The kitchen is the one room of the home that all family members use every day—yet so often it is one of the most inefficient rooms in the house. Who wants to cook when you can’t find what you need? Life in the kitchen is much easier when you can find what you’re looking for and you know what food is in the cupboard or the pantry!
Here are a few tips that may help you create an enjoyable kitchen:
- Neatly stored items take up less space.
- Organize your kitchen so that the every day dishes, silverware and glasses are close to the sink and/or dishwasher.
- Coffee mugs … how many do you really need? Think about those you use most often and how much space the rest consume.
- Square and rectangular containers take up less space than round.
- Go through cupboards and pantries once per year and toss what has not been used in a year.
- Don’t purchase products in bulk unless you have a place to store them.
- Small appliances you use often should be accessible—relocate appliances to hard to reach places that you do not use often.
- Put canned goods with canned goods and boxes with boxes, etc. Break each down by category, such as fruits, vegetables, soups, beans, pasta, snack foods, etc.
- Install slide-out drawers in cupboards to easily access pots, pans, plastic containers, etc.
- Can’t install slide out drawers? Use clear plastic boxes that can hold similar items, such as pasta, rice, snacks, baking goods—this way you can pull them all of the shelf at one time.
With just a few hours of time and some products to help you organize—you’ll be well on your way to a kitchen that you can enjoy spending time in. It’s amazing the number of kitchen organizing products to help you control kitchen clutter—too many to mention all of them here. Some of my favorite products are listed below. You may even find uses for these products in areas of your home—besides the kitchen!
1. Turntables: Found in a variety of sizes, materials and colors, turntables are one of the best ways to organize bottles, jars, cans, spices—or anything that you do not want to get shoved to the back of the cupboard. Use one 21” in diameter under your kitchen sink to keep all of the cleaning supplies on so you don’t have to crawl under your sink, or put one in that cabinet above the refrigerator to access those hard to reach items—without having to climb on a stool. They also work wonders in upper corner cabinets. Try putting two side by side if necessary and don’t worry about not being able to see the entire turntable—just give it a spin and you’ll see the rest! Turntables also work well in large medicine cabinets or in laundry rooms for cleaning supplies.
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