Kitchen organization doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming and the effort is so worth it. An organized kitchen makes both cooking and entertaining a pleasure. Instead of searching through cupboards and drawers for different items, taking a little time on a regular basis, keeps your kitchen organized. The trick to an kitchen organization is simply incorporating these 8 simple tips and ideas and your kitchen will run more efficiently, it will look more like a kitchen seen in a decor magazine. When it comes to kitchen organization I use the 3Es of organization and they are Easy, Effective and Efficient. Within each of these tips one or all three of these guidelines are included keeping clutter at bay.
Kitchen Organization Tips
1. Stove area more effective:
All great chefs have their ‘go to’ items within easy reach of the stove top. Depending on which items you use regularly are the items you need to consider for easy access. For instance, if the area near your stove is littered with bottles of oil, salt and pepper mills, spices, then consider keeping all these ‘go to’ items on a tray. The tray need not be fancy or expensive. A simple tray works well and, it can be utilitarian or decorative, your choice to fit your decor. This way, everything will be in one easily accessible place and spills, which do happen, will be easier to clean too. Think of the area around the stove as the ‘tool belt’ for cooking. With a tool belt you want the most used items available. Using a tray for these items helps keep your kitchen organization effective.
2. Pots and Pans hung for more efficient use of kitchen real estate:
Have you seen photos of chefs in their kitchens and how they often hang their pots and pans? Well, you create the same thing in your kitchen. You don’t need a large area to do this; a small corner or free ceiling space close to the stove will work. I recently saw an old latter suspended over an island with S-hooks screwed into the rails making a creative and efficient way to store your pots and pans. Another way is install a handrail against a wall and then use several S-hooks to hang your pots and pans. Both these out of cupboard ideas make your pots and pans more accessible, will free up cupboard space while making a decorative statement.
3. A clutter free sink area made easy:
Don’t you find that the around and under the sink area has become a depot for tools for scrubbing, moisturize lotions and hand soaps of different varieties. Better kitchen organization can be accomplished with the use of pretty trays or small containers where you can place your brushes and sponges. It is best to keep cleaning and scrubbing items under your sink within a container for easy and less clutter around the sink. Your hand soap will look better in a simple clear glass dispenser. This makes this utilitarian item more attractive. All these items can be purchased at very reasonable cost from local home decor or hardware stores. You don’t need a lot of money to accomplish this suggestion. These will give your kitchen sink a more uncluttered and unified look.
4. Recycling can be pretty easy and efficient:
Today recycling is part of our lives and incorporating this can sometimes be a challenge. There are lots of pull out trash bins which hold more multiple bins to make sorting easy. If this isn’t an option for you, create a corner using uniform attractive containers or baskets to collect all your paper, glass, aluminum and wastes. Labeling each makes it easy for everyone in the household to keep things organized and know where each of the different trash belongs. These will look more attractive than piles of trash in your kitchen.
5. Add some spice to your spices:
When storing spices and condiments, you could try storing them all in glass jars or canning jars. These make them look uniform compared to storing them in their actual packaging. This suggestion takes a little time investment however, the benefit can be great if you think uniformity. With uniformity, you can easily keep spice jars on a tiered shelf made for either a shelf or drawer. Uniformity among spices saves space and money. Once the spice is in the jar then buying refills in bulk is less expensive. You can even label each spice easily. Think again, which spices do you use on a regular basis? Place these important spices at the front of your cupboard or drawer.
6. Failure to Prune
Do it regularly. I recommend the 3Es of kitchen organizing – make it EASY, EFFICIENT and EFFECTIVE and regular decluttering, even 10 minute chunks work. Who can’t commit to pruning for 10 minutes a day or even once per week??
7. Set up a Plan or Functional Areas in your Kitchen
Cupboard and drawers become so much more functional when they are organized with one, maybe two, purposes. Junk drawers have their name for a good reason because when an area doesn’t have a single purpose this is the result over time. Keep this in mind when you are looking to expand your existing space or getting more use from a cupboard or drawer. We often make the mistake that making a space function for multiple uses is better, in fact this often leads to the purpose getting muddled up and becoming disorganized.
8. Emotional Attachment
Kitchen organization doesn’t need to be difficult. On thing that gets in the way is our emotional attachment to our stuff we received as gifts or inherited. If it is something that means a lot to you, don’t keep it stuffed away in a drawer or cupboard – bring it out and showcase it as decoration. There are oodles of ways to accomplish this. One simple way is find an existing shelf or space to put it on. Keep this to a minimum. Too much looks too cluttered.
There you have it. Easy, Effective and Efficient tips on creating a kitchen you will love working and entertaining in. The key to kitchen organization is taking the time to do it.