Your Cart is Empty
Whether you are a soccer mom providing snacks for the team mere hours in advance, or a graduate student trying to get by on little more than instant noodles, the kitchen is the main room for daily preparations. It is key to arrange this space in harmony to the constant functions at hand. Who doesn’t want to make life a little simpler and streamline their food prep to save more time for chomping down? There is a multitude of methods to transform your kitchen and plenty of appliances that can add to your routine. So let’s start with some basic tips for the initial organization:
Make sure you have adequate floor space and empty each cabinet and drawer completely onto the floor. Avoid piling up too many items so that you have a good view of the sprawling array. Look through, review, and ask yourself questions like “Is this an item I use and/or have a special attachment to?” If the answer is no, then be merciless and donate or discard. As you go through your collection you may also find items that are duplicates or broken. Another common event is finding things you forgot you even owned!
Once you have culled the herd, assemble your kitchen items according to similar functions or ways that you, in particular, use them. For example, cooking items can be grouped together, baking items can form another pile, special holiday appliances can have their own seasonal section etc.
In order to avoid unnecessary back and forth trips around the kitchen, delegate where each new group of items should be stored. Baking and cooking tools should be in the area where you do most of the food preparation. Glassware may be the most efficient near the refrigerator or sink, and utensils could go in a drawer closest to the food prep area as well. You can get as creative as you like! Placing an adequately sized cutting board over part of the sink can provide the same function (cutting/chopping) in addition to adding counter space!
When the horizontal storage spaces are running low, make use of the vertical. Place adhesive hooks on the inside of pantry and cabinet doors, as well as underneath cabinets. These can be used to hang things like mugs, pots, pans, oven mitts, and items that would otherwise clutter the horizontal storage space and counter-tops. Hanging pocket organizers also do the job, and go neatly in the cabinet under the sink. Some people take the vertical storage methods to the next level by using their adhesive hooks to hang tiny or medium-sized baskets for further storage space.
Besides the eating utensils, drawer dividers are great for organizing the miscellany to avoid the common problem of junk drawers. Utilize the same concepts of grouping items by function, and delegating areas according to the most efficient proximity.
These are some of the methods that have helped us. What have you done to whip your kitchen into shape? Planning on using any of the suggestions in this article? Let us know!