Simple Organization Tips for Your Kitchen

Most of us really want to be organized; we just don’t believe we have the time to go through all of our junk. When your house is in disarray and cluttered, the task of getting everything in order can be overwhelming. The truth is, disorganization is a habit that took years to settle in, and it will take time to undo the habit. Our lives are hectic and move at a fast pace these days and quite often the spaces we live in reflect that chaos. Clearing out the junk can actually streamline your life and save time in your schedule. Following these easy organization tips for your kitchen will transform your surroundings into a more peaceful and productive environment.

The first rule in becoming organized is to not think you have to do it all at once. Give yourself a break and divide the project into sections within your home. Begin with the most used and important area, the kitchen. Set an alarm, allowing you a half an hour to work on this area. This will keep you from feeling overwhelmed or trying to do it all at once. When the alarm goes off, step back and take stock of what you have accomplished. Continue with half hour intervals until the project is complete.

When organizing, it’s a tremendous advantage to see what items we actually have and how much space we’ll need eberything. One way to get started in the kitchen is to remove everything from the cabinets and drawers and set them out on a table. This is an excellent time to wipe out those cabinets and drawers as well. Once they are cleaned up, grab two big boxes or bags. One box is for items to keep and one for items to throw away. A third box can be used for garage sale items or donations. (Use this same system for every room in your house.)

When we work in the kitchen, the “within reach” area from our shoulders to our knees is the best location for most every day items. Drawers and cabinets in this reachable area should be filled with the kitchen items we use everyday. When putting items away, make sure you can see them. If we don’t see them, we don’t use them! Store your spices and oils used for cooking near the stove. In order to help you stay organized in the future, you can use a label maker to mark sections for canned goods, dry goods, plastic containers, etc. After this “within reach” area is filled, take stock of what is left on the table. Any large items or rarely used items such as serving platters, the good china, or your old silver tea set can be stored in the upper or lower cabinets, preferably lower if they are heavy or fragile. If you are really pressed for space you can always box these up for storage elsewhere, but remember to clearly label the box so it’s easy to pull out when you need it.

Purchasing a few handy products can help streamline the kitchen as well. Inexpensive plastic baskets placed inside your drawers and cabinets can separate spices, rice, baking supplies, and more. A plastic bag holder for your grocery bags is a very handy item to have as well. Purchase hooks in different sizes. These can placed inside or underneath the cabinet doors to hang measuring cups, tea towels, or spatulas.

Keeping kitchen cleaning supplies handy and organized will save you time doing chores. Find a bucket style plastic storage container with handles and use it to store your most common cleaners. This way, you can carry the cleaners around the house with you and keep your items together. Keep the supplies near the sink. Store any sponges, cleaning cloths, etc. nearby as well. Hooks and towel holders can be installed under the sink to keep tools handy.

Avoid the “junk drawer” calamity most kitchens have these days by using drawer separators to make niches for batteries, pens, notepads, recipe cards and everything else one throws in that drawer. If you’re short on drawer space, label a plastic container with a lid, fill it with your junk, and store it in a cabinet instead. Most junk drawers just need to be cleaned out, so why not get started. Tools can be sent to the garage, tape put back at our desk, phone numbers added to our address books, etc.

The kitchen can be the most used room in the house. Keeping it organized may seem an impossible task, however using these tips can make your kitchen an easier place to prepare meals and an enjoyable place to gather with the family.