There aren't too many things more frustrating than being hungry and walking into a cluttered kitchen. You immediately want nothing to do with cooking or cleaning, drawers won't open because spoons get caught in the way frustrating you even more. Sound familiar? It happens to everyone at some point in time. Luckily, there are ways of making this less frequent with a few smart life hacks. Even the messiest of people can create a clutter-free kitchen that is both functional and beautiful with minimal effort. Let's get started!
Declutter Your Space
If you haven't already taken a look at our article about decluttering your home, you might want to go check that out first. The first step to organizing your kitchen is to declutter. Go through all of your cabinets, drawers, and pantry and get rid of all of the "extras" you have. Unless you are a professional baker, there is no way you need 4 1-cup measuring cups. Do you really need 37 spoons? How about that 3rd different set of bowls in the cabinets? I know for a lot of people this means dropping things that are still useful; however, consider giving them a second life by donating them to a local organization or Goodwill. You don't have to throw something away because you don't need it! You'll quickly find that once you get rid of the extras, your kitchen can't get so dirty and cleaning is a breeze.
Group Similar Items Together
This one is more intuitive than getting rid of extras. Edmund Burke's The Principle of Order states "A place for everything and everything in its place". Take this advice and give everything a home based on what the use is in the kitchen. There is no reason for your glassware to be in a drawer, that is obvious; however, do you think much about you organize your shelves into use? Do you combine your spices for cooking and baking in the same spice rack? While this practice is tough when you aren't the only one who uses the kitchen, you can make a new home for anything over time. Eventually, if your shared kitchen makes sense and the people in it find things in the same place they should put it back in the same place. Unless you have children. They throw things in the strangest places.
Use Drawer Organizers
Nothing is worse than opening a drawer and things come flying out at you. When you stuff things away, they may get forgotten about, but they will still be a problem when you go to use them next. You'd be surprised how easy it is to take control of your kitchen drawers by ordering a simple drawer orgranizer. You can purchase flatware organizer which slightly tilt up to make use of the limited vertical space in your drawer. Another common organizer we have seen are spice organizers which lay flat and allow you to place small spice jars at a slight angle to make it easier to see what you are grabbing. It's simple mathematics, just they pythagorean theorem at work, that by making use of vertical space at and angle reduces horizontal space. The larger the angle, the less horizontal space. Sorry, I went a little math nerd there. All this to say, don't be afraid of trying something different. Just because our parents used the old flat trays doesn't mean we have to, as well!
Use Lazy Susans
There is something about the name which upsets me to my core. I think it is the overwhelmingly negative word "lazy". Or maybe it is because my former mother-in-law was named Susan and she made my stomach turn. Maybe both? Anyway, these cabinet turntables are a great way to make use of functional space in cabinets which may not be easy to access. They excel in those corner cabinets which, 100% horribly designed, seem to have the most space in your kitchen. You'll be more likely to not purchase a duplicate on accident because you can see what is stored away with ease which will reduce clutter in your kitchen. While I have rarely seen them used other than in cabinets, nothing is stopping you from throwing this in your fridge to store condiments or even in your linen closet to store the extra soaps and shampoos you have as backups. If you're still without the Lazy Susan you so desire, we have you covered! Check out the Spin Master Lazy Susan here.
Use Clear Containers
Out of sight, out of mind. Sure, we have all heard that before but for some reason we keep buying storage containers that aren't see through! Yeah, you're flour container with a daisy on it sure looks great but how much flour do you have left? The idea is that if you know what you have left at a glance, you won't overbuy and reduce the clutter in your kitchen. I can't tell you how often I have purchased more pasta because I didn't know how much I had or where it was. If I had switched to clear containers earlier, I wouldn't have had that problem! Consider investing in a set that can hang to the cabinets like our Fresh Keepers or even a wall mounted dispenser like the DispenseX system we offer.
Hang Your Pots and Pans
Raise your hand if you have an oven full of pots and pans. *Raises Hand*. Yes, I am guilty of this one. My current kitchen offers very little opportunity to hang my pots and pans due to the design. The one non-negotiable I have in my next kitchen is an island, fixed or not, that has a pot and pan rack hanging from the ceiling. It is amazing how such a simple thing can make such a huge difference. Bonus to hanging your pots and pans: no wet nesting. Your pots and pans air dry, making it less likely to have mold and bacteria grow while being stored. Even if you don't have space for an island and ceiling mounted hanging solution, you can always go to your local hardware store and purchase fish-eye hooks and install them under your cabinets to save space.
I have spent years in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. I don't mean that I go into my kitchen every day and count that. I have spent likely 2 years worth of time of my life spend in a kitchen. 1,050,120 minutes. Easy. I've worked in at least a dozen commercial kitchens from small mom and pop restaurants to large banquet halls. I've had 400 sq ft home kitchens and literal hallways that were transformed into a kitchen. Over the course of the last 30 years I have picked up a few great habits, and many many many more bad habits, that have helped me keep things organized streamline the process of cooking and cleaning. I love my time in the kitchen, but I cherish the time outside it more. Even if you just take one tip from this article, you are going to spend less time daily in the kitchen and more time enjoying life.