Organizing The Kitchen
Why do kitchens get so disorganized?
I think the biggest reason kitchens get disorganized is because they're never really organized. It's very rare when someone actually sits down when they're putting a kitchen together and really thinks about how am I going to use this space? What makes the most sense for what we're going to put in it? I think we just generally move into a house and we just put things away and there are certain cabinets that make more sense for certain things than other things, but there are things we can do with those cabinets that I think help kitchens get organized. I also think kitchens get disorganized because many people use them. It's probably the one room in your house that's used by everybody who lives in that house. So people use things. They don't always put things back where you would hope that they would or at all. Things get lost almost in the shuffle and it just becomes really hard to keep and order to them so I think that's why it's hard to keep an organized kitchen.
What kind of clutter collects in kitchens?
I think kitchens are also big dumping grounds. There's always the proverbial junk drawer, hopefully just one, in the kitchen. All the menus, all the soy sauce packets from all the Japanese food you had, all the plastic utensils and napkins and things that we all feel really bad getting rid of, but where are we going to put them. They're just places where all sorts of stuff gets just thrown in and generally people don't know where to put this stuff, so again, you end up having a kitchen with three of four junk drawers because nobody knows what to do with it. And then the things that really need to go in a drawer don't really have a space. They're also where people tend to keep all their vitamins, all their supplements, all their protein bars. If you have infants there's all the stuff that goes with bottles and sanitizers and all kinds of things. So kitchens are really a place where a lot goes on. A lot goes on in a kitchen. It's not just eating. It's everything. It's also a place where people congregate. It's just an all purpose room in a way. So again, it's very, very hard to keep organized.
Is it a bad idea to store things in the kitchen that are not food-related?
No. I think it is always a good idea to store things in a kitchen that you need to use. You know, vitamins are not necessarily food-related, but it's really perfect to store them in a kitchen because, generally you're taking them with food. You want to remember to take them, so if you keep them out on a kitchen counter, if you have them some place where you're going to remember them, that's where you want to keep them. So you definitely want to keep things in a kitchen that are things you're going to want to have access to, or you're going to want to remember to use or utilize.
How can I maximize my cabinet space?
Kitchen cabinets are tricky because they vary so greatly. Older kitchens have narrower shelf space in their cabinets and not as much height between shelves. The shelves may not be adjustable. Newer kitchens are a lot easier because everything is on nice gliders. Its a lot easier to work with but either way you can maximize your cabinet space. I think you've got to look at the space that you've got, think about what you need to put in it, and then utilize that space. One of the things that people don't do in kitchens is realize that there is shelf space that they can use. There is that height, so sometimes you can buy a little shelf where you can put things underneath and then put things on top of it. Now you've doubled the amount of space that you can use in your kitchen cabinet, that amount of storage space. So you really have to think about what you're trying to put away and how you can do that. I think its really important too to clean out your kitchen cabinets every six months or so. Especially when I say clean out your kitchen cabinets, your pantry and any place where you're storing dry food, canned goods because we tend to buy a lot of things or get a lot of things that we don't really need or don't use, things expire. You want to make sure that you're always sort of doing a little touch up.
How should I organize my dishes?
For cabinets that aren't food cabinets, i think it's important, again, to think about: What are the items we use all the time? If you don't use your soup bowls at all, you don't have to have them on the bottom shelf. That's your prime real estate, so you want to have the dinner plates, the salad plates, you know, whatever those items are. And you can definitely maximize space with cups and mugs by getting one of those tiered shelf pieces where you can stack them, and I think you want it to be, if you can, in a logical space. You want to keep your dishes in a place where maybe you can grab them as you're serving up dinner. You don't want to have them all the way across on the other side of the kitchen, you know, where it's just a little harder to get to.
How can I organize food cabinets or pantries?
