Kitchenware is exciting to buy, and opens up new possibilities for cooking, baking, and hosting.
However, some kitchen gadgets we thought would make us more productive and efficient in the kitchen do not do such a thing. Instead, they waste precious cupboard and counter space with no further impact on our lives.
Some kitchen items just waste space and need to go.
Knife block
A knife block can be a tempting purchase. They look fancy, help keep knives organized, and generally add a professional kind of feel to the kitchen. But they are more trouble than they are worth.
Yes, a knife block will free up storage space in the drawers but it inexplicably takes up even more storage space on the counter.
A block of thin vertical knives might be a better solution then, right? Unfortunately, no. This type of knife block will dull your blades and soon become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria.
You’ll be much better off with a few good quality knives stored either in a drawer or on a magnetic wall rack.
Plastic food containers
Raise a hand if you have a cabinet full to the brim with plastic containers and there’s no hope of finding a lid that fits without burying yourself under a pile of colorful Tupperware.
If so, then it’s time to say goodbye to some of the offending plastic containers. Separate the ones you use often from the ones you rarely (if ever) use and donate the latter. If you don’t tend to have leftovers and don’t practice food preparation, 6 food containers will be more than enough for you.
Also, look at how to get rid of opaque food containers. Due to the fact that they obscure their contents from view, the food stored in them often ends up spoiled and forgotten.
Dozens of mugs and cups
One of the main culprits in taking up valuable cabinet space are cups and mugs.
Accumulated over the years, you probably have too many mugs that you can possibly use in a day. Even if you were to host guests for coffee or tea, you would still have plenty of cups left over.
This does not mean that you need to clean all but one of the glasses from your kitchen. However, assigning 2-3 mugs to each household member and donating the rest can free up tons of precious cabinet space. Start by getting rid of the cups you got as a promotional item or as a throwaway gift.
Specialized equipment
It seems like every other month there is a hot new kitchen gadget that is a “must-have” in any modern kitchen. Air fryer, breadmaker, thermomix, coffee maker, juicer – the list goes on and on.
Inexplicably, a portion of these trendy gadgets end up in our kitchen. And then in the back of a cupboard after two or three uses.
Regardless of how much we would like to believe that these gadgets will change our lives for the better, the only thing that changes is the amount of free space available in the kitchen.
Unless you use them on a regular basis, these kitchen items need to go.
Multiples of the same (or similar) items
Over the years, kitchen items tend to accumulate and you will be surprised how many of them overlap in their functionality. Hand mixer, stand mixer, immersion blender, mini food processor. Chances are you have all of these but only use one of them on a regular basis with the rest sitting in the cupboard gathering dust.
Be sure to take inventory of all your kitchen gadgets (including pots and pans) and ask yourself if you’ve used them more than 2-3 times this year. If not, it might be time to donate them and enjoy some free closet space.
To find more tips and tricks to live comfortably in a small space, be sure to visit Tiny Parts.
