When I started writing this blog four years ago, I had one agenda in mind – to make it as informative as possible for our daily lives. DIYs, peeking into people’s homes, sharing organizing tidbits, and where to buy what was a means of achieving that goal. Over the years, I believe I’ve strayed away from that by showcasing too many pretty pictures. Styled homes do a great deal of good to our senses but I often wonder what lies behind that shiny closet, or inside the spic-and span drawers in a kitchen. If you are short on space, or looking for ideas on sorting your cutlery, these pictures do little!
One cloudy morning last week, I met Archana of Archana’s Kitchen to do a kitchen tour. Archana needs no introduction for foodies and wannabes. She wears many hats – food blogger, consultant chef, culinary trainer, and caterer in a previous avatar. Why Archana? Who better than someone who cooks 145837 different recipes in a week spanning desserts to savouries with exotic to everyday ingredients from Mediterranean to Thai cuisines. The kitchen better be good to get all this done, right? You bet. Archana gladly welcomed me into her kitchen and was gracious enough to open up her kitchen, in the literal sense, and lay it bare for me and you to see.
All those mouth-watering pictures originate here.
First thoughts: Archana’s kitchen is a beautiful conconction of contradictions: dark wood but enough sunlight streaming in thr the east facing windows; modern appliances sitting side by side traditional utensils (think no non-stick cookware), thoughtfully organized to handle chaos, of a moderate size to cook for large numbers, and age-old dishes with a healthier spin.
Layout: It’s a 12*17 rectangular shaped kitchen with an island in the center for storing appliances and for her kids to hang out while she cooks. On one end is the fridge/cabinets and the other end is the utility – equipped with washing area, washer, drier and dishwasher- is to the far left. It opens to the east with windows running all along the length.
The picture below shows what’s inside the tall cabinet/drawers next to the fridge.
Yep, you read it right. Archana is gradually doing away with all plastic containers in her kitchen. She has stowed away most of them and is moving to glass/steel containers. She says she doesn’t store any food items that has salt/spices in plastic containers. And, no you wouldn’t find color coordinated containers in her kitchen because she RECYCLES tons of glass bottles as you’ll see next week. To a greener life :)
Before we end, I want you to take a minute, open your cabinets and check if there is room for more. If yes, you are doing a fabulous job. I’ll be back next Monday with the second and concluding part of Archana’s Kitchen to see what she loves in her kitchen, what she would like changed etc.
And, tell me what you like best about your kitchen.
Image courtesy:
1,3 – Archana Doshi
remaining – taken by me at location
5 Comments
Laksh,
Love your analysis, as always!!!
The one thing I like about my kitchen is the way I’ve categorised and labeled items in my pantry, like, cereals, oils, spices, etc. It makes it so easy for me to get to what I want pretty quickly.
One other thing I like in my kitchen is the shopping list stuck on my refrigerator. It is nothing but a large size post- it note. As soon as stock gets over for any item , I immediately make an entry in my shopping list and when I go for the weekend shopping, I stick the shopping list to the trolley. It frees both my hands and I just throw the list as soon as I’m done with shopping.
Loved the kitchen tour and the idea of actually peeping inside the drawers. Looking forward to the next part :) I am so looking forward to my kitchen on the new apt. I have been very brave and decided to go all white with my kitchen so let’s see how that goes.
Waiting eagerly with bated breath to when your home takes shape, Simran :) White for kitchen in B’lore – admire your courage. But you’ll pull it off.
Thanks Vandana. The large post-it sounds like a smart thing to do. Would have to feature your organized kitchen soon :)
Thanks for the kitchen tour. It’s interesting to peek into how people store items in thier kitchen cabinets.
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