The Blessing of a Broken Dishwasher

--written by Brenda
I will be honest, one of the on-going challenges in my home has been keeping a clean kitchen.  It is not for lack of cleaning products as I am a firm believer in cleaning with all-natural, green cleaning products.  Something mysterious seems to occur between the late afternoon hours and the late night hours of the day.  The "Dirty Dish Bandits" show up and do their mischief. (I am sure these "Dirty Dish Bandits" are in cohorts with my teenagers!)

Then one day it happened, my dishwasher died. 

It was not a sudden death but a slow drawn-out death.  Even though I knew it would happen soon, I was not ready for that day.

With my dishwasher now beyond repair, the Dirty Dish Bandits wreaked even more havoc in my kitchen. Although my children (college-aged & teenagers) do chores around the house, and clean up the dishes after supper, my kitchen always seems to have some dirty dishes lying about (in those peak hours I already mentioned).  When the dishwasher broke, the problem became compounded.

I decided enough is enough and one weekday afternoon I set about removing every cup, glass, bowl, plate and all silverware from my kitchen cupboards. 

The broken dishwasher was propelling our family into minimalism!

What remained in the cupboards were five glasses, five coffee cups, five plates and six silverware settings.  I also removed excess storage containers; keeping these from becoming cereal bowls.   Serving bowls and mixing bowls stayed.

My kids came home from work and school shocked at what they found, or didn't find I should say!  They thought I had lost it!  What I found was new freedom!  We really did not need to have so many cups and bowls and plates.  As it was, if you went to get a plastic cup out of the cupboard, you were apt to bump a set and they would all come crashing out.
 

Now every time I open a cupboard door, I feel such freedom!  The empty space is freeing!  I never would have thought I would feel this way, it is such a blessing.  On top of this, the amount of dishes to be washed has been greatly reduced—obviously.  The Dirty Dish Bandits are sulking somewhere I know it!

Why did we have so much?  We really did not need to have 15 plastic cups, 10 glasses 12 juice glasses and 15 coffee mugs.  Not to mention numerous plates of various sizes.  I have kept some extra glasses and plates for when we have company, but those are kept in a different location, away from tempting usage.

My daughter asked me if we were going to get a new dishwasher and I said, "No, we don't need one now!"  The money we would have had to save up for a new dishwasher can go to something else that would be of better benefit.      

Having a minimal kitchen is a joy because green cleanup is a cinch! Living minimally is possible, my kitchen is one example!  Because of the effectiveness of this change I am looking at other areas where we can be more minimal in our home.  My green spring cleaning time is around the corner and I am excited to see what other spaces I can significantly reduce!  

Are you a green cleaner?  Have you begun a journey toward minimalism? 
What's your story?

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