As a non-native speaker of English, I'm not sure if naming my upcoming blog and social channels "Messy Kitchen" would be a terrible idea.
To me it sounds fun, kind of hands-on, an ode to experimentation and a light-hearted spirit, but given it's going to be about food recipes and techniques, I'm worried that native speakers will get a conscious or even subconscious negative feeling from the messy applied to food.
Is this worry justified?
Native English Speaker Here:
I don't think your worry is justified. Most people have messy kitchens after working on some culinary project. Just baking a cake can leave a mess.
Messy does not mean "unhealthy" or "disgusting", words we would use for a mess allowed to sit and draw insects or grow mold.
Usually, a "messy" kitchen is put back in order fairly quickly simply by washing up: dishes, pots, pans, bowls, counter, mixer, blender, cutting boards, stove top, whatever was used in the preparation. And of course putting away, spices, bottles, etc.
But it does provide a nice contrast, a perfect culinary work of art with all the mess that produced it in the background. Kind of messy like an artist's studio is messy.
Messy does not automatically trigger thoughts of unhealthy. It usually just implies there is some clean up to do.
As @TimothyAWiseman says in the comments, synonyms of "Messy" like "Dirty, Filthy, Grimy" do have unhealthy connotations. This answer applies to the specific word "Messy".
"Messy kitchen" is a great name and "messy" doesn't have the unclean connotation in present-day English that it used to have. But, as others have said, there are not only quite a few hits on the web for this name, it's also the name for a philosophy of kitchen organization and might imply that you follow it's strictures, that you are an adherent to this particular philosophy. Google "messy kitchen" to see what I'm referring to. You should probably look at synonyms for "messy" and "kitchen" and see if you can construct another title that isn't so prevalent on the web. Chaotic? Lawless? Cookery? Or go back and ask yourself what you really want to do and maybe you can come up with another name that isn't along these lines. Whatever you come up with, you should definitely Google it and see what's already out there. Like you were already thinking with the name "Messy Kitchen", something slightly edgy and eye-catching is what you're looking for.
