"Simplicity in the kitchen" What do you have on your counters?

[ToomuchStuff]

Not food or recipe's, but the part below that, in the forum description. What do you have on your counters and leave there? I've been getting together some better kitchen stuff, and getting rid of the old college kid type of stuff, from long ago. I am starting to design a new kitchen (always been a dream to build my own in the house) and one of the arguments I keep having with myself is about a knife block.
I've looked at homemade ones, that use bamboo skewers (you can change or add knifes), verses using scrap wood from woodworking and building my own block. Or in the new kitchen, having them in a drawer, and until then, getting or making blade guards.
I'd like to redo the kitchen then get rid of a lot of the larger power tools, and go to a more hand tool/portable power tool shop. (enjoy the woodworking hobby, but not a lot of time)

So I am trying to figure out that, and what else is normally kept on a counter and how can I put it elsewhere (or do I need it).
Thanks

[catherine]

Yeah, it's hard to get and keep stuff off the counters.

We considered putting knives in a drawer, but we don't have enough drawer space, so yes, we do have the knife block on the counter, given to us by DDIL. One thing I like about it is it's made almost like a metal sponge where you can just slide in any knives you want. We also have:

--Coffee maker (need it)
--Toaster oven (need it)
--Paper towel holder (that could easily be reassigned somewhere off the counter--or at least on a holder attached to the underside of the counter.
--Soaps: I have one Palmolive dispenser and also a hand soap dispenser that DDIL brought and left here. I could easily get rid of her hand soap dispenser: I don't mind washing my hands with a drop of Palmolive. (Brainwashed by Madge the manicurist)
--Crock with cooking utensils I use often
--A french butter crock: It's one of those things that you put the butter in and then you put it into the holder upside down. We don't like to refrigerate our butter.

That's it.

[awakenedsoul]

I have vintage tins filled with flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa. I have a cutting board, a wooden dish drying rack, (no dishwasher,) and a ceramic container filled with things like spatulas, large serving spoons, etc. I also have a second hand toaster oven from the Salvation Army. Oh, I just remembered...I also have a french press, a coffee grinder, and another vintage tin of coffee bins. On my side counter I have a vintage silver plated percolater (sp.?)that I had repaired. It still works, and I love the sound of it. (It reminds me of my grandma's house.)

[Sad Eyed Lady]

If you are thinking of remodeling your kitchen here is an idea I love, but it may be pricey. One of my neighbors built a new house behind ours and in the kitchen instead of having cabinets (under the counter) with shelves, she had all big pull out drawers! Held the same stuff but instead of having to get down and reach to the back, she could just pull the drawers out and easily access anything in them! Of course, her husband is a contractor and built the house so price was not as much of a factor. Still, if I was building or remodeling, this is certainly something I would consider. I know this isn't in direct answer to your question ToomuchStuff, but I was just thinking of some of those things on the counters could be stored in a drawer and easy to get to when needed. I hate a lot of counter clutter and have too many things there myself, but they seem to be things that are needed: coffee maker, toaster, canisters, for sure, and then other things at various times. Oh yes, and a knife block too. Usually some cutting boards, and a cake plate that basically sits there because it is big too store. I like a spare look, but really don't have it.

[goldensmom]

Coffee pot, microwave, bread box. Someday, if we build or move, I'd like a Kitchen Aide 'garage' so I don't have to lug the heavy thing up from the bottom cupboard then put it away. Everything else has a place in a cupboard. I like an sparse, uncluttered counter.

[creaker]

coffee maker, toaster, knife block, food processor, blender, coffee grinder, microwave. The knife block is a kind of a necessity since I don't have much drawer space.

[Florence]

Knife block & cutting board, stone bowl for my husband to drop his keys, ring, & pocket stuff. That's it on the counters. I have an island and on it I have a glass bowl for fresh fruit and 5 glass canisters for oatmeal, bran, WW flour, sugar, & all purpose flour just because I like the color & texture.

[Davidwd]

I don't like stuff out, it can soon look cluttered and get in the way when I am working. I have a knife block out and everything else goes away in cupboards. Although that is a slight pain as you need to get anything out that you need.

[Blackdog Lin]

I think my kitchen counters are a nice blend of cluttered-what I need is out/and uncluttered-stuff is put away. It works for me.

Let's see, the long end starting at the fridge: napkin holder which also houses the "table-use" S&P; ashtrays behind; then ice tea pot with 2 cutting boards and the hand-washing dish mat behind that; open space then the sink with a sponge and dishrag (usually) and the kitchen-soap dispenser; then my hair spray bottle (vinegar rinse) and the chicken-refuse jug which holds daily scraps for the chickens.

