The Minimalist Kitchen
The Minimalist Kitchen
The Art of Keeping Your Stuff, But Not Too Much Stuff
Growing up in the 1980s in the Midwest meant transitioning from a culture of keeping stuff that you purchased for many years to buying a bunch of things and throwing away only some of it to make room for buying more stuff. The idea of having modern kitchen cabinets was only to make room for more stuff, gadgets, and a kitchen. More kitchens meant more kitchen cabinets to store and hide more stuff. Kitchen minimalism means having the utensils that one regularly uses and practically preparing meals and entertaining one’s guests without allowing kitchen gadgets (which we all love) to overwhelm the function and beauty of our kitchen spaces. It means having what you need but not hoarding needlessly, which you might need “someday.”
Read more about Contemporary Kitchen Design!
MINIMALISM - The minimal Kitchen
Kitchen minimalism is the art and practice of having the right number of things in the kitchen to use effectively and efficiently, putting everything in its place, out of sight, quickly and easily. Kitchen minimalism is being the master of your kitchen, using the kitchen cabinets but not stuffing them full of things, mismatched and overfull. Minimalist kitchens don’t need to have something out on the counters when they are not being used because everything has a place.
The minimalist approach is not to have nothing but rather to have the exact amount of things needed and to streamline your kitchen. Do not think you have to get rid of things bur instead, declutter and get rid of the things that take up a lot of valuable emotional real estate and hidden storage in your mind.
MINIMALISM EXPERTS
Renowned subject matter experts and Netflix documentary stars Joshua Fields Millburn, and Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists write and discuss their minimalist experiences in their own lives and homes. You can watch the trailer for their documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Co1Iptd4p4, and you can check out their fantastic blog here: https://www.theminimalists.com.
In their blog titled, Tour My Minimalist Apartment, Joshua Fields Millburn states, “People are often intrigued by my living space, or rather by the idea of my living space, wondering what it looks like, how a minimalist really lives, often posing all sorts of voyeuristic questions: How many things do you own? What does your living room look like? Do you sleep on the floor?”
Many can relate to this idea when considering what a minimalist kitchen might be. Is it a blank white room like the TV Room from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Is it just an empty nothing with a bar stool and a microwave? — Hardly.
Clutter - Clutter-Free
Clutter can be defined as a condition where there is an excess of objects in a given space. Clutter can also be described as a state of being untidy or disorganized. In terms of psychology, clutter can often be seen as a manifestation of underlying emotional issues such as anxiety or depression. For some people, decluttering their living space can be a therapeutic way to address these deeper issues. Minimalist design theory urges one to simplify life, specifically, simplify your kitchen.
Do you need 18 mixing bowls, 27 measuring cups, 26 coffee cups, 11 cutting boards, a drawer full of cooking utensils, cabinets full of storage containers, a kitchen island full of pots and pans, and untold baking dishes next to the stove? - Maybe you do. But the key takeaway is this: evaluate what a need is and what is a fear of inconvenience, which may or may not ever happen. The truly minimalist approach to kitchen design will run you through some exercises to pair things down to the kitchen essentials, the bare kitchen necessities, and the minimalist kitchen essentials.
This does not mean you should throw out your kitchen appliances and replace your cabinets with open shelves to achieve a minimalist look. Instead, carefully evaluate what you genuinely use for cooking, what your actual food storage and kitchen storage needs are, and what they might be in the future, and plan accordingly.
PURPOSE - A clutter-free kitchen you will actually use
Kitchens have a particular purpose, even though we often take them for granted. This purpose has transitioned over the last 150 years, but the fundamental kernel of purpose has remained true — safely feed the people in the home, provide ease and comfort, and be the hub of activity and work. When we open our homes to guests, they naturally gather in the home's heart, where all of the action and emotion occur. This is the place where all of our memories are made. When people are cooking and preparing food, it is natural to come in and check to see what is being made and maybe have a taste. Of course, that leads to conversation, and that leads to more people joining in, more conversation, and the virtuous cycle begins until nearly everyone is pulled into the fun. Beautiful cabinets enhance the great smells of the kitchen and counters, with plenty of room to lay out trays, pans, and desserts and still do the necessary cooking. In a minimalist kitchen, by not having extra spaces to clean and having a perfectly organized space, the people cooking can focus on the task while still having plenty of time to engage in the event without being anchored to the stove guests are enjoying themselves.
Keep that clutter under control - Tips for Organizing Your Kitchen Tools
COOKING & FUNCTION - Minimalist Kitchen Design
Having a purpose, as described above, a minimalist kitchen provides one with functionality. For example, a series of quality appliances, like Smeg™ and Liebherr™, allows you to masterfully perform cooking functions. Smeg™ themselves say that they have been “… adopting policies for many years which target ongoing improvements….” No doubt they discuss green initiatives but certainly their extraordinary dedication to quality, technology, and style.