I think the best way to organize your kitchen cabinets so that they're more efficient, is again to follow my rule of: empty them out. And in a kitchen you can do it in more steps. Empty out your pantry. Really take a look at it. Look at all the food that you have. Put it in groups. You know, I like to put all the canned foods together. I like to put all the syrups and sauces and things like that together. The bread items, the pancake mixes, the cereals all together. There are so many ways that you can sort it out. You can do breakfast foods in one group, you can do condiments, but you want to create little clusters of food. And then, look at your pantry or your cabinets and figure out what's the best way you're going to be able to put these back. If there are foods that you eat all the time you want to make sure that you put them where you can easily reach them and you're not having to step up on something every time you want to grab your Cheerios. If there's things you don't want to use all the time, you can put them on a higher shelf. But the key is, because pantries especially fall prey to this, is you want to make sure you know what's in there, because, again, you'll end up buying it again, or you'll forget that it's there. And it will end up not being used and it will go to waste. So, I like to containerize certain things. For example, a small plastic bin that you can put all your condiments in and then you can label it and then you can put all of those on a shelf together. Now you've sort of condensed everything together but you also know that these are all my condiments. I don't have to go searching anywhere else in this cabinet to try to find the mustard or the ketchup or the capers or whatever it may be. You can do that with everything. You can do that with jams and jellies and syrups. You can do that with any sort of specialty items like olives and artichokes and things like that. It just depends on what kind of things you keep in your kitchen. So, if you can group things together you end up actually saving space. And again, if you can get yourself things that have a more tiered approach, you'll end up making more of the space that you actually have in your cabinets.
How can I maximize my drawer space?
The best way, I think, to maximize drawer space in a kitchen is to try to compartmentalize it. There are all kinds of dividers, containers, things that you can buy that can create compartments in your drawers. And this is really handy because, number one, it helps you to put everything all together, that belongs together. But it also, actually, allows to you put more things in a drawer then you normally would, because now things can stack on top of one another - and you know that they're there. So it's okay, you're not digging through the whole drawer to try to find something. I think you can also do this in drawers where you, you know, put all of your paper goods, or plastic bags, and things like that. Like, you really want to group things together, and then to try to compartmentalize them as much as you can because that will be the best use of the drawers that you have. The other thing you want to keep in mind is look at the drawer. Shallow drawers are better for utensils, and lids, and things like that. And the deeper drawers that you have are better for things you can stack. One of my favorite things to put in a drawer is Tupperware® - a lot of times people feel like that's something they put in their cabinet, and I find that that's a waste of cabinet space. Where in a drawer, I can just stack the Tupperware® one-into-the-other, and sometimes put the lids with them, sometimes put the lids, you know, in the drawer above depending on how much there is. But, it's a great way to store things, so use those deeper drawers for things that you can stack and have easy access to.
How can I best use my counter space?
How can I organize my refrigerator and freezer so as to not waste food?
The key to organizing your refrigerator and freezer is to know when something went in there. You know, a lot of times you're looking at something and thinking, 'how old is this,' and you start smelling it, and then you're not sure, and it gets kind of crazy and sometimes you don't even recognize it. It's not a good thing. And this, particularly in the freezer, is tricky, because I know people who have had certain cuts of meat in their freezer since the 1990's; so, that's not a good thing. So, when you put something in there, you want to label it just with a date. It's what restaurants do. Basically, the best rule of thumb for storing food is put a date on it. Then you know this is from two months ago or two years ago. Again, in organizing a refrigerator, I like to say, 'this is the space for the beverages, this is the space for the fruits and vegetables, this is the space for the meats.' You don't have to get completely obsessive about it, but it's nice to have an idea of what you want to keep where. That way you're not finding one soda brand on one shelf and another two shelves up and something else down there. You sort of know if you're going in the refrigerator looking for leftovers, this is kind of the area it is going to be in. When it comes to the freezer, it is good to be a little more ‘anal retentive' - should we say, about it. If you've got drawers in your freezer, I always love saying 'this is poultry drawer, this if for the meats and fish or vegetables'. Sort of keep it separate like that if you can. Again, date everything that is going in there. Put all of the ice creams together if you can. Just doing that, grouping things, will really create better organization and will also help you when making grocery list---trying to figure out what you don't have and have. You can look and eyeball it and don't have to dig around and peel things open to try to see what is in there. You can write on it--- halibut - July 2007. It'll give you an idea; so, that's a general way to keep your refrigerator organized.
How can I 'create' more storage space in my kitchen?
When it comes to storing things in your kitchen it is always hard because we all have those utensils, equipment, things that we don't really want to get rid of or give away but we're never going to use them. We've all got the bread machine, the juicer, the special ice cream maker. Some people use those things. A lot of times people don't or they use them only once in a while. So, I just think, in general, you want to keep the things that you never use or you only use once in a while. If you have the space in your home at the top of the closet somewhere and you want to put it in there, you can do that. If you want to keep it in your kitchen or that is your only option, again, put those things in the back of the cabinet, somewhere where you don't have to worry about having access to it. You can get rolling carts to store things on that you can move around. You can get shelves that you can put in your garage, if you have space, to store some of those really bulky kitchen equipment items. That is the problem. A lot of these things are just big and awkward and you don't really know what to do with them. You can certainly try to work with what you've got. But try to keep in your kitchen proper really. The things that you just need to use because it will just help that function so much better.
