Carrots and Spice

Healthy Lifestyle for Busy Families

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Guest Post from The English Organizer – 10 Tips for a More Organized Kitchen

Allow me to introduce today’s guest blogger Pauline Wiles from The English Organizer.  Pauline is a Professional Organizer and runs her own company out of San Francisco.  She helps cliens conquer clutter and chaos to create an organized home. I am honored to have her here today to give us 10 tips for a more organized kitchen.

Few rooms in your home have the capacity to delight all five senses like your kitchen.  But your culinary enjoyment and efficiency will be greatly reduced if you haven’t organized the space effectively.  Here are some tips to create a functional everyday environment, in which you can slice, simmer, and stir with ease:

1. Sort through your cabinets and pantry and make categories of similar items (canned goods, dry foods, pots, plates, storage containers, gadgets, and so on).

2. Get rid of anything that is past its date, broken, dirty, or that you never use. For any seasonal items used only once a year, you can make space by storing them in another part of your home. If you find you have multiples of some items, figure out how many you realistically need, and donate the rest.

3. Clear off your counters and find a home for non-kitchen clutter.  A small appliance you use daily should live on the counter, otherwise, try keeping it somewhere else to maximize  workspace.  If you have the luxury of ample counters, you can allow yourself some decorative items, otherwise, you’d better look out for gadgets which are both functional and attractive!

4. Arrange your cupboards so that you’re keeping like with like and aim to store things where you need them.  For example, plates are best kept near the dishwasher or the stove.   Your spices, on the other hand, should not be too near the heat.

5. Consider making ‘stations’ for repeated daily activities.  Some families create a breakfast station, a beverage station, or a low-level, kid-friendly supply of healthy snacks. If you love to bake, you’ll benefit from a baking station, so that everything you need is in easy reach.

6. Create space for recycling – unless your kitchen was designed in the last five years, you probably lack adequate containers for cans, plastic and paper.

7. Don’t buy more than you have room to store – bulk warehouse shopping may be great value, but if you have nowhere to put them, your mass purchases will become a headache.

8. Decide on your favorite staple items and aim to stock these in your pantry at all times for store cupboard meals like a basic soup.

9. Hang up a shopping list and insist everyone adds items when they finish them.

10.  As you replenish food supplies, practice stock rotation so that older items are placed near the front to be used first. For healthier eating, make sure fruits and nutritious snacks are the easiest things to reach. Chips, candy and cookies should be a little harder to access!

Thanks  Pauline for such a lovely post. If you haven’t already, hop over to visit Pauline at The English Organizer!

Image Credits: 1. Stephen Saint 2. Williams Sonoma 3. Free Stock Photo 4. Free Stock Photo


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Comments

  2. I would love to have a pantry that looked like the first image!!!! Mine is mess, but I’m not working with the space I do have. Another day, another project. 🙂
    Janell

  4. What a fabulous post! Reading this is so helpful – Ben and I have had kitchen organization on our to-do list for a while. I think this post had prepared me to finally tackle the project 🙂

    • The English Organizer replied: — April 22nd, 2011 @ 5:52 am

      Thrilled to hear it! I think you’ll enjoy being in your kitchen much more, when you know what ingredients you have, and can find them. Thanks for reading!

  5. Oh, I could need some help in that department! I think my kitchen looks good on the “outside” but once you open the doors to all cabinets you can easily get the hickups!

    I have always wanted a tiny, tiny vacuum cleaner for all those crumbs that end up in the drawers. I wonder if they even exisit.

    Great post! I bet Pauline’s kitchen looks fabulous!

    Happy weekend to you both.

    Mon

  6. I like the idea of creating “stations”. Maybe if I did that, I would have to be constantly cleaning up the coffee grounds that end up across the room from the coffee maker!

  8. Thanks for the great
    inspiration! I am on a
    clean and purge mission
    at the moment, so this
    will fit right into my plan!
    Hopping over to visit P’s
    blog, now….
    Happy Easter!
    xx Suzanne

  10. If I had a pantry that big, there wouldn’t be that much “white space” – it’d probably be packed to the gills 🙂

  11. Great tips. I have some stuff on the counter that I definitely need to put awayan some cupboards to go through.

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