Organize The Clutter

Your home is your starting point and final destination every day. It is the primary place you are supposed to experience a calm and relaxing environment, where you can feel at peace and in control.  Since your kitchen reflects your lifestyle and endures a lot of traffic, it is essential that you keep this area organized. Here are some tips to help you organize your kitchen.

Take an inventory.  Go through your kitchen and evaluate everything you have there.  Does it belong there or did it just take up residence? Is that item used on a regular basis?  Can it be stored somewhere else?  Is there anything that you don’t use at all?  Is there anything that’s broken or that no longer functions or that you simply don’t want anymore?  Sell, donate, give it away or throw it away.

Once you have decided what to keep and what to get rid of, you need to consider functionality.  Are there certain utensils or appliances or gadgets that you use on a daily basis?  Obviously, keep those things close at hand and readily accessible, can you also find a spot where they’re out of sight?  Cooking utensils, for example, can be kept in a standing or hanging container near your stove or oven rather than taking up valuable drawer space.  The primary goal for those items is accessibility. Can a basket or plastic shoe box sized tub contain those items be stored close by, ready to be pulled out and used and put away when the kitchen is idle?

Sometimes it is helpful to categorize areas of your kitchens.  Each area accommodates certain activities or functionalities like meal-planning, food preparation, cooking, serving, storage, and cleaning. There is often some cross-over in the use of these areas.  What are the key items that are used in each of these areas?  Is it practical or even possible to effectively store them near these areas?  Always consider the kitchen layout, it’s flow and convenience when you organize your kitchen. Would it make more sense to store the dishes, near the sink, the dishwasher, the dining room table or the stove? Glasses are commonly near the sink or the refrigerator. It all depends on you.

Next, remove everything from the drawers, cupboards, and cabinets. Group items together. Place glassware together, plastic containers together, pots and pans together, knives together, etc.  If you have not successfully purged all unnecessary items in previous steps, set aside anything you find that is broken or no longer useful or no longer desired.  Sell, donate, give away or throw away those items.  The same is true for items in your pantry, refrigerator and freezer.

Now it’s time to position things.  This is where we keep in mind the categorized areas of the kitchen and the items regularly used within them.  Also, consider placing the things that work together near each other. For example, pots, pans, spatulas, whisks and ladles should be placed near the stove; mixing bowls, mixers and measuring cups should be in the baking area, near the oven. Small appliances, sharp utensils and cleaning chemicals should be placed in properly secured storage areas when not being used so that children cannot reach them and harm themselves. Seldom used utensils, appliances and tools should be placed in non active areas such as on top or bottom shelves, nooks or even the pantry.  When it comes to the pantry, food cupboards and cabinets, categorize foods together. For example: Oils, sauces and vinegars together, canned meats together, canned vegetables together, dry goods- Flower, Sugar, and salt together in another area, breakfast cereals with other breakfast cereals, snacks with snacks, etc. When dealing with food items, practice what the supermarket does by placing your newly obtained items of the same thing behind older items thus using up the older item before the expiration dates.

Assigning a work area for everything will help you find what you are looking for – it’s imperative that once an item is used, that it gets put back where it came from. When you empty the dishwasher after the cleaning cycle, take the time to put the plates, glasses, pots and pans, everything back where it came from. So the next time you’re looking for that spatula or measuring cup, you know exactly where to look for it when you need it, thus saving you time and effort. Having a clean and effectively organized kitchen can make your tasks flow more smoothly, pleasing to look at, and all the more enjoyable for you to prepare and share those delectable home-cooked meals with your family.
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