Then a "garage" with lifting door, in the corner - which is where we keep all the small appliances we use often enough (crockpot, rice cooker, electric pot for deep-frying, mixer, hand blender). And then the short end: 2 knife blocks full of our knives, butter dish, garlic keeper, and decorative old crock filled with all the stainless large utensils. Then stove, then coffeepot, then the vitamins.

My kitchen could use some serious updating in terms of modern home décor - but in functionality.....nah. It works well.

[iris lilies]

We have a lot of counter space and DH likes to load it up, but I work to keep it unloaded. Permanent residents of our counter space are:

1)compost bucket
2)toaster
3)Kitchen Aide mixer
4)AM/FM boom box radio
5) wine rack

6) then, on the counter I consider "unclean" are dog bowls, and cleaning supplies (Comet, Vinegar, bleach water in a spray bottle)

the knife holder is on an island counter next to the stove.

Beginning in June, one section of our counter space is devoted to garden produce. He picks it and dumps it there. Then some of it is loaded up into the refrigerator. And much of it isn't even picked. OH yeah, and then some of it has already made it's way down to the basement. We have obscene excess of vegetables.

[Packy]

What about Pizza utensils? Don't you kids have one of those pizza wheels for slicing 'em, and a wedge-shaped spatula for serving up the slices? And a Pizza Pan for baking 'em? Or do you kids just call PaPa Sclerpozzi's We Deliver and order up a double-stent Meat-and-Cheese Lover's-Deluxe or two, already sliced, and eat 'em piping hot right out of the box while you sit and watch mooovveees?

[mira]

Affix a knife magnet to your wall under the cabinets et voila! :)

On our counter we have 2 wooden chopping boards leaning against the wall, a kettle, a knife block (we rent and can't drill holes in the tiles to put up a magnet), a microwave and a couple decorative tapas dishes that have somehow become filled with pennies :/

[goldensmom]

What about Pizza utensils? Don't you kids have one of those pizza wheels for slicing 'em, and a wedge-shaped spatula for serving up the slices? And a Pizza Pan for baking 'em? Or do you kids just call PaPa Sclerpozzi's We Deliver and order up a double-stent Meat-and-Cheese Lover's-Deluxe or two, already sliced, and eat 'em piping hot right out of the box while you sit and watch mooovveees?

No, do you?

[SteveinMN]

We have a "pizza wheel". It resides in a kitchen-junk drawer along with the other gadgets (vegetable peeler, zester, etc.) that are the right tool for the job but not the tool needed every day. There ya go... ;)

Countertop: microwave oven; crock with frequently-used spatulas; mixing spoons, etc.;napkin dispenser and s&p (not sure why these are not on the dining table except that we too often clear off that table so maybe it's habit); blender (DW makes protein shakes most days); compost crock; coffee maker and grinder. Right now there are fermenting crocks on the counter, too, and sometimes a dish mat with hand-washed items drying on it. But that's it. I hate the clutter.

[ToomuchStuff]

Sad eyed lady, drawers are one thing I have been considering for years. (plan on it for cutting boards and some utensiles) The other option is to have pull outs in the pan cabinet with a flat "shelf", with holes for the lid handles (upside down in the cabinet). I saw that idea years ago and it was good for their layout. (I plan on building my own cabinets, so I might try both styles, via some cheap plywood, first)
Grandma, used to have pegboard, behind the stove with her most used utensils hanging on it. I think I might go with a microwave/vent above, so that option would be out, but where the phone used to be (small wall), I might put some of them, and the paper towel holder, etc. (small shelves)
I originally thought I might put in a dishwasher, but really think I might just skip that, so when not in use, the dish rack might go on the fridge.
Keep them coming guys, because this is helping me think out the kitchen ahead of time. (cheaper then changes during or after)

[Packy]

[No, do you?[/QUOTE] No, I don't. No special pizza utensils. Sorry. But I do have those handle with the prongs for corn-on-the-cob. They, are essential.

[Gardenarian]

Lots of stuff on counter:
Toaster
Blender
Electric kettle
Coffee press
Compost bucket
flower pot with dish brushes and sponges
Dr. Bronner's soap
two-tier fruit basket
cutting board
mortar and pestle
bunch of jars filled with beans, flour, sugar, coffee, tea, etc.
mortar and pestle
Next to the stove: salt, pepper grinder, jug filled with spatulas and spoons

[iris lilies]

Simplest pizza utensil, learned if from my mom back in the day before people ate much pizza: cut the pizza with kitchen scissors. That's what we do.

