Organize Your Kitchen

Organize Your Kitchen

Having a disorganized kitchen robs you of your time and patience. Below are some ideas for creating a user-friendly kitchen.

• Rethink your kitchen work centers—where specific tasks such as chopping, cooking and making lunches are performed. Think of how you can store equipment and food near each center where they’ll be used—pots and pans near the stove, baking goods and utensils near the mixer, dishes near the dishwasher.

• Begin reorganizing with the cupboard closest to the sink and work your way methodically around the kitchen.

• Maximize the space in cabinets and drawers with drawer dividers, plate stackers and cup hooks.

• Install vertical dividers in a lower cabinet to organize cookie sheets, pizza pans and cake racks.

• Paint the inside of the cupboard under the sink a bright color to reflect light. Use plastic vegetable bins to store items in this usually wasted space. Attach a towel rack to the inside of the cabinet door for dishrags and wet gloves.

• Use lazy Susans on deep shelves or in corner cabinets.

• Hang a foil, wrap and bag organizer inside a cabinet or pantry door.

• Use wall space for mountable dispensers and portable appliances. Some coffeemakers, microwaves and radios can be mounted underneath high cabinets.

• Attach small containers or racks to the inside of cabinet doors for envelope mixes and other small, hard-to-store items.

• Install slide-out plastic drawers to simplify the retrieval of items at the back of deep cabinets.

• Add a kitchen island or buy a portable butcher block to gain more work and storage space.

• Give away cookbooks you never use. Cut out favorite recipes and file them in inexpensive photo albums.

• Hang a decorative hook on the wall above the kitchen sink for your watch and other jewelry you remove when doing the dishes.

• Keep refrigerator art under control. Let each child post one masterpiece at a time. Or hang a special bulletin board in the kitchen for art projects.

• Use only glass or clear plastic containers for storing food in your refrigerator so you always know what you’re saving.

• Store canned goods by category and with labels facing forward.

• Keep a measuring cup in the flour and sugar and a measuring spoon in the coffee.

• Designate a drawer for healthy snacks so children can help themselves when hungry.

Kathy Peel is a home management writer and author.

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