If you live in the mountains, chances are you have a small kitchen. Here are some tips to make your small kitchen simple and efficient.
De-Clutter your Kitchen
When I moved up to the mountains from the flatlands, I owned every kind of kitchen utensil, pot, pan, machine, and gadget known to man. I was trying to make my life easier. It didn’t. It made it more cluttered. Don’t get me wrong – they all worked fine – but I did not need them.
Mountain life is simple, as it should be. As I went into my 3rd or 4th year here, I realized that I was only using a few of these items I brought up with me and some had not been touched at all in this elevation. And my ‘favorites’ now were not the same as my ‘favorites’ then.
I pared my collection down significantly many years ago and have not regretted that decision at all (well, maybe the Margarita machine, I really liked that).
These are what I kept:
- A good cast iron skillet
- A heavy (cast iron) dutch oven
- A 13 x 9 glass pan
- A large Corning casserole with a lid
- 3 sizes of stainless steel pots with lids
- A large aluminum stock pot
- 1 set of everyday tablewear, utensils (including steak knives) and dishes
- 6 coffee cups
- 2 sizes of everyday glasswear, 4 each
- 3 good kitchen knives – butcher, paring, and serrated edge
- A favorite spatula
- A big spoon
- A set of standard measuring cups, measuring spoons, and one large 8-cup pyrex
- A flour sifter
- A simple electric hand mixer
- A stainless steel mixing bowl
- Coffee maker
- Blender
- Toaster oven
These are what I donated or gave away:
- Bread machine
- Crock pot (or Insta-pot for you young’uns)
- Fancy tablewear, utensils and dishes
- Fancy glasswear
- 200 coffee cups
- Kitchen knife set in block
- Food processor with a million attachments
- Non-stick skillets and cookware
- Microwave oven (you might want to keep this, I did not need it, you might)
Bonus: Not so many dishes to do!
Open It Up – Can you blow out a wall?
One of the best things about my little mountain home is the kitchen is part of the living room and the dining room. Also known as a Great Room. If you can take out a wall or even cut an open archway out to open up the space, it will make a world of difference.
Stovetop range hoods can be a problem because they are usually attached to a wall. Range hoods or exhaust hoods have a mechanical fan in them that removes airborne grease, combustion products, fumes, smoke, heat, and steam from the air above the cooking range. My oven and stovetop are set into an island in a large open room, and the range hood is not needed. If you can go this route, I highly recommend it.
Cooking, eating, watching TV, the wood-burning stove, and a social area are all in one room. It’s friendly and homey. Nobody gets stuck in the kitchen away from all the activities.
Another bonus to having an open kitchen is – people will help you cook! If you have a group over for a football game, they can help make snacks and watch the TV at the same time.
Create A Pantry Space
A pantry is essential for mountain living. Seriously. Unless you have a market or grocery in your little mountain town, you will be driving down the hill for shopping every couple of weeks, or once a month.
Convert a hall closet. Sacrifice a guest bedroom. If nothing else, buy some stand-alone closed cupboards and set them up in a spare room.
I originally had plans to have a pantry down in the basement under the house. The temperature was perfect, a steady 50F, and lots of room under the floor joists. But it was difficult to access and a little bit creepy. So I converted a linen closet instead.
You will want to keep lots of staples, paper products, canned goods, dry goods, pet food, coffee, tea, grains, condiments, and room for the home-canned garden overage. Enough for a month is best, enough for 2 weeks is essential especially if you live in an area where winter snow restricts travel and deliveries from UPS or FedEx.
Remove Cabinet Doors
This is the best thing ever. Removing cabinet doors solves two problems. Open cabinets appear to create more space in the kitchen. And you’re not constantly banging your head on high cabinet door corners.
Different colored plates and bowls add a decorative touch. Glasses look sparkly in the morning sun. Easier to put dishes away after washing them. You can see your collection of cookbooks.
And an open cabinet is much easier to keep clean. You can paint it, or varnish it if you like the rustic look. Keep ‘easy to wipe clean’ in mind when you are picking out the finish.
Light It Up
Living in the mountains usually means living in a treed forest. In my case – Piñon and Ponderosa. beautiful and majestic pine trees, especially in the winter. The height tends to shade the daylight.
The first option, especially for mountain dwellers, is to clear the trees at least 100 feet from your home. Not only will this action let in more light, but it is essential for fire safety.
Next, if possible, cut out some more windows or add a skylight. This may not be feasible in your home, but if so – do it. It will let in more light, and it will also allow you to see who (or what) is coming up to your house and making the dogs go crazy.
But enough of the safety stuff. Have some fun decorating and adding lamps to the darker corners. Under-cabinet bar lights are my illumination of choice for the kitchen. I like the kind that has an individual on-off switch. You can buy them stand-alone with batteries, or you can have them hard-wired into a wall switch.
Can lights in the ceiling (especially over the kitchen sink) and floodlights on top of the cabinets are also helpful. Buy the kind that allows you to adjust the direction because if you have an open kitchen to the great room, you don’t want a spotlight glare in the middle of the television screen! Hint for short people – grabber tool – so you’re not climbing up on the counter to adjust the lighting all the time.