Home, Heart N Soul

Loving “Home”

All things “Home”

Our Home is our personal sanctuary, a place to relax and unwind. Keeping a home organized, clean and user friendly is a great time saver and makes us feel organized, clean and friendly. My mom was one of the best “domestic engineers” I have ever known. She did things on a schedule, grocery shopping was done on Thursday, the house was cleaned on Friday and dinner was on the table at 6:00 PM sharp every night unless we were informed something else was happening. My mom kept a clean home, much better than I did when I was raising my family.
My intentions were good, the vacuum was in the middle of the room (unused as of yet) and I would be playing barbies, ball, or doing homework. My theory was, the kids will be gone but the dirt will still be here. I have greatly improved my own domestic engineering in the past decade. I am so surprised by the attempt by my mom to “train” me and how much of her actual information stuck in my noggin.

Because we like to cook, why not start in the kitchen? Putting together a kitchen can be a challenge as it seems many of them are designed by men. Of course the kitchen I put together from scratch didn’t really flow either, I think it’s the difference in what we think we want and what we actually need.

I have had many different kitchens, huge kitchens and also super small kitchens. Have you ever looked for something in a strange kitchen and nothing seems to be where it should be? Is it just me or are there definite places designed for equipment in a kitchen or are the cabinets just a series of boxes? The answer is yes and yes. Kitchen cupboards are all designed as “boxes” of different shapes, sizes, depths and heights. When all put together, a kitchen is in place.

It’s up to us how tall we adjust the shelves inside the cabinets to accommodate our kitchen accoutrements. It’s also up to us where we locate all our “stuff”.

Drawers are needed in the kitchen for the following: silverware, utensils, kitchen towels, measuring cups and spoons, knives, lids
I find these optional uses for drawers useful: Spices, chips, crackers, cookies, small appliances, junk drawer.

Things to keep in mind when putting together your kitchen. If your dishwasher “hinders” any drawers or cabinets, try not to put frequently used and washed items there if at all possible. When the dishwasher is open, you won’t have access to put said item away.

Keep silverware conveniently close to dishwasher it gets used most in the kitchen.

Select a drawer for knives near the cutting board, “counter clutter” makes a kitchen seem smaller and gives less counter space to work with.

Keep clean/ folded kitchen towels handy in the kitchen. If you do not have a drawer you can designate, get a basket to set on a shelf in the cupboard. The same goes with the lids to storage containers.

Cooking utensils should be next to the stove top/ oven. Frequently used utensils are more accessible when next to the stove in a utensil holder.

Next week, uses for different sized cupboards.