of 32
6/19/07 at 8:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMK_Mama View Post
You live on a BOAT?!?!?! That is SO COOL. I don't want to derail the thread, but what made you decide to do that? And where are you at? Lake, ocean? Sorry, I think that is so neat and I am curious!
It's officially been 10 years that we have been living on our boat full time (man that makes me feel OLD)

We live on the Chesapeake Bay, we were on a smaller catamaran before DS was born... (can see it in the background of the Salty Dog pic in my sig) and we quit our jobs and sailed around in 2001-2002.

Then we ran out of money, came back here, and started working, got PG, bought a bigger boat, and now saving $ and prepping boat for a 2010 departure to ports unknown!

I am not sure what made us want to do this, it's just something we've always done. We never owned a house. Went straight from a small post-college apartment to a boat and never looked back. The easy answer -- wanderlust!
And a love of the outdoors!








.........back to kitchens. The kitchen (galley) on our smaller boat was actually bigger than this one. Just a better layout really. I can deal with the small kitchen, I HATE the small fridge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :

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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Decluttering, Organizing, & Simplifying › Show me your uber small kitchen.. please.