Scrolling through TikTok or decorating TV channels, you might think that kitchen organization begins and ends with open shelves stacked neatly with white plates, or a pantry stocked with clear plastic bins filled with ‘items arranged in rainbow order.
Instead, professional organizers recommend thinking of your kitchen in functional areas, then arranging your pots, gadgets, and food based on how you cook (or don’t cook) in that space. “It’s surprising how often people unpack their kitchen items without thinking about how or where they’ll use them,” notes Scott Roewer of the Organizing Agency in Washington.
Let yourself be guided by the classic kitchen triangle (sink, refrigerator, stove) to organize your things: store oils and spices near the cooktop, place the dish basket near the sink. If your kitchen is very cluttered, start by taking everything out of your cupboards and your refrigerator and grouping items by category (cake pans, dried pasta). Before putting everything back in place, eliminate expired products or those you no longer need.
Here are more simple principles to help you tackle the major spaces in your kitchen.
The pantry: visible items
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Visible items organized by category for a practical pantry
Being able to easily see and reach items in the pantry (or cabinets that serve as a pantry) is essential. “If things aren’t put in cabinets haphazardly, you can quickly glance in the pantry and know what you have,” says Dana K. White of A Slob Comes Clean.
Organizational materials can also help tame the pantry.
Onions and potatoes can be stored in clear plastic bins or simple baskets; spices can be arranged on stair treads (think mouse-sized tiers). “Lazy Susans are great because you just turn them to access items in the back of a cabinet,” says Anne Mooney, an organizer in Oakland, California. “It’s a circular solution to a square problem. »
Cabinets: a question of proximity
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Using compartments in drawers is a good idea.
The main space in your cabinets – easy-to-reach shelves, drawers close to the dishwasher – should be devoted to the plates, dishes and cooking utensils you use most often. “It’s a question of proximity: put the cutlery in the drawer right next to the dishwasher, or the coffee cups right above the coffee maker,” explains Mme White.
Drawers will stay tidier if you use compartmentalized dividers such as cutlery trays and low-profile knife blocks.
This will prevent items from sliding around in the drawers and getting mixed up. If your cupboards don’t have pull-out shelves (a feature of many newer kitchens), you can add your own pull-out shelves; several companies offer them.
For dishes and glassware you only need a few times a year—grandma’s china, large serving platters—Roewer suggests “looking beyond the kitchen for storage.” He keeps his wine goblets and his collection of cocktail sticks in his dining room buffet.
The refrigerator: like a wardrobe
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Don’t forget the freezer!
Think of your refrigerator as a food closet and you might find it easier to organize it. This means that like goes with like, once again. “Subdivide the refrigerator with one place for drinks, another for meat and cheese, and another for fruits and vegetables,” says Mme Mooney. To do this, you can use the drawers already provided or place a few transparent plastic bins on the shelves.
Mr. Roewer swears by the mantra of “filing, not stacking,” especially in the freezer.
“It’s best to store products in the drawer on the side so you can see them better,” he explains. “You can also remove frozen pizzas from their packaging before storing them, which saves space. »
Counters: eliminate visual clutter
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Clear counters for a tidier kitchen.
Whether it’s the pressure cooker or the knife block, anything you leave on kitchen counters can add to visual clutter. “Anything you can do to reduce the amount of objects on the counter will help make the room tidier,” says Roewer. Everyone has a different tolerance level, but in general, the fewer items on the countertop, the easier it is to clean it. »
Magazine-worthy minimalism may not be possible in real life.
But you can limit the load on your counters by clearing out a cabinet to store small appliances, replacing a countertop microwave with a drawer model, or purchasing a dish drying rack that folds or rolls up so it can be Stored out of sight when not in use.
Group items you leave on the counter into containers or stations. Place wooden spoons and spatulas in an oversized pot near the stove or create a drinks station with cups, tea bags and a box of sugar on a tray near the coffee machine.
Under the Sink or Above the Stove: Maximize Tight Spaces
When kitchen space is limited, awkward areas can be transformed into storage spaces. “Even if there are plumbing pipes under the sink, you can still add pull-out drawers or install shelves,” says Shannon Kadwell, kitchen and bath designer at Anthony Wilder Design/Build, in the Maryland. You can also place a small rod the entire length of the cabinet under the sink, just in front of the pipes, and hang the bottles of cleaning products from it.
The tiny cabinets above some range hoods are usually too hot for food storage, but they can be used for water bottles. “If you have space above your cabinets, use it,” says Roewer. So put items you don’t use often – Christmas cookie cutters, party favors – in lidded bins. »
This article was originally published in the Washington Post.
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