Tuesday, April 23, 2013

5 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen

While flipping through magazines, it is so easy to be in awe of the beautiful dream kitchens. The cupboard doors are gleaming and pristine, there is no clutter anywhere, every food item is categorized and everything is new and sparkling. Now for a reality check. The pile of papers on your kitchen bench seems to be growing taller every day, the pantry is in disarray and you are sick of tidying out the plastic storage drawer. It is so easy to amass a collection of every size container imaginable.

Sort and discard

Anything you haven’t used for months, discard or give to charity. All the useful gadgets that do the most amazing things, if you haven’t even tried them, it’s probably time to get rid of them. Dispose of all the odd china plates, the containers with no lids and anything that you've been hanging on to for years but have never used.

Use labels

If you store spices and condiments in plastic ware, instead of tipping it upside down to try and work out what’s in there, why not label them? You can order personalized stickers online for help with this. If transferring packaged products to containers, cut off the use by date and tape to the inside of the lid.

Rearrange

If you are constantly reaching up high to use crockery daily, why not rearrange these items to a more reachable level? This will not only save strain on your back, but constantly used items will be within easy reach.

Clear the benches

Try to have clutter free bench tops. If you are accumulating paperwork that needs to be looked at later, medications or knick knacks, try to find an alternative space for these. Anything that really doesn’t need to be there, shouldn't be there. Give all these items their own space somewhere else.

Get rid of the junk drawer

Every kitchen seems to have one. It is full of things that ‘might come in handy’. Rubber bands, twist ties, batteries, sticky tape, screws, tools, these are all things that could easily be relocated. Use plastic storage containers, categorized and properly labelled, for all the small items that you do use occasionally. Discard all the other useless bits and pieces in the junk drawer.

 When organizing your kitchen, you have to be ruthless. There is no room for hoarding or storing something that ‘you may use one day’. Have a look at the cheap stickers online available to order on Vistaprint website. You can choose colors to coordinate with your kitchen. You can also select decorative pictures to identify items such as spices, baking ingredients and dry goods such as rice and cereal. Being realistic, kitchens will need organizing every few months. This is a good opportunity to go through the pantry and discard anything that is past its use by date. However, if your first kitchen organisation is conducted logically, with things labelled and rearranged, it will be much easier to give your kitchen an organisational touch up in the future.

13 delicious comments:

WE said...

Good one, Rose. I feel if we follow the first tip "Sort and Discard", then 50% of work done. We often reluctant to discard those things we no more going to use.

homefamilyheart.com said...

I agree with you, no room for hoarding stuff. I should follow your advise sis :)

I like your spice caddy. It's so neat and well organized. I love seeing things in order and that rack will surely be a good addition in our future home.

Ria C

Mari Bella said...

My problem at home recently will be solved for this idea. I am focused with baby since I delivered her and do not have much time for the etcetera's anymore. Good job!

MC Calunsod said...

awesome tips for every mommies out there :) Been wanting to get a labeler for the kitchen and just always slip in my headm :( I like how you organize your spices :)

betchai said...

oh, wow, thanks for sharing how you organized your spices Rose, you are giving me some idea how to spice up my kitchen too looking too organized like yours.

papaleng said...

Getting rid of the junk drawer is a MUST I should say. Nice kitchen tips.

mhie@smarlktastes said...

I love to have one of that, I really need to maximize my kitchen space.

Cherry said...

what an organized kitchen you have! iba talaga when a mom is at home most of the time.
ps
used vistaprint before to print our company calendar. :)

Dhemz said...

I've been meaning to organize our kitchen stuff...right now it's pretty messy...waaaaaa!

Anna said...

Thanks, now I'm thinking to organize my spice and condiments rack =)

lencilicious said...

I spend hours in my kitchen cooking and cleaning stuff around. Your kitchen is pretty neat. I love your spice rack.

Lainy said...

It's always good to see a very organized and neat kitchen. Great tips right here, Rose. I now know how to keep a kitchen clean and good :-)

Cheerful said...

wow, thanks for sharing these tips...it will be helpful for someone like me. i like my kitchen to be as organized and as neat as i can make it, afterall sabi nga ni Isabelle, it's my office...hehehe! :) i love the spice rack...:)

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