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Kitchen. Four Strategies for Organization in the Kitchen

Are you having a hard time finding all the things in your kitchen that you need when you are cooking? Do you often find that when you are putting dishes away that you don’t have enough space for all the things in your kitchen? Utensils, plates, pots and pans all need ‘homes’ in your kitchen and organizing your kitchen is one of the best things that you can possibly do to make the most of your space in the kitchen. It doesn’t matter if you are moving into a new home, new apartment or if you have lived in the same home for years – organizing ideas and tips are one way that you can maximize that space that you always thought was more than enough!

The Cup Cupboard is a space in your kitchen where all of your glasses, mugs, and cups are going to sit when you have washed them. The cup cupboard can sometimes be overflowing with travel mugs, large measuring cups, and holiday glasses or specialized mugs. If your cupboard is three shelves high, putting your holiday and your best glasses on the top shelf will ensure that your children don’t use or break you fancy glasses. If you have just two shelves in your cupboard, you can keep your special and holiday glasses on the back of the top shelf so they are always clean and in good condition. 

Taking all the glasses out of your cupboard and throwing away all the glasses that are chipped, that look just too scratched from the dishwasher or that are for children that are smaller than what your children are, these should all be pitched or given away. Plastic cups and those glasses that are heavy duty and meant for everyday use should be kept on the first shelf and nearby. The large glass measuring cups that are in your cupboard and be kept in the back of all your other glasses as this is one that you don’t use often, but you want to keep it close at hand. 

The Pan Cupboard is a place that you visit daily and should be kept in an organized manner so you can always get what you need fast. The smallest pans and the lids to match should be kept in the back or in a separate cupboard if you have a large family because you are not going to use these often. If you are a single person or if there are just two in your family you might want these in your pan cupboard and put your larger pans in other storage somewhere in your kitchen as you won’t use your largest pots and pans very often at all. Lids could be arranged in a lid holder or in the back of the cupboard, as you won’t reach for lids as often as you do for a pan. Keeping your cake pans, muffin pans and your bread pans in a separate area from your griddle, frying pans and your soup pans is going to help you keep your sanity daily because you won’t reach for these pans as often as you do the pans that you use daily in cooking, baking is usually something that is done less often. 

The Pantry is where all of your boxed and canned goods are kept. Some of us have a room that is our pantry, and many of us have a few cupboards that is used to store our canned and boxed foods, which needs to be kept organized and cleaned out just as the pantry room would. Keeping only enough in your pantry for two weeks is going to make your entire room/ cupboards/ and lazy susan’s work much more efficiently as a storage area. Keeping five weeks or more worth of stuff in your cupboards can be overwhelming as you open them up to try and find something for supper – not to mention the space that this much food would take. Organize your pasta’s together, your vegetables together and your snack foods together, even making a space where you keep lunch and/or baking stuff together. The more organized your cupboards are the easier making those shopping lists will be. 

Spices and Goodies that you use every day in your cooking, or at least what you use in your kitchen when you need them, should be kept close at hand but in an organized manner so you can find them, reach them and use them without having to unload your entire cupboard to find what you want. A little carousel type shelving that you can spin around in the cupboard that is stacked with your favorite spices is a great way to get what you want and when you need it most. A spice rack on the wall that has three or four shelves that is only single deep is a great way to arrange your spices right by the stove. When spices and goodies are kept right new the stove you will think about using them more often, and using one that is a shelf that will display your spices can be a great addition for decorating in your home. The small cupboard about your stove area is a great place to keep spices, and an empty drawer beside your silverware drawer is also a handy place to keep your spices within reach and organized at the same time. 

Keeping your kitchen organized is more than just straightening out what is in the cupboards, but you also have to limit yourself to how much you are putting in the cupboards. For example, no one really needs six dozen glasses for everyday use, put some away in another cupboard, throw some away or give some away, keep just enough for, at most, two days worth of drinks and you will have plenty for even when company comes to the house.