Just yesterday I was at HomeGoods shopping for a client’s kitchen renovation–and, you know, you can find the coolest and funniest things in the kitchen gadget department…“OOH!” I thought, “A coffee pot brush! It is squishy, and… so SQUISHY! and….there is a handle! And it says it is ‘totally harmless’…FASCINATING. Oh, I WANT that! How squishy!”
But waitaminute…I have a question:
How many functions/tasks will this tool help me accomplish in my kitchen? Let’s review:
- Yes, I know it is squishy (clearly something I value).
- Yes, I know it would REALLY adeptly and harmlessly clean my coffeepot (since when am I so worried about the wellbeing of my coffee carafe??).
- Yes, I know it is innovative and neat-o…
BUT how many functions/tasks will this tool help me accomplish in my kitchen???
Why do I keep asking this same question? Why should YOU keep asking yourself this question as well? I’m going to tell you because…
You guessed it! This is our quick assignment for the month!!
This quirky coffee pot brush might distract me with dreams of a squeaky clean coffee machine….but it isn’t going to chop vegetables, clear snow, help me change a lightbulb, or sign school papers as well. ALL IT WILL EVER DO IS CLEAN MY COFFEE POT–and it will take up a lot of space in the many days that stretch between coffee machine deep cleanings–am I right??
Storage space in our kitchens is a very valuable and limited resource. When we decide to have something take up some of this precious space, we need to do so with some scrutiny–making sure that the item has truly earned the right to be there. The question of how many tasks the implement helps us accomplish is a very important one, because as a general rule we should not have anything in our kitchen that only does one thing.
Did you just gasp?
Did you just run to hide your Mellon Baller??
Your assignment this month is to set a timer for 15 minutes and try to find at least three things that aren’t earning their keep in your kitchen. If it is something that is rarely or never used, or something that is so specific to one certain task that suddenly you see how ridiculous it is that you have been letting it take up so much real estate, let it go and free up some much needed space in this hard working room!
Remember these assignments are supposed to be fun not overwhelming! Set your timer, and have fun. Can’t wait to hear how it goes!
