It is essential to have your kitchen organized. How are you going to cook without being able to find all of your utensils? How will you prepare a meal if everything is on different shelves?
There’s a lot to consider if you’re not used to keeping your kitchen together. Our comprehensive guide on how to organize your kitchen is here to set you up for successful organizing!
Don't Forget a Deep Cleaning Session
This may be the most frequently used method of kitchen organization, but nowadays, keeping a clean kitchen is a must. Spending a weekend of deep cleaning may help keep your kitchen in good shape.
Consider taking your kitchen items and appliances out of their cabinets and drawers; now is the ideal time to give them a thorough cleaning. When you go back to put things away after all that cleaning, you'll be surprised at how good it feels.
Tackle the Cooking Utensils and Appliances
When it comes to organizing your kitchen, the general rule is to start by collecting all of your cooking utensils and appliances. How are you going to make a delicious meal if everything is not close at hand? How will you cook efficiently without access to the proper tools?
The best way for people who like things in their kitchen organized would be to find out how they store the items they use daily. This includes cooking utensils and appliances, which are usually the most used. How does someone store these items? Do they put them in a drawer or on top of the countertops where it might be hard to see and access them very quickly?
For those who cannot figure out how they want their cooking utensils and appliances stored but have the space for it, try looking at different organization ideas for drawers online, such as kitchen organizers, which can help create zones for multiple utensils.
When you have a lot of kitchen appliances and tools but not a lot of drawer space, it might be hard to keep them all out on the counter. Thus, we recommend keeping what you only use every day visible for easy access.
Prioritize Your Dishes and Silverware
When it comes to where you store your dishes in the kitchen, don't be afraid to get creative! For example, placing a mug rack by the coffeemaker works if coffee is a daily need in the kitchen.
If cereal and oatmeal are for breakfast almost every morning, then having bowls close by will also make sense! This process works just as well with saucers and dinner dishes for the kids, which you can place by the dishwasher for convenience.
The same goes with other appliances, too - perhaps a food processor near the oven? How about your blender? How easy is it to find a can opener if you have one in the pantry and not on the countertop where you use it daily?
Pay Attention to the Pantry and the Fridge
It's time to clean up those pantry shelves, as the blogger behind My Organized Chaos has some organizing tips for us. She says that storing dry foods like rice, pasta, and flour in glass jars will make it easy to take a picture of your pantry before going grocery shopping, so you know what items need to be replaced first.
If you have the space, it's nice to organize your pantry into sections that make sense for you. Baking ingredients should be on one shelf; breakfast food like cereal and oatmeal on another; pasta/rice in a third section, snacks in another with canned goods nearby.
It depends on the space available. If needed, you may combine some of these or create shelves based on what works best for your lifestyle!
Create Zones as Much as You Can
Now that you've figured out which items belong where, consider how you'll arrange them. Keep the most used things at eye level and place things like pasta or rice up higher because they see less use. It'll be harder to use something if it isn't easily seen or accessible; this goes for both your kitchen cabinets and pantry!
Unload cereals, baking goods, etc., into clear containers, so there's more room in the cabinet while keeping everything fresh longer with better visibility. Finally, consider placing cereal closer since it is a frequently used product!
This also applies to your countertops! If you have a microwave oven, it's best placed in the middle of an island for easy access. How about appliances like blenders or mixers? Keep them on top shelves so they are easily accessible but out of sight at the same time if you don't like seeing unused appliances lying around.
Keep Tupperware and Containers by the Fridge
An excellent way to keep your go-to kitchen essentials is to store them in the fridge. Meanwhile, your favorite sauces may be kept close to the front door, so you won't have to make a second trip when you're hungry and ready for dinner!
In the cupboards near your fridge, you can store Tupperware for leftovers and food storage containers. If those are not available, Ziploc bags will work as well! Tinfoil is excellent to cover dishes or use in cooking recipes. Make sure you bring any items to have a solution when ingredients spill. This way, they don't make a mess when stored away from home.
Set-Up a Coffee Bar or Station
Avid coffee drinkers will win at life when they set up their coffee station. If you have an expensive espresso machine, consider setting up your coffee bar in a spare room or corner of the kitchen. You may even put up a tea bar there, with all of your favorite flavors and mugs to choose from. Keep hot chocolate packets for those cold winter nights as well!
Cleaning Supplies Always Go Under
Pesky cleaning supplies don't have to be shoved in the garage or lost in your pantry. Take advantage of wasted space under your kitchen sink by organizing all the stores in one place. Remove any cleaning materials from beneath the sink. Toilet paper, soap, garbage bags, and recycling are all on hand and ready to go when necessary, so everything is tidy!
Position Pot Racks Near the Stove or Gas Range
Position pot racks near your stove so you can quickly grab a pot or pan. It's also convenient to have them close by as they're cooking! That way, if something boils over, you'll be ready with water right there and won't need to run across the kitchen for it. These are ideal over kitchen islands to quickly grab them when preparing big Sunday dinners and potlucks for the family.
Try Out Some Nifty Tricks
If you're really into the whole organization thing, why not try out some nifty tricks to stay consistently organized?
Label Till You Drop
How about using a label maker for your cabinet and drawer fronts? Labels can help make it easy to find what you need. If that works for you and your kids, you could also use chalkboard paint on particular cabinets or drawers.
Maximize the Pantry Door
Try alternative hacks to discover which ones work best for each zone if you want to be more creative with your organization. For example, you could use the inside of your pantry door to create a magnetic strip for knives.
A tall pantry door can hang a clear shoe organizer that will make the space more organized since you can keep pockets of leftover snacks and cooking ingredients in them to avoid cluttering the fridge.
Repurpose an Old Bookshelf Into an Organizer
Consider turning an old bookshelf into an organizer if you want something more permanent and long-lasting. This is great for storing away larger unused appliances like juicers and bread makers.
Dive Into All Kinds of Dividers
A great way to keep your oven organized is by using standing dividers for baking sheets and cutting boards. The same applies to drawer organizers that need separators t keep utensils and other miscellaneous kitchen items in their place.
Be Consistent
To successfully create a more effective organization, you need to take time out of your day every year and sort through all the kitchen parts you organized. Try focusing on one section at a time and getting rid of what piles up over time. The way you manage will vary every time you get into each zone, and that's completely okay! Best to remember, though, that keeping at the process is critical.
Conclusion
Now that you know the backbone of what organizing a kitchen means and how to do it, you're ready to move on! There are various factors to consider, and it's vital that, as you go through the process every year, you're willing to learn about yourself.
Consider this: how do I feel about my kitchen? What works for me, and what can I change to make any organization run smoothly or efficiently?Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong in organizing your kitchen - at least not most of the time!
