Your kitchen is one of the busiest areas in your home. For most women, that’s where the magic happens: turning simple market finds into sumptuous meals. As the case may be, your kitchen is also home to your many pots, pans, containers, etc. While all of these kitchen tools and equipment are necessary to prepare great meals, it can be quite difficult to keep them all organized. Follow these simple steps to have a well-organized kitchen to make your daily cooking go smoothly.
delete everything first
Organizing is easier when you start with a clean whiteboard. Remove everything from your cabinets. Lay it all out on your kitchen table. Don’t be overwhelmed with the bulky pile of tools and equipment you’ll have after emptying out your cabinets. We all have much more of these things than we realize. Do the following steps and all those items will be gone in a few minutes.
Spell. Decide what you can do without.
Often our kitchen cabinets are filled with various items that we no longer need. Many of us are guilty of keeping rusty tin pots and pans, old jars, and broken utensils. Now that you have it all in front of you, decide what you need and what you don’t need anymore. Throw away (or donate, if possible) all items you will no longer use. This will definitely give you more space in your cabinets.
Organize by type and use
Organize your items by type. Gather dishes in one place, pots and pans in another. Make sure the items in your kitchen are grouped according to type. Keeping small and large plates in the same place helps family members find things when mom isn’t around. The same goes for bowls. Try to place your dishes closer to the dishwasher for convenience when putting things away. Pots and pans can often go in lower cabinets. Glasses should go near the sink so it’s easy to get a drink of water. Put the cups closer to the coffee pot.
It’s also a good idea to classify kitchen items based on how often you use them. In those tall or out of the way cabinets you can store pots, pans and dishes that you don’t use very often. We all have turkey platters and roasters that are only used a couple of times a year, so make sure you put them out of the way.
organizers
If you have a lot of small kitchen items and gadgets, it’s a good idea to buy small cabinet organizers to reduce clutter and keep things in their place. Utensil drawer organizers are inexpensive and keep things tidy. The office supply section of your local department store will have many types of plastic organizer trays. These are great for bottle openers, ice cream scoops, scoops, etc. Use containers for some foods like flour, sugar, and cookie mix. Make sure these containers are airtight to maintain freshness and extend the shelf life of your food. Wide mouth glass jars are ideal for rice, pasta and beans.
put things back
Now that you have your kitchen fully organized, encourage your family to put things back where they found them. You can put little sticky notes on the items left out that say cute things like:
“They left me at the counter. Please help me find my way home.” This is a fun way to teach your family about putting things away. The whole house feels more comfortable and less cluttered when everyone does their part.
