Kitchen à la Marie Kondo

Is it just me or do you also want a kitchen that looks like one pulled out of a lifestyle magazine?

Photo by Mark McCammon from Pexels

These times give us a lot to think about. Living in messy spaces adds to our troubled thoughts. Yes, we’ve all been guilty of it. We all have felt the suffocating grip of the concerns of modern living combined with the vibe of our living spaces. In short, clutter bad. Like you, we Pandas like to chill, so we did a bit of reading on what lifestyle guru Marie Kondo can teach us.

Marie Kondo is a professional organizer, who has already been a household name with her best-selling book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and her newest book “Spark Joy.” She has put a lot of thought and effort into her craft and we present here below some of the things we learned. Hope it helps!

1.            Prioritize ease of cleaning over ease of use. Marie Kondo saw that in a well-organized kitchen, chefs rove about just wiping countertops, not worrying about spending more time cleaning before the end of shift.

2.            Keep counters as clean and clear as possible. Refrain from putting items on the areas where oil and water splash.

3.            Reduce your collection of utensils and dishes. Go for quality than quantity. Remove those you have not used for at least five years.

4.            Dispose of things which are past their peak.  If it is past expiry date, or you do not want to eat them anymore, throw them away. For example, it may be good to have a system for labeling ingredients and discarding them after a year.

5.            Make visible and accessible to you the appliances, utensils, food or ingredients that you use the most.  Prioritize joy so you know which appliances or dishes that you actually use and love, have a place in your kitchen.

6.            Keeping your refrigerator empty 30% of the time grants you the benefit to easily spot the items you have stored and also to have space for leftovers or gifts from friends.  

7.            Make your dining area a happy place to eat upon. It’s recommended to remove distractions like television and the space to be filled with your favorite things. If placemats, napkins, music or candles help, then include them.

8.            To make more space, consolidate containers for the same items like sugar packets, creamer, or zippered bags. For consumable items like liquid soap, you can use a simple pump bottle to spare your eyes of the noise of the product labels which may not match your space anyway.

9.            Go through cookbooks and throw those that you do not use.

10.         Aim for a kitchen where you will be happy just cooking. Don’t feel the compulsion to oversimplify it. The key is to understand how you feel as you go move around this living space. Is the space radiating the unique energy that is you? Does it spark joy?

 

If you are like us who like things neat and tidy in the kitchen or a food business owner in need of supplies, do check out our store! :D