Kitchen Organization 101

The kitchen is probably the area in the house which has the most number of things.  That makes it the room with the highest tendency for clutter.  In addition, it is also the most-used area and thus gets the brunt of human activity and disorder.  Organizing your kitchen is indeed a challenge but it can be manageable if you learn the basics.

Benefits of Organizing Your Kitchen

Organizing your kitchen deep-cleans your kitchen.  When all you do each day is wash the dishes and wipe down counters, you are doing nothing but surface cleaning.  But when you take a season to take out everything, clean every nook and return back everything in a better order, you are deep-cleaning your kitchen like nothing else can.

Organizing your kitchen inevitably turns into a kitchen inventory.  It is only when you take the time to sort through your pantry and cabinets that you can take stock of what you have and don’t have, what you need to install and tear down.  Kitchen organization always becomes a kitchen inventory.

Organizing your kitchen provides many lessons, tips and tricks.  When you throw away an item which has expired, you learn that you need to arrange things according to expiry dates.  When you see that spice which has not been used for a year, you resolve that before buying a “strange” spice, you need to have about 5 recipes which use the spice.  Kitchen organization is teeming with lessons, tips and tricks.

How To Organize Your Kitchen

Make a kitchen overhaul or deep-cleaning.  Starting from the topmost spaces working towards the lower cabinets, take out everything and clean each cabinet, shelf and cubby.  Have a countertop or table nearby for putting the items on.  Have a trash can for throwing away garbage and trash.  You also need dusting cloths and scrubs and other cleaning implements.

Sort your kitchen items.  Before returning the items to their places, ask yourself two questions:

• Has this item expired?  If yes, throw it away.
• Will I still use this item?  If no, throw it away.

The idea is to keep only those items which are still good and which you intend to use.

Return the items.  After wiping down each bottle, box or can, return the items to their places.  You may find a better way of organizing the items or you may realize that you need additional storage solutions.  Kitchen organization begets improved kitchen organization.

How To Maintain an Organized Kitchen

Professional organizers recommend that to maintain order in your kitchen, you need to break up your cleaning into daily, weekly and monthly cleaning.  You can also clean according to the available time you have.

• Daily cleaning may be done in 15 minutes and may include washing the dishes, wiping down countertops, sweeping the floor and throwing away the trash.
• Weekly cleaning could last for an hour and include deep-cleaning one or two appliances.
• Monthly cleaning may consist of re-arranging the pantry and deep-cleaning shelves and cabinets.

However busy you are, take some time to tidy up your kitchen.  After all, the place where food is made should better be the cleanest.