5 Ways to Simplify Your Kitchen

(No, that's not our kitchen, but we'll take it if anyone wants to buy it for us!)

Unless you can survive without food, you probably spend a bit of time in your kitchen every day. But maybe you don't enjoy it. Maybe you even avoid your kitchen.

For us, cooking is a social time and a creative outlet, so we spend a fair amount of time in our kitchen. To make it a space we enjoy using, we took a few steps to simplify our experience there...

Get rid of the Tupperware menagerie
All those different-sized bowls and lids, among which there are sad, partner-less pieces? Clear them out: recycle them, give them to charity, put them in your kid's play-kitchen, use them as flower pots. We use Zip-Loc snap & seal containers for storage -- pantry, freezer, leftovers. They're uniform, so they store neatly. They're cheap, so we don't cry when we lose one. And they're also recyclable. Win, win!

Let go of the need for matching serving ware
When we were about to get married, we had a favorite pottery place. Though it was going to be expensive, we thought we wanted to get all of our dinnerware and serving dishes in the same pattern. Then we realized how upset we'd be whenever one of them broke. So we opted for just a few serving pieces, most of which we've since given away -- our love for the pattern was fleeting, it turns out. Now, if we're out and about and see a bowl we like, we get one. We've taken the doors off of our kitchen cabinets and love seeing the array of colors, shapes, and patterns among our serving ware. It's liberating.

[Those first two pieces of advice may seem contradictory, but I don't mean them to be. It's the whole storage-bowl-without-its-lid thing (and vice versa) that makes me crazy. I like neat storage, but eclectic serving options.]

Put your cooking books and magazines in the kitchen
Obvious, right? We had so many we kept them in a closet in a different room. But we make a point to get cookbooks and cooking magazines that have lots of great photos, so it was a shame to hide them away. So Dave built some awesome shelves for them in the kitchen. Now they're in sight, ready to inspire or inform us as needed.

Install a speed rail
If your range is freestanding, you can put the rail on the open end, like Dave did. Otherwise, you can install it on a wall above or beside your stovetop. You can find them at restaurant supply stores in most cities or online. Pros: it keeps the prep ingredients you use most within easy reach. Ours holds squeeze bottles of different oils and vinegars. I use the olive oil every morning, and no longer have to open the pantry to get it. Yay!

Do the dishes every night
Man, if there's one thing I hate, it's waking to dishes in the sink. Plus, San Antonio has a roach problem, so we can't afford to leave out midnight snacks for them. So I do what dishes I can while we're making dinner, then the rest immediately after. Most of the time, Dave dries for me, so it's a chance to hang out and continue our dinner conversation. If he has something to do, my dish-washing time is an opportunity to chill and enjoy the feeling of water on my hands. Totally meditative.

What have you done to simplify your life in the kitchen? How did you decide where to begin? What further steps would you like to take?

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