Week 1: The Slow Home Kitchen

I’m starting off my Slow Home Challenge with the kitchen, the heart beat of most homes. This is where families gather together to nourish not only their bellies, but their spirits as well. In a Slow Home, the kitchen is not enormous, but instead, compact and efficient. There is suitable storage, and enough counter space to provide a workable surface. A Slow Home kitchen also serves the most amount of function with the least amount of tools.

In my home, the kitchen is a room that is overwhelmed and overworked most of the time due to my demand for it to serve multiple purposes. Additionally, a lack of true organization in my kitchen usually fuels the chaos, and can therefore prevent efficient work space. Pots of herbs, (empty) ceramic jars, and the occasional pile of mail and schoolwork all take up valuable counter space. My children’s plethora of arts and crafts supplies have slowly seeped their way into the "extra" storage cabinet that stands alone near our kitchen table. On this cabinet's top resides what my husband has termed his "coffee station,” a place where random coffee and tea gadgets and ingredients sit clustered against one another. 

Nearby, a large wooden art easel fights for its share of space, while the shelf underneath has become a home to broken chalk, scraps of construction paper, and random items that I insist we'll make art from one of these days. Next to the refrigerator, a small antique desk (sans chair) only seems to attract additional piles of paperwork, magazines, mail, and more.





My kitchen is not enormous in size, but it is certainly not compact. Due to its wide open floorplan, the average person might not see the chaos that may appear hidden so well. But to me, it practically screams its existence every time I walk into this room.While I obviously am not able to retro fit the size of my kitchen , I am able to scale back...way back. 

My PLAN of action for this week will be to tackle the following in an effort to minimize and create efficiency within my kitchen space:
1. Storage
2. Work Space (counter tops):
3. Tools:
4. Eating area:
5. Food
I'll begin with Storage, and will move on to Work Space tomorrow.
1. Storage: I'll admit it, occasionally I've complained about a lack of storage in my kitchen. Realistically however, the amount of storage space is not necessarily the issue, but rather the true problem lies in our having too much stuff to store. This week I will be giving my kitchen cabinets, and other kitchen storage spaces, a total re-haul.

Here are my objectives:

-empty out each cabinet and place all items on a flat surface so that I can take inventory.
-set aside any duplicate items (all of which will either be donated or sold).
-consider getting rid of items that are rarely used.
-consider alternative storage space (garage or attic?) for items that may be larger or infrequently used, but still serve a purpose in the Slow Home.

Check back regularly this week as I'll be posting before and after photos and detailing the soon to be progress! I hope you'll join the Slow Home Challenge as well, and share with us your results!

Kate