Not everyone is a full-fledged hoarder, but a good many of us are pack rats, and the kitchen is one place that quickly begins to show the accumulation. Decorator items, gadgets and genuinely handy items all crowd the kitchen, leaving little room for its intended purpose: cooking meals. However, once clean and organized, even an old kitchen gets a new lease on life. It's suddenly pleasant to be in, and it can serve its purpose again.
Instructions
1. Assemble some empty corrugated boxes and a trash can on your kitchen floor.
2. Empty every cupboard and drawer, deciding as you work whether you should keep each item, throw it away or give it to a charity such as Goodwill. Throw away the items that are of no use to anyone anymore, put the "give away" items in boxes and place the other items on the kitchen counter. Marthastewart.com recommends you do this kind of decluttering once a year.
3. Group the "keeper" items sitting on the kitchen counter by type: bakeware and mixing bowls, cookware, cooking utensils, dishes, flatware, cups and glasses, spices, canned goods, dry food goods, small appliances, cleaning aids and food storage containers and wrappers.
4. Wipe out the empty drawers and cupboards, and wipe down any of the "keeper" items that need it.
5. Put everything that you will need for cooking duties near the stove. Place frying pans and frying pan lids in the drawer under the stove, and put the rest of the pots, pans and related items, such as colanders, in a large cupboard or in deep drawers next to the stove, recommends Home Organization Help, a web site devoted to decluttering and organizing homes. Place cooking utensils in a drawer next to the stove, and use a small cupboard near the stove to store spices if your habit is to shake them directly into the cooking pot.
6. Place dishes in another cupboard near the stove so you can pull them from the shelf and plate meals right from the stove top. Alternatively, as recommended by Marthastewart.com, you could put them in a cupboard near the dishwasher so you can put them directly in the cupboard as you unload the dishwasher. Similarly, flatware should go in the drawer nearest the dishes.
7. Place glasses and cups in a cupboard near the refrigerator because that's where you store beverages. The coffeemaker should go on the kitchen counter near the refrigerator so you don't have cups taking up space in one location and glasses in another.
8. Store infrequently used appliances in a pantry or large lower level cupboard. Use counter space for only those appliances that you frequently use. In many households, those are the microwave oven, the toaster and the coffeemaker.
9. Store dry goods such as cereals, crackers and snack goods in a cupboard that's relatively close to the dishes, where you can grab a bowl, or close to the refrigerator, where you can grab milk or another beverage.
10. Choose two cupboards for baking goods. Store baking dry goods such as flour and baking powder in one and baking tins and mixing bowls in the other.
11. Dedicate one or two drawers to kitchen linens, such as dish clothes and tea towels; one drawer to wrappers, such as foil and plastic wrap and one drawer to small hand-held appliances, such as a stick blender, a cork screw and a manual can opener.
12. Choose one cupboard, preferably near the stove, for canned goods. Most canned goods end up being heated, so placing them near the stove is convenient.
13. Store cleaning aids under the sink, unless you have small children around. In that case, cleaning aids should be stored on a high shelf in a pantry or in the garage.
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