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The art of the naked, I mean bare, worktop

I’ve talked about the way the kitchen is one of the most aspirational spaces in the home.  The main feature of any of those gorgeous interior images in our pinterest collection is the clutter-free worktops. 



Here’s a quick thought on bare worktops...


They aren't for me. 

In most of those gorgeous interior images they are rarely entirely free from objects.  The objects that are there – neat flower arrangements, colour coordinated bottles, a plate of lemons – are carefully curated. As an ex-art director myself I thoroughly approve of the artistry but real life is another matter. 


I've googled images on this and it's essentially represented as an all-or-nothing scenario - which is not what I'm talking about. Kids and pets get a bad rap whilst remaining 'adorable'. But I'm talking about the day to day accumulation stuff rather than the flour bag explosion. Looking at my own just now this would include: pens, a receipt, a usb cable, half a packet of cress seeds, some sun cream and a bike light.


My suggestion for dealing with this is to have somewhere to collect these items on their way to being properly tidied away. I call this the sh*t shelf. This is mine.



It's by the back door and not technically in my kitchen but we recently designed in a surface near the kitchen door of one of my projects with this specific purpose in mind.


Household members can be encouraged to deposit their random items on this shelf and not the main work tops or alternatively told to remove said items to their proper place should they have been swept there in an unexpected visitor scenario as per the current Ritz biscuits advert!


The partner to the sh*t shelf is obviously the sh*t drawer.




And, if the curated look is the one you are after you will also need the following:


1.      To include as many of your regular appliances within your built-in units as possible like coffee machine, microwave, hot tap.

2.      To have somewhere convenient to store any other appliances you use regularly like a toaster, food mixer, blender, air fryer, slow cooker, sandwich maker – I’m a little out of date and I’m not quite sure what the difference between an air fryer and an oven is but I see you can now buy ovens with integral air fryers.

3.      To clear and load the dishwasher straight away and/or wash up/dry and put away

4.      To have easy access to recycling bins


And all this requires space because once all these things are put away in cupboards you still need room for the food...and the crockery...and the heirloom serving dish...and the hundreds of plastic boxes.


So here are some other things to consider for achieving serene surfaces:


  1. A larder (or pantry, depending on your persuasion) meaning a walk in food stuff cupboard for the extra tins, the half filled packets of pasta that didn't fit the decorative jars, the homemade preserves, the hanging pheasant - I'm kidding, those are old fashioned associations which detract from how useful a larder still is today

  2. A back kitchen - this is a rising phenomenon in luxury homes where all the real work happens so that the front kitchen maintains the crisp look. But I am working hard on how they can be incorporated into smaller houses, possibly combined with utility rooms, to achieve the same result.


Finally, just as my post on storage urged you to identify what you need to store, take the time to list out everything you want in the kitchen and if you are pushed for space, highlight the occasional items that could be located somewhere else. Check out my list below to get you started.




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