Organizing Your Kitchen

How to Transform Your Kitchen from Chaos to Calm

By Hellen Buttigieg

The kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s the most used room in the house, used for multiple activities like eating, entertaining, doing homework, etc. We go there when we are tired, hungry and stressed so there is a big payoff in getting it organized. A well-organized kitchen is welcoming, and also saves time, energy and money. Here are some simple ideas to help you create a nurturing yet functional kitchen.

How To Set Up An Efficient Workspace:

Set up your work area to avoid unnecessary steps and extra trips. In an efficient work area, the sink, stove and fridge should create a triangle. Ideally, they should be no more than a step or pivot apart. It can be hazardous if draining boiling water from stove to sink requires too many steps.

Your counter should be treated as prime real estate; keep only the appliances you use every day here. Not enough counter space? Improvise by getting a board wide enough to fit over the sink or fasten a hinged board to the wall and lower it when you need to.

Space-Saving Ways To Store Kitchen Supplies:

• Store items for easy access so you can see what you have a get what you need quickly and easily. Rearrange all items in cabinets to correspond with frequency of use. Most often used items should be stored in the most convenient places. Items used less often can be stored higher unless they are too heavy. Post a list of contents on inside of cabinet door to help you remember what you have in hard-to-reach cabinets.

• Store items near their point of use; toaster near plate cupboard; coffeemaker near sink, coffee, measuring spoon and filters close to coffee maker.

• Nest frying pans to save space, placing the largest on the bottom.

• Pot lids can be kept in plastic baskets on inside of cabinet doors.

• Store the cutlery, plates and glasses that you use every day near the kitchen table to save steps when you set it.

• Stand baking sheets and pans on their sides on wire divider racks, largest to smallest.

• Pile plates and bowls on each other but don’t mix sizes and types. Stack no more than 3 items on top of each other unless they are the same size and type. Put tallest items at the back of the shelf and shortest in the front.

• Hang cutting board for easy access and to save space.

• Use permanent marker to code plastic containers to match their lids – use letters of the alphabet.

• Install a rack for wine glasses on the underside of a shelf.

• Kids cups and plates should be stored at kid-friendly height to encourage independence.

• Avoid extra trips from dining area to kitchen by putting the tablecloths in a dining room hutch rather than a second-floor linen closet.

Organizing Your Food Items:

• Group foods in like-kind categories so it’s easy to see what you have in stock and avoid overstocking. Materials used only together should be stored together to save time (i.e. pasta with sauce).

• Avoid storing canned foods next to or over the stove – can deteriorate, better to choose a cool, dry cupboard.

• Spices can be kept on a tiered platform so the ones at the back don’t disappear from view. Buy only the quantity you can use within 6 months to a year as spices lose their flavor over time.

• Opened containers of sugar, flour, cereal and pasta should be poured into stackable square plastic clear containers to keep bugs away. Always choose square pans and containers over round; square edges align and round ones don’t so anything round wastes space.

Here are some of my favorite products to help you maximize your kitchen space:

• Drawer dividers. Don’t choose the ones with slots molded to specific shapes, such as spoons, as they limit your options and waste space.
• 3-tiered wire shelf racks allow you to create 2 or 3 shelves from 1.
• Revolving shelves can be useful for spices and cans.
• Double-tiered lazy Susan is useful if you have a seldom-used corner space.
• Dish organizers allow you to store plates upright to save space.
• A narrow box keeps pouches of soups and pasta organized and stored upright for easy access.
• Paper & plastic wrap organizer can be useful installed on cabinet doors.
• Jugs or vases can hold bouquets of small utensils like spatulas and serving spoons if you don’t have room to store them in a drawer or cupboard.

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