With so many gadgets, utensils, pots, pans, dishes, and pantry items, kitchens can quickly get out of control. Uncluttering your kitchen can save time and lower your stress when preparing family meals. Here are some great tips and general rules of thumb to help you to keep your kitchen looking fabulous and well organized.

Drawers

No one wants to see your messy drawers! Clean out the junk and wipe your drawers clean. If your drawers still look a bit suspect, add a shelf liner and drawer organizers to help keep your drawers neat.

Got Spices?

Are your spices taking up too much space in your cabinet? Add a spice tray to a kitchen drawer. You’ll save cabinet space and it will help you neatly store and quickly identify your spices. 

Don’t have enough drawer space for a spice tray? No worries you can add a door mounted spice rack to any kitchen cabinet door.

Wall Mounted Shelving

You love to cook, but you’ve decided that culinary school isn’t for you. Consequently, you invested in a huge library of cookbooks and now you have nowhere to store them. Don’t worry! Give those cookbooks a space by placing them on some open shelving away from the stove, so they don’t get greasy.

Group them together by height, add a couple of bookends, and “voila” you’ve got a fantastic place to keep your cookbooks!

Pots and Pans

You just couldn’t resist the latest pots and pans sale at the department store. But now you dread reaching into your cabinet in fear of your life when an avalanche of pots and pans start careening down on you.

Keep those pots and pans in check by installing sliding shelf organizers. Not only will this stop everything from falling on you, but you’ll be able to group things together by stacking them by size and shape.

Got a small kitchen? No problem! Hang pots and pans on a wall or ceiling mounted pot rack near the stove.

Countertops and Tables

Running out of horizontal space? Think vertically! Add cork boards or magnetic boards to get papers and important items off of horizontal surfaces like tables and counters. Add a fun chalkboard to keep track of grocery lists or write notes to family.

General Rules of Thumb

Get rid of anything you don’t use.

We all do it, hang onto appliances that don’t work, have never used, or maybe even have duplicates of. Find new homes for the items that you’re not using by giving them to friend or family member, or better yet, sell them at a garage sale and make a few bucks.

Toss, repair, or replace items that don’t work. 

Unless you’re planning on getting a starring role on Junkyard Wars, why hold on to old junk that doesn’t work? If you can’t repair it or don’t have the finances to replace it right now, toss it. Start saving or use the money you’ve made from your garage sale to replace the items you’ve tossed.

Store frequently used items in easy to reach areas.

Don’t run all over the kitchen looking for a pot or a pan. Store the items that you frequently use in easy to reach areas. For example store pots, pans, cooking utensils, and potholders closer to the stove.

Group small Items. 

Do you have small items you need to store in a pantry? Place small items in a hanging shoe bag over the door. Not only will this de-clutter your pantry, you’ll also be able to find those smaller items quickly.

Some Final Tips for Miscellaneous Items

• Use jars and containers with labels to keep track of all food items

• Group similar items together

• Use decorative baskets in open shelving to help hide some of the other miscellaneous items

What are some things that you do to help keep your kitchen organized and running smoothly?