What tools can help me organize my kitchen?
There are lots of tools that can help you organize your kitchen. For drawers, I like containers that you can, you know, little trays that you can put in the drawer. A lot of times those trays you buy for your desk are really handy in the kitchen to keep little things in and to keep your utensils in. I think a great kitchen tool are the rubberized mats or shelf liners. They're great because they prevent things from moving around, especially if you live in cities where, you know, you're prone to earthquakes. But they're also great to line the inside of drawers and put your knives on, and things that you don't want to move around a lot. I think the things you buy for your cabinets to put, that you know there are shelves that you can maximize the cabinet space by stacking things on top of them and under them. Those are terrific tools. I think racks that you can stand dishes up in are really great tools for pot lids, for serving platters. You can use them for something other than just regular dishes. I like the idea of actually using containers and things that you wouldn't normally find in a kitchen to use to store kitchen things. I've used CD bins before. You know, deep containers that you would normally stack CDs in - I like to use those in a kitchen to put plastic bags in, and bag handles, and garlic, and all kinds of little things that you want to containerize and you don't want them floating all around, and they're really great. You can pretty much put like eight or ten of those in a drawer and just create like little cubby holes, almost, in a drawer. So there are all kinds of things you can use to really help organize your kitchen, tools like that and they're great. And you can find them, you can look for them and find them, you know, in all different places.
How can I organize my kitchen to be a multi-use space?
Well, nowadays, the kitchen is the center of a lot of things. Its maybe where your kids are sitting and doing their homework. Its where you're on the phone making appointments and scheduling things. So for your kitchen, you want to have other things in your kitchen other than your food, utensils and other things. So its really nice if you can to create a little workspace in your kitchen. Maybe part of the counter top or if there is an area where you might be able to bring in a tiny little desk or table that you can utilize. Its always great to have a calendar up on the wall or put in a cork board somewhere. Put a calendar on it with a schedule. Use the refrigerator if you don't have any space. Put a magnetic calendar on that. Its great for people to be able to see what the schedule is. Everybody in the house can wake up in the morning and go to have coffee or juice and see "Oh this is where everybody is going to be today". So you can put a schedule up on that. Your kitchen table or your counter space is sometimes where your kids are going to be sitting and doing their homework, or where you may be making other kinds of phone calls. So it might be nice to have a little rolling file cabinet, or a little drawer unit, where you can keep some office supplies and some files. This could maybe involve your children's activities, your grocery list or things like that that you want to have access to. So you can make more space, if you don't have a permanent space in your kitchen for all this. You can almost have a little portable station that you can put in the closet at some point if you don't want it around, or its just there. There's a lot of things that you can do to make the kitchen more than just the place where you cook dinner. Because that's really how people are using the kitchen nowadays.
How can organizing my kitchen help my family be more organized?
The kitchen is a great space if you have the chance to have little baskets in there. You can put your kids work, and the things that your kids bring home from school that you need to look at or the things that they need to be looking at. It's just a great place to have a space where you can exchange information. So, you just have to have that area that you created to think about it and create that space. But, it really can function on so many different ways.
How can I organize my cookbooks and recipes?
One of the problems that I encounter all the time in kitchens is the lack of space for cookbooks, cooking magazines, recipe cards, all those kinds of things. Everyone always seems to have an overabundance of these things and nowhere to really put them. One of the things I recommend is, don't necessarily keep all the cooking magazines. Tear out the recipes that you're really interested in and get yourself a binder. Create dividers for entrees, appetizers, and desserts and put them in that binder, and it really will take up a lot less space. The same thing with recipe cards --you can get sheet protectors that you can slide those cards in, if you don't want to have a bulky box, and put them in a binder as well. You can get a portable rack for cookbooks, if you want - cookbooks may be a great thing to put high up on those kitchen shelves that you don't ever really access. It really depends on how many you have and if you really refer to any of them. You may need to store some of them in another room in your house and only keep the ones that you actually use recipes from directly in the kitchen. It depends on your space, but there are different things you can do to organize your cookbooks and recipes in the kitchen.