I learned how to cook in a very tiny New York City kitchen. I had two overhead cabinets. We jerry rigged two lower cabinets from IKEA. We never bothered to anchor the cabinets to the wall. They leaned against a wall with a piece of IKEA butcher block on top. After about five years, the cabinets sort of listed to one side. When you’re in grad school, you learn to make do.
We also learned how to keep a very minimalist kitchen. Few appliances and dishware, just the essentials. And we’ve maintained our system, even now we’re out in the burbs.
This is the original Apt. 11D kitchen system:
1. Dishes. We have one set of dishes and never, ever add anything random. Never any holiday themed dishware. We use Crate and Barrel’s maison set. I’ve used them for 16 years, though I had to replace the dinner plates last year. They’re light and thin, so they’ll fit in nicely into tiny cabinets. Food looks good on white plates. Mugs and cereal bowls are an exception. I use Anthropolgie’s Latte bowls, as cereal bowls and Fishs Eddy mugs.
2. Serving bowls and platters. I introduce color and fun with the serving dishes. I prefer blue and green, so everything matches. I ordered some Le Souk Ceramique bowls
3. Small items. I like these Art and Cook Bamboo Salad Serverswith Silicone Handles
4. Pots. A few years ago, I threw away all the hand-me-down pots and pans that were cluttering up my cabinets and honed down to one set that fits perfectly together and takes up very little cabinet space. I have the Cuisinart 77-10 Chef’s Classic Stainless 10-Piece Cookware Set
5. Appliances. I’m a huge Nazi about excessive kitchen appliances. If you have a good set of knives and a cutting board, then you don’t need 90 percent of the crap out there. I have about three or four exceptions: the KitchenAid Mixer
I’ll add more to this later.
Apt. 11d 