Organizing Your kitchen will save you both time and money

As the most used room in the house, the kitchen should be the best organized space for ease of use

Organizing your kitchen can be a major project that includes contractors, builders, kitchen designers, and even input from every family member whether you want their advice or not. Or, it can be a project you accomplish using the space and area you have now and doing it one step at a time

For now, I'm assuming your plans for organizing your kitchen are following the second path.

As you examine and analyze your kitchen space, be aware of the functions you perform in each area. Most kitchens are separated into standard areas.

• The Preparation and Baking Area
• The Cooking Center
• The Cleanup Area
• The Eating and Entertaining Area

Let's take a look at each area individually and see what you should be looking at as you go through organizing your kitchen

The Food Prepartion and Baking Area

The prep area should be handy to both the cooking and cleanup area. This way you can clean as you go and save time and effort at the end of the meal. Lack of counter space and working area is often an issue in this area. Try to keep this space free of small appliances and decorative items. Store appliances that aren't used every day in cabinets or install appliances that mount under the counter.

In this area you would store cutting boards, knives, bowls, casseroles and baking pans, and appliances used for food preparation such as blenders and food processors. An under the counter cookbook holder is a great accessory in this area.

If your storage cabinets have adjustable shelves for help in organizing your kitchen, you are in luck. If you don't have this option, don't give up hope. Check out the items you need to store in this area. Measure the amount of space you have and the amount needed. Take some comparison shopping trips while you are out anyway to hardware, home improvement and other stores mentioned in Home Storage. Follow the directions listed in the Home Storage page to find suitable items that will eliminate or control your storage problems and help in organizing your kitchen.

If you find you don't have enough counter space, can you add a movable cart for use in the kitchen? If you're not sure of the room it takes for storage and whether you can move it around the room, cut a template from brown kraft paper of the cart you are thinking of purchasing. Place this on the floor where you will store the cart. Move around with it and see if it moves easily around existing furniture. This should help make your buying decision easier and one you can happily live with.

The Cooking Center

When organizing your kitchen, don't overlook the cooking center. This includes the stove and nearby counter, hopefully near the prep area. In this area are stored pots and pans, potholders, hot pads, herbs and spices, and cooking utensils used on a regular basis. Think about storing lids in an upright rack since they are not used every time you use the matching pan.

This is an ideal situation for using a rolling cart. Food can be brought from the sink, refrigerator, or prep area with a minimum of mess and effort. When finished with the cooking, everything can be returned to it's correct location or the clean up area with a minimum of steps.

If space is at a premium, think about installing an overhead rack for pots and pans. Is there a wall nearby where you could install a pegboard for cooking utensils? How about using an under the counter spice rack? Magnetic strips on the backsplash can hold knives and other utensils that are used daily. For other items you can use when organizing your kitchen, look through home improvement catalogs and local kitchen supply stores.

The Clean-Up Center

This of course is the sink/dishwasher area. The first thing I do when I start to cook is fill the sink with hot, soapy water and put things in it as I cook. This avoids the clutter look and the "Oh my gosh!" feeling you get in the pit of your stomach after preparing a large meal. Even if you have a dishwasher, by putting things in the water immediately, when you're ready to load the dishwasher, you don't need to rinse anything and by having fairly clean dishes in the dishwasher, you save on water and energy buy using a smaller cycle.

When I think of organizing your kitchen, one area here that gets cluttered really quickly is the under the counter cabinets, especially if you store cleaning supplies here. I was a great one for having 3 half filled dish soap containers, along with cleaning supplies that hadn't seen the light of day in 2 years.

If you see yourself here, get down there and totally empty out this space. Throw away supplies you haven't used in a long time. Make one full soap container from the 3 that are there. Then, buy a portable cleaning caddy and put your cleaning supplies in it. If you find yourself putting cleaning supplies under the sink because they don't fit in the caddy, reorganize the caddy. How many cleaning supplies do you really need in this day of multipurpose cleaners? Just doing this one thing will go a long way toward organizing your kitchen and getting rid of clutter.

The clean up area could also contain your waste area. Check out this site for some useful design ideas for recycle bins. You will also obtain lots of information on choosing kitchen cabinets.

The Eating and Entertaining Area

The closer you can store dishes and silverware to the area where you actually use them, the more efficient your kitchen organizing will become. Of course, if you eat standing up by the kitchen sink (and we all do this at some time or other), this becomes a non-issue.

However, if you have a sit down family meal every night, think about how you set the table and where you actually store the items you use each night. You may want to consolidate these items and store them closed to where you actually use them. Use draw dividers or stacking silverware trays for large drawers. Double shelf space in cabinets by using under shelf wire racks to make more room for various plate sizes and glass items. If you have a counter nearby and use the same four place settings every evening, consider using upright storage on the counter for the place settings.

If you have a small unused wall area, consider adding a few shelves for the coffee mugs and favorite drinking glasses that are in constant use every day

Now That You're Organized, Stay That Way

Because there are so many flat surfaces in the kitchen it is easy to let it become a catch all for anything that comes through this room. Mail, school books, briefcases, coats, hats, boots, the list is endless.

If mail is dropped on the kitchen table, find an attractive container you can use for an In box. Be sure to empty it every day or you'll soon find it overflowing. Hats, mittens, backpacks --- is there a place where you can set up cubbies, one for each family member? Perhaps each can have their own plastic bin and coat hook by the back entrance. Is there a key rack handy by the back door so that the morning hunt for car and house keys is totally eliminated?

Whatever your storage problem is, when you are thinking of organizing your kitchen, reflect on your own organization dilemmas and using your creativity you will come up with just the storage container or solution you need.

The secret to staying organized is to stop clutter in its tracks. It may take some constant reminding to the rest of the family, but in the end the order and harmony that results from your constant diligence is worth it.

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