We have an Australian kitchen with a twist today, it's in Japan. Adele has sent her photos in and she writes:
"I am an Aussie trying to live a simpler life amongst the hustle and bustle of Japan. I am also a stay at home mum to three children under the age of five. While the Japanese are over consumers there is also a new shift towards thriftiness and frugal living.
"I am an Aussie trying to live a simpler life amongst the hustle and bustle of Japan. I am also a stay at home mum to three children under the age of five. While the Japanese are over consumers there is also a new shift towards thriftiness and frugal living.
In all honesty my kitchen sink is never empty like this but I wanted to show you how big the kitchen sinks are in Japan. My five year old daughter could actually take a bath in it it's that big!! I still haven't figured out why they are so big when the rest of the house is so compact!
The other photo shows as much of my kitchen that I could get into the frame. I am lucky to have a system kitchen, while it is a bit dull it is just the right size and very functional. My rice cooker and bread-maker sit side by side and they both get a daily workout, sort of east meets west. Like the majority of Japanese homes there is no oven but I have learned to cook in a microwave convection, I've been promised a real oven one day. There is also no pantry/large cupboard in Japanese kitchens but to offset this there is storage under the kitchen floor, you can see a square on the floor in front of my stove. We put things there that we don't use so often and it is a great place to leave the pickles when they are maturing.
Thankyou for letting all of us partake in this series, it really is a look in to the heart of peoples homes."
Adele's blog is here.
Goodness, no oven! That would be really hard for me. Lovely efficient looking kitchen. And yes, that sink is huge!
ReplyDeleteLove the new look, Rhonda!
Barb_in_GA
How neat to see a kitchen in Japan! Your big sink is great, and your whole kitchen looks very efficient. I have often wondered about storing things in the floor in my small house but have never seen anything like that done in the US. Good to know I am not completely crazy for thinking of it.
ReplyDeleteUnder the floor sounds like a great place to mature pickles! I'm liking your fresh sharp blog image overhaul too Rhonda.
ReplyDeleteI love your tidy little kitchen. I guess you need a bread machine if you don't have an oven! Good for you, learning to make the best of things in a different environment.
ReplyDeletewow whatt an interesting kitchen! i dont think i could survive without an oven, well done on that front! and i love the under-the-floor storage, what in ingenious use of space!
ReplyDeletePS, love the now layout Rhonda, very streamlined and sleak. :-)
Vicky. x
I like how everything just "fits". It may not be the biggest kitchen ever (though I'm crazy about your huge kitchen sink/bath tub), but it comes together so well. It seems like a place to spend cosy moments, preparing the food for the people you love..
ReplyDeleteThat is one big sink! I too have a very compact kitchen and I know what it's like to feel a tad bit cramped. Making do with what you have is the most important part and it looks like you are doing an excellent job at it! Love your photos! I am off to look at your blog now as well.
ReplyDeleteI love the new layout of your blog. It is much more eye appealing! Thank you for all your insight on homemaking and frugality.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your blog. I have especially enjoyed the kitchen posts. I too went out and bought a new drainer and made a bunch of dishcloths, teaching myself to knit!
Sincerely,
Teresa in Ohio
Wow! I've never, ever seen a kitchen like that before. Can't imagine being without an oven. And that floor storage is pretty cool! It always amazes me to see the differences from culture to culture. :) Melissa
ReplyDeleteLove your door in the floor. What a nice idea for keeping can goods out of site. I hope you get an oven real soon. I use mine all the time. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love this kitchen but I don't think I could manage without an oven - I know you can bake in a microwave but can you roast a chicken?
ReplyDeleteOhhh got to love the size of that sink - I would be in heaven with that. No Oven!!! Must admit that would be hard - but I guess like all things you get used to what you have. Thank you for sharing your kitchen.
ReplyDeletePS Rhonda - wow new look. Love it.
This series is just so fascinating ... it's amazing to me how there are things so similar about kitchens all over the world and then things that are so different. No oven would be hard for me ... and no pantry cupboard would also be difficult, but where there's a will ....
ReplyDeleteI too love the new look of your blog, Rhonda ... love that header photo!
wow this is really interesting and the sink is huge!!! I love the storage idea.
ReplyDeleteWe live in Beijing and our kitchen did not come with an oven either. We bought a counter top toaster oven and I have been able to make almost anything I have needed to cook, even a turkey. I also own a rice cooker that gets used often. Your kitchen is great! I love the in floor storage! We look for Japanese kitchen stores here for the Japanese space saving stuff.
ReplyDeletei love the storage in the floor! what a neat idea and something you would never find in a florida home. my son has always asked for us to build him a "trap door". i could imagine him trying to hide out in your little storage area :)
ReplyDeletewow, what a different kitchen! thanks for sharing :o)
ReplyDeleteRhonda it is just so wonderful and interesting seeing all these kitchens from around the world, thank you!
