I’ve read studies showing people may want to cook and yet have a hard time doing it when they have limited or no counter space due to overabundance of appliances and other clutter. It totally made sense to me as many years ago I once house sat for a friend and there was barely an inch of free counter space not occupied by some appliance, tool or containers to store staples like sugar and flour. It was not a tiny kitchen. As someone who cooks at home, I greatly value cleared counter space for food prepping.
It makes sense to have some appliances that are used on a daily basis, such as a blender and coffee maker, on the counter for easy access. The other appliances, not so much. Finding a home for the others can be a challenge if the cabinets are full. Yet still removing the less frequently used appliances would help free up counter space for food prep. Sometimes keeping the most active appliances in one area instead of all spread out can help create pockets of free space to work on as well.
If there’s no counter space in your kitchen, having a professional organizer help sort through what you have and make sense of your space based on your current needs can make you feel like cooking a gourmet meal.
Having a clear and clean countertop is essential for cooking. I have two shelves in my cabinets in which all small appliances are kept (including toaster oven and coffee maker). Another essential for cooking is to clean up as you go along, so even if your counter space is limited, you can create “more” by just cleaning up after each step or few steps of a recipe.
Good points and thanks for sharing J!