What is it that you look at when you walk into a kitchen - at a friend’s, relatives’, your own or at a store? My eyes advertently scan the space for a clutter-free counter, organized pantry storage, layout, and to my surprise, how the pots and pans are stored.
I spend a considerable amount of time in the kitchen cooking regular food or trying out new recipes and desserts for my son. Though keeping kadais and pans in the open makes for easy access and helps in drying naturally after washing them, I think it is an eyesore. Currently, I store my pans in a stainless steel stand over the sink and kadais in a large pullout drawer like the one below. I’d prefer to stash them away in cabinets but find most Indian modular kitchens ill-equipped in that area.
Pullout Drawer Utensil Storage
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Every woman’s kitchen has at least one recipe book - either self-bought or gifted. Mine has over 100 of them. No exaggeration. Seriously. Most of them are small supplements that come with various Tamil monthly magazines. My mom religiously collects them every month and hands them by the dozen or more when we meet, usually after3-4 months. That shows her confidence in my cooking 
Or she trusts me to get inspired and cook a lot of variety dishes, which I do.
The books cover a wide range. Sample this. The collection consists of 30 Chutney recipes, 30 tomato dishes, 64 pickles, 30 soya recipes, 100 age-old home remedies (those granny ideas!), what to do with leftovers, 64 cakes/cookies/chocolates, 64 juice, 200 Diwali tips, 30 biryani masala, 16 types of sambar, and 10 types of rasam. The list goes on. And believe me, it is really handy at times to break the routine and fix something different for dinner.
A teeny tiny part of the collection
One practical issue I face is stocking these in the kitchen where it’s easily accessible; for, I know, if I lay my hands on the stack, I’ll end up cooking a dish. The block is in reaching out to the stack. Right now, it’s stashed in the farthest cabinet. I’m contemplating of binding them into just 4-5 books categorized by snacks, juices, pickles, desserts, and main course dishes.
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One of my biggest nightmares is to organize and put away my toddler’s growing pile of toys. Just when I make my resolution of not buying any more for another month or two, does he receive a huge carton from my parents’ or friends as gifts. Once a month, I go through the pile to discard broken ones and give away those that he has outgrown. Yet, the inventory is growing strong and large, with little space to store them in his modest room. Lately, one of the biggest disadvantages is it has become tough to tidy the room and find a game that he wants to play with.
I use two huge laundry baskets to store his toys and keep us from walking over plastic cars and stuffed animals. And, don’t even get me started on the number of batteries strewn around for all those remote-controlled jeeps, aeroplanes and cars. This is what one calls grandparent indulgence! Anyways, so I’ve figured that the laundry basket system is not a very efficient one as one has to dig deep into the pile and pour the stuff over to find what you are looking for.
Here are a few that caught my attention. Loft beds such as the one below in particular, are great for storage. Look at the boxes underneath every step of the staircase.
Toys stored in a loft bed
Open shelves with wicker baskets are my all time favorite as they are easy to organize and to store not just toys but other knick-knack as well such books, CDs/DVDs, crayons, and stuffed toys. The only downside is it tends to take up considerable floor space. But I would prefer these any day to metal bins on grounds of safety.
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I’m a big fan of open shelves in kitchen for lining up often used spices. Easy to handle, cheap to install, quick cleaning and scores high on the look factor…what more can one ask for! And, for renters, nothing is more easier than a open shelving system to add storage space . What do you think of these?
Open shelves in kitchen
More stuff...though a li'l cluttered
Image courtesy:
All images from Home Sweet Home
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I can’t get over these two pictures and I’m sure you’ll agree with me:
Stacked wooden baskets
Under-bed storage
I first spotted the open shelving for wooden boxes on Apartment Therapy two months back; and it’s remain etched in my memory ever since. I forgot to bookmark the link and believe it or not, I hunted for this post for three days. No exaggeration! That should explain why there was no post on Friday.
Most cities in India, except the ones in the South, have zero to minimal wood work done in homes. When I moved from Bangalore to Pune, from a fully-furnished apartment to a house with just walls, it was a harrowing experience. We lived out of boxes and eventually invested in two steel almirahs (what an eye sore!) and a wooden cupboard. The house was far from being elegant and remained a cluttered mess.
I look at these pictures and wonder what an inspiration it could have been. Wooden baskets are comparatively a cheaper way to add storage space for people on the move. Easy to maintain, move around, and stack with an open shelving system. Don’t these baskets also make for neat under bed storage?
Would any of you know where to get such square baskets in India?
Image courtesy:
1. ohdeedoh
2. re-nest
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Are you one of those who detests the idea of stacking CDs in ready-made, boring rectangular racks? How about units like these featured on Apartment Therapy?
Apartment Therapy - CD Storage Unit
Or one of these wall mounted units?
Wall mounted CD Rack
Wall mounted shelving
You can get one made too at a much lesser price like the one I have.
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