Look around

First, take some time to ask yourself a few questions. What doesn’t work well in your kitchen? What areas create stress? What activities are taking place when you feel disorganized? What areas seem to be working well? Your answers will help you identify your problem areas.

Areas

Think about the activities that take place in your kitchen. These activities can be organized in zones. These are the different areas of your kitchen where you perform certain tasks or store items. Each area should contain the tools, products, and space needed to complete the activities.

Some examples of areas in the kitchen are:

• cutting and preparation
• cooking
• seasonings
• baking needs
• Service
• Home Information Center

Performing certain tasks is easier if the complementary zones are close. For example, it makes sense to have the cutting and preparation area close to the cooking area. The fewer steps you have to take between complementary areas, the better.

break it down

Organizing a kitchen is a big project. Break it down into sections and tackle one area at a time. This helps prevent you from feeling overwhelmed and exhausted before the project is complete. Organizing a kitchen is a big undertaking. Make sure you have plenty of space to sort and adequate time.

countertops

Think of your countertops as a work space, not storage space. Keep there only what you use daily. If you’re short on counter space, store seldom-used appliances in a lower cabinet, low shelf in your pantry, or other appropriate storage space.

The kitchen is a central part of our home, and therefore things that don’t belong there can easily take over. Remove things that just don’t belong there, like papers, bills, projects to do, junk mail, and school documents. If you can, designate a desk area or counter space for the information center or zone of your home.

Take advantage of under-cabinet space by mounting clocks, radios, and coffee pots. Keep papers out of the kitchen if you can. If you have a desk area in your kitchen, limit papers to that area.

Cabinets, Cabinets, Drawers

Get everything out of your cabinets, closets, and drawers, and take the time to clean out the shelves and drawers. Sort similar items together. Get rid of unwanted, broken, duplicate, never used or barely used items. Keep only what you use and need. Ask yourself questions like “when was the last time I used this?” or “how many cups does our family really need?” Do you have more stuff than will fit comfortably in your space?

Don’t forget to weed your plastic containers and keep only the ones you really need. Get rid of the odd-sized ones that don’t “nest” well. If possible, I like to keep plastic containers in a cabinet and lids organized in a drawer just below. This allows for maximum storage. Some people prefer to keep the lids on the containers to eliminate the search for a match.

After you have sorted everything and removed the unwanted, you need to decide where to store everything. Most used items should be stored between knee and neck height: the bottom shelves of cabinets, the countertop, and the top shelves of cabinets. Less frequently used items will go on the top shelf of cabinets or on the bottom shelf of cabinets.

Use a system determining the zones of your kitchen (cooking, preparation area, service, etc.). Items that go in drawers should be close to where you will use them. Knives by the prep area, potholders by the stove, tea towels and towels near the sink.

Pantry

Get everything out of your pantry area. Clean the shelves. Dispose of expired items and donate unwanted and usable goods to your local food pantry. Now, classify similar items into categories. Think of your pantry like a store. Create zones like a grocery store aisle. For example, preserves, baking needs, pasta and rice, seasonings, cereals, etc. They are typical areas.

Use containers to keep similar smaller items together. Use canisters that are airtight and stackable. Products like Tupperware are great options. Don’t forget to tag! Label bins or the front edge of shelves. This will help make item retrieval and return much easier for everyone in your household.

cookbooks

If you’re short on space in your kitchen, keep your cookbooks on a shelf in another area of ​​your home. Keep only the books or recipes you actually use. If you’re keeping a book because of a recipe or two, make a copy of those favorites and donate the book. A simple 3-ring binder with clear page protectors is a great way to store your favorite recipes. Add tabbed dividers to divide recipes into categories. If you prefer to use index cards, keep them organized in a small, inexpensive plastic photo album.

Follow up

As always, every organizing project requires maintenance to be successful. Daily load and unload the dishwasher and remove personal items and kitchen papers. Tune up your cabinets, cupboards, and drawers every few months or as needed. Keeping your kitchen organized on a regular basis will help it run smoothly and efficiently.