The kitchen is probably the busiest and most used room in your home so it goes without saying that if it’s well organised, this can save you an abundance of time and hassle and make everyday living that bit easier.
Follow these simple tips and ensure that everything you need is close at hand:
Go through each and every one of your cupboards and be ruthless! Bin or donate anything that you don’t often use and even anything you forgot you had. Storage space can often be at a premium in a kitchen, so your main objective should be to only have things that you use regularly and love.
Once you’ve cleared some space and your cupboards are empty, try and think of clever ways to group similar items together. Have a dedicated space for dinnerware, glassware, baking items and even things like serving dishes etc and place them in easy to reach places depending on their level of usage. This will save you time hoking and wondering where each item has been stored.
It’s helpful to think of your kitchen in terms of work zones; food storage (consumables), dishware storage (non-consumables), clean up (sink & dishwasher), preparation and cooking zones. So store items which belong to that related zone to ensure they’re all within easy reach of the related area. For example glassware should be kept near the sink or fridge, coffee mugs should be kept close to your kettle and cooking and baking items should be kept close to where your food preparation area is. Correctly placed items can save going back and forth across the kitchen to carry out just the simplest of tasks.
Drawer dividers are a great way to keep items separate within the one area. We all have lots of little things which we don’t know where to store but dividers allow you to assign a little spot for each thing and you’ll be able to find things as and when you need them.
If you have lots of little kitchen gadgets you may find it useful to buy some organisers to help reduce clutter and keep things in their place.
Use a range of clear plastic containers and label each one individually. This will allow you to have a place for everything and because the containers are transparent enough you will be able to see the content right away anyway.
You can also use plastic containers for dried foods. If you store flour, spices and other food items in your kitchen cupboards, choose containers which are air tight.
Keep your rubbish bin somewhere handy along with your recycling bins. Try and locate them as centrally as possible but be mindful not to place them anywhere near cleaning or food prep areas area to avoid contamination.
Adhesive hooks either inside cupboards or wall mounted can allow you to hang utensils, aprons or even shopping bags up out of the way.
The area under the sink is the ideal place for stocking all of your cleaning products so if you’re deciding to keep items such as detergents, gloves, towels etc be mindful not use this area for food or any type of kitchenware storage.
If you have areas where you have no wall hanging units, you could consider some open plan wall mounted shelving. As well as giving your kitchen a slightly more modern style, open plan shelving can be very convenient for storing everyday items such as cups and plates and can even increase storage space if stacked correctly.
