Hey I’m Bea, video producer at Refinery29
with a side hustle as a professional organizer.
On today’s episode,
I’m meeting up with Chef Gabe Kennedy
who needs a little bit of help
in his own kitchen.
Hey Bea!
This is my kitchen in Brooklyn
and as you can see,
it has a lot of potential.
Sometimes a little bit of a mess.
When you open the cabinets...
Woo!
No me gusta.
Could use a lot help, your expertise.
I know you’re the guru.
Please, come, help me.
Who is it?
— Hi Gabe! — Hi!
Welcome to The Dojo!
It’s an amazing space.
So, the kitchen...
It’s a nice amount of space but tell me
a little bit about what’s going on.
I see a whole bunch of stuff.
I’m used to working in organized, professional
kitchens and then I get home and it’s a
little bit of a shit show.
I got some cookbooks.
Here is my little plant life center.
I’m afraid things are gonna topple onto me.
I mean, I have a few more cool things,
like, as you can see over here...
My little tea thing.
Oh, that’s cool.
And there’s even more.
— Like, these are plates. — China set?
Yeah, so there’s like nice plates in here.
Are those yours?
No, they’re not.
Oh.
I felt bad throwing these away.
I couldn’t do that.
Maybe I could do a little cleansing.
Gabe’s just got a lot of stuff.
One of the things that’s a challenge
in this kitchen is that there’s just
minimal counter space.
You know, whether it’s here,
I don’t really have that much.
And even here, you lose a lot.
So, to extend it,
there’s this bar which houses
all of the hard liquor-
You’re not feeling.
I think could go.
I’ve always envisioned maybe like a butcher
block or something here.
I’m not crazy about the baskets.
This is the tea one
and this is the spices one.
You just kind of have to like,
clamor through it.
Zero order whatsoever.
This is like, use the chili flakes,
I’m like...woah!
Throw them in there and hope
they don’t spill.
I love the idea of having a spice rack
with little mason jars where it’s labeled.
There’s one thing missing from the space,
which is a table.
Yeah, you make all this good food but
you can’t even serve it.
So...
You are a chef.
Tell me a little bit about that life.
My overall mission is to connect people
and the planet through food.
Ultimately, get people engaging
with food more.
That’s what wakes me up in the morning.
Organizing and helping people out with their
spaces is actually what wakes me up in the
morning and what makes me feel like
I’m contributing.
Okay, so I always have to ask:
what kind of budget are we working with?
It’s an investment in myself and for people
that I love, so I would say $1,000
would feel appropriate.
I can go a long way with that.
I’m excited.
Likewise.
But what I need you to do is relinquish
control over the kitchen.
Get out.
It’s yours, chef.
It’s yours.
Ooh chef, I like that.
There are three things I want to focus on
in Gabe’s kitchen.
The first is tabletop space.
As a professional chef,
Gabe just needs more of it.
Secondly, Gabe loves plants
so I want to find a way to bring greenery
into the space that enhances it
and doesn’t clutter it.
And lastly,
what is a chef without a spice rack?
To get the plants off the counter,
I’m going to rig up some hanging pots
using some cotton rope and a little
strategic knot placement,
I’m creating a kind of rope basket for the pot.
Once I get this into Gabe’s space,
I’ll hang it from a ceiling hook.
I’m putting together a bar cart with a butcher
block top for extra counter space.
It’s an inexpensive piece so I’m just going to
reinforce all the joints with some extra strength
wood glue to increase this cart’s durability.
For Gabe’s spices, I’m doing a magnetic
spice rack with customizable labels.
I’m gonna start with a sheet of stainless steel
and I found these magnetic tins that
he can see into and write on.
Now, taking an erasable chalk pen,
I’ll label the tins.
This first one is gonna have cloves in it.
I’ll repeat this for all the spices and
he’ll have himself a full spice rack.
Alright, I’m done in the studio.
It’s time to head back to the kitchen.
I’m trying to fix some of his shelves so
they don’t fall apart.
Okay, I’m going in.
The last of the spices.
I’m ready to get Gabe.
— Okay. — Okay.
Come here, stand right here.
Ohh, yo!
This is sick!
I know, it’s a lot to take in all at once.
My heart's beating.
You have like, a food-safe wood counter top.
But also doubles as a bar.
— This thing is so clutch. — Get into it.
We also talked about your plants
and I thought hanging them was a fun way
to get some of your plants off of
your counter top.
I love these.
I’m such a sucker.
Woah.
Wait, come here.
Okay so then, obviously, we talked spices.
Chef and his spices, they’re a must have.
That’s so cool.
This is like a total transformation
of space and energy.
I did have some questions, however.
They have question marks on them.
I love that.
Because I didn’t know what the hell the were.
It’s a...It's a game for everyone.
Yeah.
These are, I know what they are.
They’re the unmarked, sketch baggies
from Turkey.
And do we know?
Some Turkish mystery spice?
They’re both delicious.
I don’t know what they are though.
I couldn't remember.
So we’ll keep the question marks.
And finally, we had talked about it.
You are a chef, an entertainer,
without a kitchen table.
Come over here.
We have your brand new kitchen table.
Look at this beauty!
— A chef, you need a space to... — It's a cherry on top.
present your plates.
I love it.
Hardwood.
— Hardwood, dark wood. — Can't get much better than that.
I gotta ask...
How much was the tab?
You wanna know how much I spent?
I want to know how much money I spent.
Okay so this one,
I went big on this one because I thought-
Go big or go home.
Yeah, yeah.
I thought it was worth it.
I admire what you do and I wanted the space
to be right for you so...
I spent $963.
Coming in under budget!
So...under budget!
The work and love that you put into it,
I’m really grateful.
This has totally shifted the vibe,
so thank you.
Oh, you’re welcome.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I’m gonna sit and wait.
And wait.
If you wanted to make a meal, or like...
I could just sit here all day.
I could see what I got.
Tea.
Wheatgrass shot.
Bring it on.
I’m sitting at the new kitchen table,
enjoying the new view of the kitchen,
plant life, it’s all good.
Thank you so much again for all the hard work
and love that you put into the space.
I totally feel it everyday.
Woo!
Thanks so much for watching.
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And let me know about your own hacks
in the comments below.
See ya next time!