A kitchen should be a place for eating, and the preparation of food. However, this is not always the case if you have a house full of children. Most parents prefer to keep their eyes on their kids by allowing them to do homework or play there while they do the cooking, hence the kitchen can be quite easily the most cluttered room in the family home. This quick guide will help you get organized quickly.
A kitchen should be a place for preparing meals and not be used as a store room. Sift through the cupboards and remove any old spices that you no longer need along with anything else you haven’t touched in years – you can’t keep things in order if you keep hoarding plastic storage containers that are 10 years old. If your drawers look a bit worn, this may be a great time to purchase a new set of liners and have them installed.
If you have lots of pots that are taking up too much space, give them a good clean and nest them within larger pots of the same kind to free up some room. Then make sure you close the lid on the outer-most pot to make sure dust and little insects or rodents don’t get inside and contaminate the pots.
If your drawer handles are loose, you do not need to spend money buying new drawer pulls. All they need is a screw re-tightening with a good old screwdriver.
To keep things efficient, have a storage cupboard between your dining table and your kitchen sink so you can store your silverware and other frequently used utensils.
Throw out any old plastic containers which lids no longer seal up properly. Discard the ones with cracks in them too and label the remaining ones so you know what spices are stored within each container more easily.
Get yourself a rack for spices and sort them out in alphabetical order and place them close to your kitchen counter or where you normally prepare the food for cooking. This way, you’ll save more time and the post-cooking cleanup will be confined to only a small area of your kitchen.
Time to get that pantry in tip top shape as well. Again, throw out any expired canned foods and stuff you don’t need or haven’t touched in year. Categorize your canned food into groups so you will be able to identify them in an instant, rather than spending minutes sifting through a stack of randomly placed containers or cans. A pantry can also be a perfect place to store any other items like scissors (so your kids won’t get access to it).
Keep any kitchen electrical equipment or appliances such as toasters away from the dish washing areas to be safe. Move them to your kitchen counter top or island (if you have one) and store the appliances that you rarely use in the pantry. This keeps the clutter to a minimum and helps you more easily maintain your kitchen in scissors future.
