Admit it.
You’ve drooled over perfect kitchens.
Real Simple organized pantries (with everything you need to make dinner in a flash).
Catch-all drawers perfectly organized.
Refrigerators (the Accidental Locavore’s nemesis) with room to spare.
If only…
Let’s get real!
You’ve tried and you’ve tried. Even Marie Kondo (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up) doesn’t dare go there.
Come on, it’s a kitchen.
And while everyone has theirs organized to some degree, all it takes is a husband, kid, guest, cat or dog rummaging around to make all that organization go straight down the drain (figuratively, if not necessarily literally).
So, how do perfect kitchens exist?
- Remember, any kitchen you see in a magazine has had an army of interns, assistants, stagers, stylists etc. going over it with a fine-tooth comb. They’ve done the lighting, polished a pile of Granny Smith apples, found flawless flowers — none of which last for more than a few hours.
- They’re for sale (or the house is). My kitchen looked like that. It was so beautiful, with tons of counter space, gleaming appliances (the big bowl of apples) and I barely recognized it! Our broker had staged it for the photo shoot for the open house. An hour later, it was back to normal and I was once again cursing the lack of counter space.
- No one uses them. Yes, there are people who never cook. Probably not reading this, but they do exist. A couple of clues—there is nothing in the refrigerator except beverages. The only thing on the counter is a coffee maker and those pod things. You’ve never been invited over for dinner and…there are shoes in the oven.
While, I’ve managed to tame my freezer, my refrigerator is still/always a disaster area. And while Marie Kondo would tell me to get rid of it because it (certainly) does not bring me joy, that’s not going to work.
Hmmm, maybe that’s why she doesn’t go there.
