The Mininimalist Kitchen - Dishwashers

So many people fret over their kitchens. Either they don't have enough space, or they can't seem to keep them clean and uncluttered. The trick is to make the most of what we need and get rid of the rest and to use our appliances to their full potential rather than acquiring more of them. In future posts, I will discuss how to simplify a kitchen one piece at a time. Today I'm going to talk about dishwashers.

Dishwashers get a bad rap because they used to use a lot of water and energy. This is no longer true of newer models. According to the Tree Hugger site it uses less water and energy to run a dishwasher if it is full than to wash dishes by hand. Also, there are some great dishwashers out there now with the Energy Star label that you can get a tax credit for and sometimes even a cash rebate.

My favorite dishwasher is the double dish drawer made by Fisher Paykel and Kitchen Aid. The drawers are easy to load and you can run one at a time or both together. They use very little water and energy to run, so you can just fill one up and run it. Dirty dishes in the sink or around the house do not bode well with a minimalist, and this is a great way to keep dishes out of the sink. You don’t have to rush to put the clean dishes away because you have more dirty ones. You simply load the other dish drawer.

There are varying speeds the least of which is 15 minutes - plenty for drink glasses. I have a lot of parties and clean up is a breeze because I can put serving dishes in the bottom drawer (run it longer) and glasses in the top and run a quick cycle.

These dishwashers aren't cheap but are well worth the money. There is the option to buy just one drawer for half the price as well. The varying speeds, ease of loading and energy and water savings are worth it even it you buy just one.