This Kitchen Tip From Martha Stewart Makes Everyday Cooking Way More Convenient

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Martha Stewart isn't just the doyenne of gracious hospitality; she's also something of a genius when it comes to useful kitchen hacks that work really well for your average home cook. From Stewart, we learned an accessible hack to increase counter space in small kitchens, as well as a practical way to store kitchen towels and save on precious drawer space. Stewart's personal home kitchen is a vast farmhouse beauty with two Viking ranges, antique fixtures, and too many gleaming copper pots to count, but we appreciate her ability to keep it real with tips the hoi polloi can implement.

On Martha Stewart's website, we learned that the First Lady of the Kitchen keeps a big cutting board on her countertops at all times, meaning that chopping and prepping food is as easy as can be. Lest you think that she only uses the board as a convenient place to dice onions, know that she also utilizes it as a safe spot to park hot pots and pans, preserving her countertops. For safety reasons, Stewart puts a non-slip pad under her cutting board to prevent accidents. Silicone feet that attach to the corners of your cutting board should also get the job done. Martha's cutting board is a jumbo commercial model, suiting the scale of her enormous cooking space, but even a modest-sized board will be a tremendous asset to your daily meal prep if you keep it conveniently located as Stewart urges you to do.

Do you like Martha Stewart's idea of keeping a cutting board always within easy reach but lack the counter space to make it a reality? No sweat — you can easily maintain the spirit of this hack while preserving your invaluable kitchen real estate. Hanging your cutting board from a nail or hook over your counters isn't just sensible use of otherwise-wasted space, but it also allows you the bonus of keeping your cutting boards nice and dry. Letting it get damp, along with using the dishwasher, is a mistake you might be making when cleaning a wooden cutting board. This trick works especially well with a pretty cutting board but perhaps isn't as attractive when your board is scarred from long-term heavy use.

Here's another option: if you really want to keep a handy cutting board but your counters aren't spacious enough, consider ... your sink? Yes, really. Over-the-sink cutting boards can be both beautiful and functional, turning empty space into a useful workstation. There are several advantages to using these specialized boards, including easy cleanup, containing messes, and swiftly transitioning food from board to cooking vessel without worrying so much about spills. Leaving the cutting board over your sink when not in use can actually be a practical choice, keeping your sink sanitary after it is cleaned. It's possible to enjoy the convenience of Martha Stewart's always-available cutting board without having Stewart's ample free space; you just need to think creatively.