Keeping a kitchen organized is having a place for every item and ensuring it’s well within reach. For example, you shouldn’t have to rifle through cabinets to find a bag of chips.
Toss unused items like chipped china and those coupe glasses you never use and reevaluate what’s essential.
Designate a Home for Every Item
One of the most critical steps to organizing a kitchen is ensuring everything has its proper place. While this may sound obvious, it’s often overlooked when creating a functional space.
To help get a handle on this, pull everything out of cabinets and drawers for a thorough inspection. Discard damaged or rarely used items, and donate or repurpose those you no longer need. For example, a bread maker you use once a month can easily be stored in a garage or basement and replaced with a toaster or microwave if needed for cooking or baking.
For cabinets, consider installing a turntable organizer for small appliances and utensils like this one. Also, add drawer dividers for flatware and containers and use adjustable inserts for deeper drawers. It helps items stay organized and makes it easier to find them. Similarly, a cabinet can be a convenient spot to store extra serving platters and linens.
Make Use of Every Space
Having designated storage kitchen cabinets for items is excellent, but you must also ensure they are used to their fullest potential. Kitchen items like plastic bags, to-go containers, and tools can quickly become messy when scattered around the kitchen. Use drawer dividers to tidy cutlery and other small objects rather than just stuffing everything in a drawer. It will save space and prevent things from falling over. Also, don’t just keep everything on the counter or in the pantry—think outside the box and find creative storage solutions that work with your kitchen. For example, adding a pegboard backsplash to the wall can give you additional storage for hooks that hold cleaning products or cooking utensils.
Make Sure It’s Easy to Find
Keeping up with a clean and organized kitchen requires everyone in your household to understand where things should go. Make it a point to label cabinet and drawer contents using chalk labels, vinyl lettering, or pre-printed pantry labels. This simple strategy will help your cabinets and drawers realize their full potential and keep items from getting misplaced as quickly. Eliminate duplicate items in your kitchen. Such as multiple sets of measuring cups or a few different types of rolling pins.
It will prevent you from hunting through the entire kitchen for that one item you need for a specific recipe. Once you’ve pared down your clutter, organize your remaining items into categories like kitchen cleaning supplies, food storage (pantry and refrigerator), meal preparation and cooking equipment, serving pieces, and any other areas that apply to your space. Try to keep these zones adjacent to each other so everything you need for a particular task is within reach at all times.
Keep It Clean
Keeping your kitchen organized is an ongoing task, but get it right. And your drawers, cabinets, and countertops will stay that way. A tidy kitchen lets you and your family quickly access everything when preparing meals and entertaining guests. Use bins and baskets to corral similar items, such as packaged snacks and bread in the pantry, or a two-tier system for pots and pans in your cabinetry.
A built-in cabinet is perfect for storing extra dishes, serving platters, and linens until needed. Shallow drawers are a brilliant place to stash tea bags, coffee cartridges, and other accessories. Establish a cleaning schedule or checklist to keep chores on track and avoid pileups. Whether you’re wiping down counters or putting away dishes after every meal, the small habits will keep your kitchen looking good both in the short and long term. Read more interesting articles on Ebeak