The kitchen is usually the busiest area of your home. This is a place where your family doesn’t just gather for a meal but also where you have good conversations, kids do their homework, and friends join for dinner. A room so lively is bound to gather clutter daily if not organized properly. Not being able to find something when you need is just one sign your kitchen needs some organization.

A well-organized kitchen can not only make your life easy but also gives way for more safe, healthy and nutritious meals. A messy kitchen can turn out to be an unhygienic place to cook if you’re not careful. Some simple organizing tips and tricks can easily declutter your kitchen and give you more space to work on. Take out a few days from your busy schedule and reclaim your kitchen. Before that buy some organizers that can give you more storage space and keep everything contained. Prioritize on what things need to stay and what play no role in the house. 

Here are a few simple tips to get you started.

Decluttering has to be the first step to an organized kitchen. Kitchens usually tend to be short on storage space which means you need to get rid of excess items. Keep in mind that the goal here is to only have things you use because we all get sucked into buying kitchen gadgets, innumerable cups, jars, and tools we never really needed. Re-evaluate what is essential and be honest about it. Get rid of products you haven’t used in the last year. Only keep what you know you will use! 

This applies to foodstuff also. Check expiration dates on all those spices and sauces you bought in bulk and discard them accordingly. Your pantry should also only contain items that you actually use. If you have old appliances that you no longer use but in good condition, try selling or donating them. Donate or discard broken plates, duplicate items, glasses, extra utensils, mismatched storage containers, and the things you forgot you had.

The only way to maintain an organized kitchen is to make decluttering a habit. Put away keys, purses, and mail from the kitchen every day. If that’s not possible, consider placing a decorative bowl on the counter for these things. Clean the bowl once a week.

Once you’ve decluttered, now’s the time to change how you store everything. The most recommended way of storing is based on use. Divide your kitchen into categories and arrange one category at a time. Empty all your cabinets and drawers, clean them from the inside and replace the shelving paper.

Now group your items into categories. Your categories could include baking items, cooking tools like pots and pans, dishes/cups/bowls you use every day, glassware, cutlery, special occasion dishes, and coffee/tea equipment/supplies. Now decide where each category should be stored. 

Working in the kitchen is most comfortable and efficient if everything is stored according to its usage. For example, pots and pans can be placed in drawers directly below the stove, and cooking tools such as knives, spatulas and cutting boards can either go in drawers adjacent to the stove or placed hanging near it. Baking items can go in cabinets near the oven and glassware near the fridge or sink(wherever you drink water from). Assign one drawer for all your plastic bags, aluminum foil, cling films, paper bags, zip locks,and other wrapping products. A separate station for coffee/tea items that include the coffee maker or kettle, tea bags, sugar, mugs, and filters would be ideal as this will make your morning coffee ritual faster to accomplish. Get high quality and affordable espresso maker at qavashop!

Organizing your kitchen this way makes cooking more efficient and lets you remember where everything is. When all you need is in one spot it avoids the whole hassle of digging around for things. Clean up is quicker because you know exactly where everything goes back.

Organizing the fridge is something you’ll need to work on at least once a week. This means that you’ll have to figure out what foods need to be discarded and what can be used. Your refrigerator should only store items that you know will be consumed within a few days. Incorporating a first-in-first-out (FIFO) method for organizing your fridge can help you eat leftovers before they go bad. You could also have an “eat me first box/drawer” in your fridge to remind everyone what needs to be finished first.

Did you know there are certain ideal spots for different food products? For example, dairy products should be placed on the upper shelf of the fridge because this is where the temperature is most constant, meat needs to be away from other foods to avoid contamination or leaks. The best place for meat is usually the bottom of the fridge because this where the temperature is lowest and also leakage won’t affect other food products. Instead of storing food in bowls and plates in the fridge, always use containers.

If your Tupperware has taken over your entire kitchen, despite your best efforts to organize them, you’re not alone! No matter how much you try to keep the lids together with their containers, they never seem to stay put. Some simple tips and tricks can solve this madness.

First of all, discard all containers that don’t have lids on them. Next, you can either store the containers with lids on them or if you don’t have enough room inside, separate the lids from their containers and store them all in a large container. A smart way would be to use small tension rods extended to fit your drawer’s length. This way you could stack lids together on one side and containers on the other. Another hack is installing pegboards to drawers or slide-out cabinet inserts to store containers and lids separately in a well-organized manner.

Get creative and find smart ways to increase storage space. Did you know you could use the inside of your cabinet doors too? Install some hooks, knife blocks or over-the-door magazine racks on the inside of your cabinet doors and organize measuring spoons, pot covers and cutting boards on the door. You could also use them to hang oven mitts, dish towels, small kitchen gadgets or even put spice containers in the over-the-door rack. Another out of the box idea would be to paint the inside of a cabinet door with blackboard/ whiteboard paint and run a grocery list on it.

Make use of the walls as much as you can. Mount shelves or strong hooks and hang pots and pans if you don’t have enough space in your cabinets. Use the under-the-sink cabinet productively. Get some baskets, stackable shelves or other smart space-saving devices and organize your cleaning supplies. You’ll be surprised how much you can store, all the while maintaining a well-organized kitchen!