Kitchen of the Week: A Lease Kitchen That Moonlights

Andy Sermonia is one of those rare tenants with a great kitchen, which includes ample wood cabinets, granite counters and a granite counter. But prepping and photographing dishes for Sermonia’s blog still may be a struggle when she is working with a lot of ingredients. The photographer and mom maneuvers just like a whirlwind, making the most of her San Mateo, California, kitchen by finding new storage tricks and keeping her counter space clear and clean.

Cooking for the her website and her family may get complex in this layout, but the ample cabinetry helps keep things up and away from the counters.

Magnetized items keep must-haves neat. Magnetic spice holders and notepads — such as those on the side of the fridge at the far right of the photo — help Sermonia remain organized. “Laptops are really crucial for my recipes,” she says. “I always have one at the kitchen.”

Q. What’s one thing you enjoy on your kitchen?
A. It’s a lot of storage. I am able to hide away kitchen equipment easily, which is important to mepersonally, because I enjoy using a great deal of countertop space to work with.

Cabinets are organized carefully by task and types of items. Keeping items helps to keep counters clear and the kitchen looking spick-and-span. Any additional counter space may be used to dress things up with practical and pretty kitchen accessories.

To maintain her cabinets additional arranged, Andy often makes use of simple white hooks which may be attached with tape. “It’s definitely helped me with regards to storage, and it is great for tenants with landlords which don’t allow drilling from the walls.”

Q. What’s one storage or space-saving secret you have learned from your kitchen?
A. Keep everything close by — not they aren’t yet! Have everything categorized; this way, looking for things you need becomes easier.

Sermonia’s hardwood flooring make cleanup a snap. Since she elevates, she didn’t choose her kitchen finishes, but her all-white kitchen accessories and dishes produce brightness and goodwill.

Q. What are three of your kitchen comforts or accessories which you love?
A. Definitely the food processor — I use it a whole lot to prep; the mixer to get when I inhale pastries; and the oven.

Sermonia shoots the majority of the stuff for her website and portfolio in a little place right next to the kitchen. A little table with black and white backgrounds nearby helps her get the most from her house’s natural light.

Q. What’s one thing you aspire to modify in your kitchen in the not too distant future?
A.Since we are just renting, I’m learning more and more what I actually want in a kitchen. Absolutely lots of space, larger cabinets and a very big pantry! An island would be fine also. And since I’m 80% photographer and 20 percent cook, I really need large windows to allow a good deal of natural lighting in to picture my small kitchen experiments.

Straightforward, crowd-pleasing pasta dishes are one of Sermonia’s favourite things to whip up for a dinner party. This creamy mushroom pasta is a staple in her home and may be put together with nominal cookware and ingredients.

Q. What’s your go-to dish for a dinner party at your house, and why?
A.Almost anything Filipino. I grew up eating Filipino food and have watched my mom, father, aunts, uncles and grandmas cook it. It was something that came naturally and still does. And then there’s pasta! It’s simple, and everybody likes it.

Like most food-loving tenants, Sermonia dreams of the day when she could have a new kitchen exactly to her liking. “The best advice I could give is to make sure to always clean your kitchen and clean outside the countertops as much as possible,” she says. “The things on these, the better.”

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