[meri]

Dish rack, bottle of detergent, dish sponge, electric kettle. On the counter 'island' there is wooden knife block standing beside microwave oven which serves as a stand for toaster and a container with spaghetti which is too tall to fit into the cabinet shelves (very left side) than there are 2 flowerpots (one with chives and one with a viola plant), stack of papers and 1-4 pens and pencils to make notes and draft grocery shopping lists and bottle of syrup and 3 glasses that are currently in use by us (right side of the counter)

[Float On]

Small galley kitchen which looks cluttered with anything on the counters. Currently there is a pottery bowl with black kitchen towels in it, a small pottery bowl with knit washcloths, a pottery bowl with plate over it for the compost (daily taken out), a glass soap pump, an electric kettle and French press. A silverplate cake pedestal server with a pottery bowl on it full of tea packets. The other side of the galley there is a toaster on a pottery serving tray with a loaf of bread and a pottery bowl with potatoes and one with onions and a glass vase with wooden spoons and a few other items in it. Everything else in in the cabinets (even the microwave - where I took off a cabinet door so it almost looks like a built in.

[SteveinMN]

Sad eyed lady, drawers are one thing I have been considering for years.
When we updated our kitchen, we worked with a company that could have installed entirely new cabinets if we wanted. We were not generally unhappy with the layout of the kitchen, and a sizable increase in cabinet space was not in the cards for us. When we asked about putting drawers/rollouts into the existing cabinets, the contractor pointed out that the wood used for the rollout sides and the shelf rollers would create a noticeable reduction in the amount of usable space. That was enough for us to stop thinking about it. But that won't be an issue if you have more than enough room now.

[iris lilies]

When we updated our kitchen, we worked with a company that could have installed entirely new cabinets if we wanted. We were not generally unhappy with the layout of the kitchen, and a sizable increase in cabinet space was not in the cards for us. When we asked about putting drawers/rollouts into the existing cabinets, the contractor pointed out that the wood used for the rollout sides and the shelf rollers would create a noticeable reduction in the amount of usable space. That was enough for us to stop thinking about it. But that won't be an issue if you have more than enough room now.

That's interesting, I've never analyzed drawers from a space angle.

It seems to me, from what little I've seen in the kitchen displays around and about, that drawers are growing in popularity.

My mother was notorious for tearing out cabinents and installing drawers in her houses that had old kitchens. Drawers are sure nice, but she wasn't infirm, so there is nothing wrong with bending over, it's good for the waistline.

[chrissieq]

New countertop (laminate) with tile back splash as of mid August realized that in order to appreciate the tile we needed to rethink what sits on the counter top. As a result, steak knives fit in the utensil drawer, pitcher of turners etc get their own drawer (goodbye junk drawer and the junk inside it). Now an acrylic paper towel holder vs wood. The toaster stays. Do need to do some under cabinet lighting. Need to re-think the knife block. Love the openness of the space!

[ToomuchStuff]

When we updated our kitchen, we worked with a company that could have installed entirely new cabinets if we wanted. We were not generally unhappy with the layout of the kitchen, and a sizable increase in cabinet space was not in the cards for us. When we asked about putting drawers/rollouts into the existing cabinets, the contractor pointed out that the wood used for the rollout sides and the shelf rollers would create a noticeable reduction in the amount of usable space. That was enough for us to stop thinking about it. But that won't be an issue if you have more than enough room now.

Type of cabinets plays a HUGE roll in that. You lose a LOT more room in a framed cabinet, verses a frameless cabinet. Also, something to think about in pullouts verses not, is wasted/unusable space in cabinets (you have to empty a cabinet to get to something, it isn't convienent, or you never use the spot)

[Gregg]

New countertop (laminate) with tile back splash as of mid August realized that in order to appreciate the tile we needed to rethink what sits on the counter top. As a result, steak knives fit in the utensil drawer, pitcher of turners etc get their own drawer (goodbye junk drawer and the junk inside it). Now an acrylic paper towel holder vs wood. The toaster stays. Do need to do some under cabinet lighting. Need to re-think the knife block. Love the openness of the space!

Very similar story for us. Drawers galore in the newly renovated kitchen with the expressed purpose of clearing the clutter. Now its DW's mega-blender (shes one of those green smoothie types) and nothing else. Toaster, Keurig, etc. all reside in the pantry right off the kitchen. Knife block went to DSIL and knives into a drawer. The crock that used to hold all the other watchamacallits works great for nasturtiums on the deck.

[SteveinMN]

Type of cabinets plays a HUGE roll in that. You lose a LOT more room in a framed cabinet, verses a frameless cabinet.
Very true. We were not willing to take space from the kitchen by altering the cabinet footprint significantly and we didn't want to spend what it would have cost to replace the cabinets with decent ones. Starting from scratch would have changed our choices; frameless cabinets would have been on our list.