Interior Design and Minimalist Kitchen Ideas
The kitchen is one of the first spaces we look at when purchasing a home. Everyone looks at the kitchen and imagines what it will be like to look through the cabinets and entertain family and friends. It is easy to picture the family around the island snacking, talking, doing homework, and making a meal, romanticizing the future. Most people do not sit and daydream about having a set of drab cabinets with dust settling in the overly ornate crevices. We don’t fantasize about having a fridge hanging out in the middle of the room, taking up space.
No one thinks, “Man! If only I could have inadequate storage options so I could leave eleventy-seven small appliances out on the counter every day, it impossible for cooking to take place."Instead, what we are thinking about when we envision ourselves in our new home is the joy of having clean spaces, easy to wipe down and sanitize, filled with clever storage options that make the day-to-day living of our lives convenient and pleasant. What that looks like in real life is kitchen minimalism combined with modern kitchen design.
For example, modern kitchen cabinets make a minimalist kitchen possible with their clean lines and easy-to-clean surfaces. We see thin, linear countertops made from products like Neoltih™ and smartly designed appliances like Smeg™. We see modern, smooth, surfaced cabinets like Bauformat’s Purista™ line with handleless integrated lit channels that make for beautiful, functional living. What makes these combinations so great? Why do we want to have well-thought-out kitchen spaces?
With the countertop, you will need a durable and scratch-resistant surface that doesn’t fade and looks great. Something that you could take a hot pan and sit right on top if you need and do homework on and make pie crusts… because you live in the space. It needs to be practical and attractive if you are using it daily.
Minimalist kitchens do not mean having kitchens devoid of everything. Minimalism in the kitchen means having the right things in the kitchen and the kitchen's design adequate to the task of your daily living. Modern design is easy to clean and has incredible storage solutions, which are also beautiful. More traditional options are harder to maintain, more difficult to clean with their many surfaces, and potentially more expensive to own overall. Let go of things but don’t let go of reason.
No one is suggesting that you start counting your possessions, but rather, count on the possessions that matter. “How often do I make toast for two in my 8-slice toaster? Do I ever use the toaster oven? What about the quesadilla maker I haven’t used except two years ago when I had leftovers?”Joshua (of the Minimalists) said, “When Ryan and I started this website, I counted my things as a parody, showcasing that I didn’t desire to be as extreme as some minimalists. In that essay, you can see a picture of my beautiful loft apartment in downtown Dayton, Ohio, a capacious living space with hardwood floors and high ceilings, wide open and airy from brick wall to a brick wall. It was not unlike something you’d see in a magazine (actually, it was featured in a couple of magazines).”The message here is: Extraneous stuff isn’t going to lead you to a clean, efficient kitchen — but don’t get hung up on the legalism of minimalism. Quality is better than quantity in almost every instance. Buying quality finishes instead of buying a quantity of stuff.
Modern style, sleek look, all-white kitchens with subway tile and simple lines filled with counter space, cabinets and drawers, the right kitchen tools, and the right backsplash with the very least color and texture possible - sounds like a dream? Maybe to some but not to everyone. Minimalism does not mean austere, textureless, colorless, utterly lifeless design. You can have pops of color, multiple layers of texture, and kitchen items while keeping an uncluttered space. Don't use a small space to store a big space level of stuff. Don't put a big kitchen in a small kitchen. Don't keep a big kitchen when all you need is a small kitchen. A pared down kitchen will look great with the right cabinetry, cupboard, and the right number and type of appliances. The right cabinets add value rather than an opportunity to hide the problem.
EXPERIENCES
What we want are experiences. Minimalist kitchens help us experience our home through a lens of convenience. Everything has its place in a minimalist kitchen — every can, every spoon, every cup, every small appliance — everything. Intuitively know where all your utensils, pots, pans, spices, and food items are because they are in sophisticated organizational systems, easily accessed while preparing a meal. Cleaning up after breakfast is also easier when there are non-porous surfaces and hidden cook surface induction appliances, But ultimately, the question is, what experience are we looking for? Is it an experience of experience we are looking for is comfort, luxury, practicality, and style?
Kitchen Minimalism & Modern Kitchen Cabinets
The two simply go hand-in-hand. Joshua concludes, “I remember the old days when I’d spend an entire weekend organizing junk, separating miscellanea into various organizing bins, using a complex item-dispersal system to separate my hoard; but now it’s easy to remain organized since I don’t own much to organize in the first place. Instead, I’ve discovered that it’s much easier to get rid of something than to clean or organize it. Empty spaces allow us to focus on ourselves and the people around us — to find ourselves in spareness — not the things we’re constantly trying to take care of. The biggest fringe benefit, however, is the calm I feel when I return home. No longer am I worried about the wall-to-wall disorder. No longer am I bothered by the organized chaos. No longer am I discontent with my surroundings. My simple living space is calm, relaxed, serene.”
CREDITS Special thanks to The Minimalists ℅ TheMinimalists.com — attribution elsewhere in the article. All photography is original or provided with permission.
Create a Minimalist Kitchen
Creating a minimalist kitchen can be a rewarding experience. It can help you declutter your mind and space and focus on what is truly important to you. By simplifying your kitchen, you can make it more peaceful and efficient.
