Randomosity

Most mornings, Bart and I have a fruit smoothie for breakfast (vanilla soy milk, strawberry yogurt, frozen bananas, and frozen strawberries). Today, I stopped by the store to pick up some soy milk since we have been without for the last two days.

Tonight, while I was cleaning up the kitchen, I began anticipating making the shakes tomorrow morning and pictured myself taking the blender and the blender stand out of the cupboard where they are stored along with my other appliances.

This reminded me of my mom’s visit this summer. When I went to make some toast, she said “Don’t tell me you are one of those people who puts their toaster away every time!” Unfortunately, I am.

For my mom, who loves bread and has toast almost daily, it would indeed be an inconvenience. For me, who has toast approximately never and who uses the toaster only about three times a month, it makes perfect sense. Also, I have about six inches of counter space which I certainly am not going to be bestowing upon my little-used toaster. (Ironically, we received four toasters for our wedding).

So? Appliances on the counter or tucked away where nobody sees?

NaBloPoMo, you have reduced me to asking about you kitchen appliances.

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16 Comments

  1. Most kitchens I’ve lived in with little counter space also have little cupboard space, so out they go.

    The rarely used ones get hidden, though.

  2. Hey, I keep my toaster in the cupboard too! Quel coincidence!

    If you gave me a choice between the toaster and the George Foreman grill, and we had more counter space, I’d choose the grill to be a permanent fixture out of the cupboard.

    Paninis would be that much easier!

  3. Our toasters have always been left out on the counter–easy convenience for my morning bagel–but just about everything else gets stored inside a cupboard.

  4. I put ours away everytime too. In the HIGH cupboard above the stove and microwave. Dario uses the toaster quite often, and he never, ever, ever puts it away.
    And seriously, I am now bummed after reading Bart’s post, because I never even thought of using the George Foreman grill to make panini sandwiches, and I gave mine away. NOW I’m kicking myself.

  5. See we have a toaster oven instead of a regular toaster, so it is gargantuan, but I have to leave it out because most nights it is what we cook our dinner in. It doesn’t bother me when it is nice and clean and new, but ours is getting grody– so I wish I could put it away. But the blender, definitely is put away.

  6. A pretty Kitchen Aid mixer, however, is meant to be displayed! It says to the world, “I cook well and I have taste.”

    And yes, I do have toast (Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat) every day. One of the true joys of life.

  7. Ha! Funny you asked this because I just started storing our toaster in the cabinet. We also have minimal counterspace and have toast maybe once or twice a week so it makes sense to store it rather than keep it out.

  8. It depends on how much they are used. We don’t have a lot of counter space, but we also don’t have a lot of storage space (plus what we do have it really high and I can only reach with a step stool) so it’s not an ideal situation.

    The microwave and toaster oven sit on one of those kitchen cart things that we got for extra storage. The only other appliances that are kept out are the panini maker and the popcorn maker, because we use those all the time. Everything else (ice cream maker, mixer, bread maker, blender etc) lives in the cabinets.

  9. Our toaster stays out, but we use it a lot. Plus it’s a smaller toaster and I have a TON of counter space, so it’s not that big of a deal.

    One thing that stays out all the time that I WISH would get put away (ahem) is the rice cooker. It’s large. It’s not that pretty. It’s typically in a rather inconvenient spot. But it’s a losing battle because someone in our house really likes rice and the rice cooker is constantly in use. And that person has a really hard time putting things away without being asked.

  10. Do to the lack of counter space, all my appliances go in my cupboards.(Amazingly, I have loads of cupboard space and no counter space. Don’t ask me how that happened.)Plus, I like the look of an uncluttered counter.

  11. I have a good amount of counterspace in my kitchen but I don’t like having appliances on the counter. I like a more simple, streamlined look.

  12. We keep our toaster out, mostly out of apathy. We use it a few times a month, but certainly not that often. My parents always kept theirs in the cupboard.

    I prefer keeping all the other appliances in the cupboard. One, so the house looks cleaner and I have more counter space. Two, because our cats do happy dances all over the counters when we’re not home.

    If we ever get the house organized, maybe we’ll put the toaster away, too.

  13. We keep our toaster out because bread is pretty much the only thing my kids eat. If I had more counter space, I’d be tempted to keep the rice cooker out because we use it equally often. But I love the look of not having appliances out, so it’s a tough call. If I had a Kitchen Aid (someday!) it would definitely go out on the counter though, it counts as decor.

  14. I, for one, have ZERO counterspace. In fact, our microwave (which I consider necessary to keep on the countertop) takes up HALF of our kitchen counterspace.

  15. Alas, I would love the look of a totally uncluttered counter, but I am not motivated enough to put EVERYTHING away right after I use it. Hence, the toaster is usually a permanent feature. I do, however, sometimes get into cleaning frenzies where the poor toaster gets jammed away into a cupboard. This results in a cupboard littered with breadcrumbs and also being asked “where’s the toaster?!?!” multiple times.

  16. Our toaster is on our counter, but we have such limited cabinet space, it’s not really a matter of preference.

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