Minimalism is a huge part of my life that I haven't really delved into on my blog but I want that to change! What some of you may not know is that we currently live in a 900 square foot condo as a family of 4 and yes, we chose this lifestyle! Choosing minimalism and living "small" is an alternative lifestyle that I've found difficult to express to others in my life. I'm hoping that by sharing about my choices, I will be able to connect with others and inspire them on their journey as well as share about this lifestyle with those who may not be familiar with it!
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Our kitchen is small you guys. I mean really small. I watch House Hunters and often see couples without kids and with larger kitchens than ours saying that their kitchen is way too small. The photo above was taken from the other side of this counter/bar space looking in. That's it! The bar on the other side serves as our only kitchen/dining room table as well. As far as our kitchen size, it is more than enough for me and it is our normal but I often find guests surprised at the things we don't have. When you live small and as a minimalist, there are a lot of things that you really don't need!
Here are 10 things that you don't need in a tiny kitchen:
1. A Bunch of Different Appliances Paring down on kitchen appliances saves a lot of space! We have a very simple, small coffee maker (because coffee is a non-negotiable for me, duh!) and a toaster oven on our counter space. That's it! Some people will have other non-negotiables but for us we've never needed a crock-pot, bread machine, kitchen aid mixer, etc.
2. A Microwave Ok, in full disclosure, we do currently own a microwave because it came installed within the cabinets in our condo. However, in our last home we didn't have a microwave and it was perfectly fine! We used the toaster over to heat things up. To me, a toaster oven is a great appliance to own because it also saves energy by cutting down on oven use.
3. A Large Trashcan We simply use a little trashcan under the sink and line it with plastic grocery bags. With 4 people in the family, this does fill up fast. If it's full while I'm making dinner, I just hang another grocery sized bag on a drawer to fill with extra trash. Then after dinner, we take out the trash. You can always take an extra trash trip during the day; you don't have to have a giant trashcan in your home!
4. An Abundance of Counter Space I'm so used to having a tiny kitchen that I honestly don't know what most people do with ALL that counter space! The biggest problem with having a limited amount of counter space is that it becomes imperative to tidy the kitchen before cooking. I usually have to do a little counter tidying to clear off any grocery bags, papers, snacks etc that have piled up during the day before I prepare dinner. Having less space for junk to accumulate though forces you to deal with the clutter more often which is one thing I love about living small.
5. A Pantry: We keep most of our dry food in two cabinets and those cabinets also include any spices, medicines and vitamins We also have a basket of fruit/vegetables on the counter and sometimes we have to use a little counter space for some overflow cereal. (Cereal is big with all the men in my family.) We also have a modest sized refrigerator. Tips to condensing food space are: only buy what you need and grocery shop often! Honestly, if I needed pantry space I could easily rearrange and use some of the closet space in our home because: with minimalism you don't have a TON of stuff filling your closets!
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6. "Formal" Dishes There definitely isn't any fancy wedding china in this house. We use simple white dishes, (some are even from The Dollar Tree!) and glass mason jar cups for our everyday eating and drinking. By everyday I really mean everyday; on Christmas and Thanksgiving we are still happy to use our mason jars and plain white dishes!
7. Excess Dishes Building upon #6, we also don't have very many dishes! All of our dishes fit on two shelves. You really don't need enough dishes to feed a whole church congregation. When we do have guests, we usually grab some paper plates and disposable silverware to help out. I prefer that to having shelves filled with dishes that we rarely use.
8. Drawers Full of Plastic You know what I'm talking about: all the water bottles, tupperware etc. The kids have a few plastic cups that are on the same shelf as the mason jars. We also have some glass and plastic tupperware and a few water bottles that we use often and are kept on one shelf and in one drawer with other items. You just don't need 20 plastic water bottles and 40 tupperware containers without lids hanging around.
9. Every Kitchen Gadget Ever Created All of our silverware and kitchen "tools" exist in two drawers and one has tupperware in it as well. Honestly there are so many kitchen gadgets out there that you really don't need and they all just take up precious SPACE! Figure out which kitchen tools you can do without. Use a fork as a whisk, a knife as a vegetable peeler, etc. Find the tools that are imperative to your family and forget the rest!
10. Cookbooks: Books are a hard thing for people to get rid of but unless you are a chef, pare down on the cookbooks, guys! Create a digital cookbook for yourself by collecting favorite recipes on Pinterest and only keep the cookbooks that you use often.
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So there you have your first glimpse into our little home!
Leave me a comment if you are a minimalist and/or living in a small space as well! Thanks for reading. :)
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