The Goods Are Odd

There is nothing like that validating feeling of when something you’ve done for years for out of necessity starts to become “a thing”. This is especially nice when the trend towards becoming “a thing” indicates something positive happening in the world. For me this is the appreciation of the tiny living, and more specifically the tiny kitchen. For me this says that people are living in more efficient spaces and they are cooking at home. Two great things that take work but have positive impacts.

The tiny kitchen was all over the NY Times this week from the debut of a cute video bit (that I bet will become a regular thing) to the discussion of great cooks having modest work spaces from Mark Bittman, and for some reason the Well blog also brought it up (I assume because cooking at home is generally better for you and pointing out how if Mark Bittman can manage in a cramped space, the perceived inadequacy of your kitchen is one less excuse).

As I said in a comment on the Well blog I think small works best when you have a few things that are quality and get the job done. Bittman’s tag line is that you only need a “A stove, a sink, a refrigerator, some pots and pans, a knife and some serving spoons,”… “All else is optional.” Another commenter made that point that if you can crummy tools it makes cooking really hard, and I have to agree. A cramped space with bad tools makes cooking a chore. But a little attention to detail, anything you can do to improve the space and any investment made on a knife sharpener, a heavy pot or two makes the restraint of space hardly noticeable.

Here are the three things I like best about my tiny kitchen:

Even though it has to be cleaned often (and of course there is no dishwasher) it cleans up fast

The efficiency of having everything within arms reach (or arm, plus step stool in my case) can’t be beat

The less space you have the more money you save on gadgets you don’t need because there is literally no room (You can see in the bit about the new Tiny Kitchen videos that she has not used this advantage as her kitchen has spread out to make her living room look like a diner and she has a mess a gadgets that seem to be pushing their IKEA storage solutions to the max )

The last is a blessing and a curse depending: For the most part i like to cook on my own, just do the whole thing start to finish, just to do it my way. And there can’t be too many cooks in the kitchen, when there is literally only room for one. When I need help though, space seems to open up (maybe because I allow it to?)

I am happy to see the tiny kitchen get some good attention because I think it does well to represent a renewed appreciation for simplicity at a time when we all need to scale back. You simply don’t need a lot to live well and the more people that realize that and live it out in the way they eat, shop, and make their homes the better off we all will be.