Axis Minimalist: 2013 January Kitchen Tour

Our kitchen's a work-in-progress.

We're questioning everything we own and realigning our lifestyles to meet our values. We're not buying disposable crap meant for the landfill.

We're eating outside the horrific food system that not only maltreats animals, but dehumanizes us humans with frankenfoods and slaughterhouse-complicity. We're supporting our local farmers instead.

Though we're vulnerable to marketers who assault us with their dumbass mind-control to buy crap made through secretive means that destroys our earth and our fellow human beings, we refuse to accept their denial. We want to be free of the lies of the bullshit global economy that maintains the hegemony of the .0001%, the 100 people worth $ 1.9 trillion (on a planet with 7 billion people).

Our "must-be" virtues of 21st century success:

We are going vegan as best as we can (the adults, not the kids), eating quality foods that we cook for our selves and our family. The kids are eating meat that meets our ethical standards.
We are shopping at farmer's markets instead of Trader Joe's--love the food but their packaging is giving us too much landfill-guilt.
We are working toward starting our compost again.
We are working on getting rid of the trash can.
We are going to grow food, especially: potato, tomato, green onion.

Welcome to the kitchen (January 2013)

The right-hand side: dining area for two adults and two kids.

I learned from Zen Habits. This area has a dining table, two adult vapor chairs (Clearly, I was mad about cb2 acrylic crap), and two kids urban chairs (ikea). The round pictures are portraits painted on paper plates with kids water color paint, for real. I taped a picture I drew with my kids of them over a calendar for an easy upcycle. The garland was bought at Tail of the Yak in Oakland/Berkeley. (fyi--I am naming these retail particulars to help search engines and draw in people who share my taste/interest in objects.)

The left-hand side of the dining area holds two chairs. Before minimalism, this area held TWO ikea meltorp shelves! Crazy! It displayed Anthropologie serving ware and other fancy mass-produced materialism. Now it's serene, clean and fanciful from the flowery branch and the flea market chandelier! I learned to use the mirror as a white board from reading Bea Johnson's Zero Waste Home blog.

I found the branch.
I made these crepe paper flowers using paper from Castle in the Air in Berkeley.

My kids love them!

Built-in shelf. The top shelf holds everyday and special occasion dishes. The mid-shelf holds kids stuff; I ask the children each time to please help set the table. The bottom shelf keeps aspirational cookbooks--could declutter.

The counter holds a rice cooker, a dish drainer, a water purifier, coffee maker and a toaster oven. We're of Korean descent: we need our daily rice. We're also Angelenos: we need our daily toast and coffee! This area used to hold a microwave.

Hand soap and dishwasher soaps are refilled. I use a Method hand soap pouch and a big dish-washing jug from Costco Kirkland brand. We would love to make these products. We use vinegar and water in spray bottles with microfiber cloths for everything. Those sponges are from a Costco pack bought like 3 years ago.

The opposite side to the previous picture: shelves and the hanger rod from ikea. This area also used to hold a kitchen-butcher-block-island, yikes!

We keep our fruit on the top shelf. Farmer's market produce disappears quickly.
The second shelf holds rags and cloth napkins.

A tangential review of Ikea's Docksta dining table:

Docksta table, close-up, after two years of use. The table became marred with chips within the first few months. We should have listened to the reviews. We loved the table's lines, but now, it acts as a cautionary tale. Not worth it.