Love the big sink!! I was just going to say it would be great for cleaning big roasters...but you don't have an oven! LOL It's a great kitchen with or without an oven! Darlene
ReplyDeleteThanks for the look inside your kitchen in Japan. I enjoy watching an American show called "House Hunters International." It amazes me, when they go to Asian countries, how expensive it is for such compact spaces.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been hard to learn to cook w/out a regular oven. I hope you get yours soon. Storage in the floor would be great.
Blessings from Ohio/USA...Kim<><
Adele,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your kitchen photos with us. It is so interesting to see and read about how your kitchen there is different than those in the west.
Love that big sink!
Why don't they have ovens in Japan, does no one bake? Love the kitchen sink, its so large, but still baffled by the lack of an oven.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of under floor storage.
The best kitchen I ever had was the smallest. And I once did without an oven for six months during winter, but it was amazing how we adapted. Love the size of that sink too!Thanks for a look at your kitchen..
ReplyDeleteHow fun! You have a very nice looking kitchen there! I always imagined a smaller area for kitchens in Japan...don't ask why!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your kitchen...this is very interesting!
Amazing kitchen. Very interesting. How does microwave convection differ from a 'regular' microwave or an oven anyone know?
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting kitchen! That sink is awesome.
ReplyDeleteHello Adele, When I first moved into this home, my oven smelled of gas every time I turned it on, so I used my convection M/wave and cooked everything I needed in that - cakes, biscuits, roasts. We did eventually get a new oven, and not long afterwards the M/w died and the new one was just a regular one. I miss the convection. Your kitchen looks very comfy though.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Faye in Pinjarra WAust.
Adele, Thank you for sharing your kitchen with us. I love the big sink. I have to admit I would not know what to do without an oven. I never thought of storing things in the floor. I like that idea! You have a lovely kitchen!
ReplyDeleteIt's very cool to see kitchens around the world. I would love to have a sink that large! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThankyou everyone for your comments and to those of you who visited my blog (and there were lots of you!!) Please come again
ReplyDeleteI don't do without here at all. My kitchen is big by Japanese standards and I am very lucky. (Claudia your image is right) I have lots of storage cupboards up the top but couldn't get them into the picture.LOL
Just because I don't have an oven doesn't mean I don't bake! Roast chicken and potatoes with self sauce saucing pudding for Christmas lunch, chiffon cakes, scones, slices, muffins and biscuits come out of my microwave /convection on a regular basis. I couldn't live if I didn't bake :)
Japanese didn't bake until recently so that's why there are no ovens and new houses often have oven but small in comparison to western homes.
A microwave/covection oven is two ovens in one. A microwave at the push of a button and an oven at the push of another. Mine also has a toaster and a grill!! The disadvantage is it is small-I only have one shelf so it takes forever to bake biscuits and muffins. But I CAN bake :)
The one thing that I have learnt from this series is that basically all our kitchens are the same, there are just a few differences according to the culture. Thankyou Ronda for this simple but truely inspiring series.
What an interesting article and a very nice kitchen. Good on you for managing without an oven. I would be climbing up the walls. What a good idea using the space under the floor - very useful.
ReplyDeleteRamona K
Sweden
I love it! I used to nanny for a lovely Japanese woman,and I loved her kitchen!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could manage without an oven as that's where I bake my bread. I love the tea towel (?) with the sheep!
ReplyDeleteI continue to love this series! A nice bright kitchen, but I would sure miss an oven! I have a small toaster-oven that I guess would so in a pinch.
ReplyDeleteUnderground storage..novel idea. A great use of space.
Connie
Very Cool! I really love the rack thingy that you hang your dish cloths on.
ReplyDeleteLovely Adele, it's great to see the difference of a Japanese kitchen.
ReplyDeleteCould you tell us about the dish cloth rack? It looks useful, and better than hanging the dish cloth over the edge of the sink/bench.
Candice
ReplyDeleteI bought that stainless steel dish cloth rack from our local harware shop (in the kitchen section of course!!) It has 3 'arms'. One has my dish cloth another a cloth for washing the kids hands after meals and the other a cloth for wiping up spills on the floor.
We really like the foodstuffs in the floor idea. We might adapt that for our own inner city dwelling where space is sparse and sacred...
ReplyDeleteI love the storage in the floor! Lovely kitchen. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! The mini-cellar is interesting -- I wonder is the other under-floor space taken up with plumbing or soundproofing?
ReplyDeleteSpent 10 days in Japan once and by then end of it we blew our budget on 'foreign' food as the Japanese food was very samey!
What an interesting kitchen! It is different to have the storage under the floor - maybe that's what I need... my kitchen is only 1 1/2 metres wide and 2 metres long!
ReplyDeleteI actually love the colours of the kitchen. Like most of the people commenting, I don't know if I could do without my NA sized oven. But I guess it's all what you get used to. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletecosy looking kitchen! I think the sinks are so big to fit in the woks!
ReplyDeleteI'd love a huge double sided sink like that!
Thank you so much for sharing, no oven, how many of us would fret at that, but isn't amazing how we can improvise, adapt and overcome.. I love your cute and stylish wee kitchen..
ReplyDelete