How To Organize Any Kitchen

Make your kitchen a well-tuned culinary comfort zone

April 16, 2009 - The Coffee Couple - www.my.best.coffee.com

Take your kitchen from a cluttered mess to a well-tuned culinary comfort zone with these tips for getting and staying organized.

We all end up spending a good part of our lives in the kitchen. From shuffling groggily to the coffee pot each morning to entertaining friends on a Friday night, it all seems to start and end in that one room. Whether you’re in a tiny apartment or a custom home with every amenity imaginable, there’s no better reason to make that room as organized and comfortable as possible.

If you’re not naturally organized or if you find you’ve fallen into a clutter rut, these simple tips can help you get back on the road to an organized, clutter-free kitchen.

Out with the old
First things first — go through your cabinets and clean out what you don’t need. As a general rule of thumb, if you haven’t used it in more than a year, and it doesn’t bear any particular sentimental value, get rid of it. Throw out any items that are broken or no longer work.

Any items that appear to still be useful or in good, working condition, set aside to donate to Goodwill or a local church or social organization. Also, it may be tempting to throw out your old appliances, but microwaves and other electronics can often be recycled. Look for charities hosting appliance recycling drives in your area.

Designate an area for papers and bills
Ask any homeowner and they’ll tell you that, like it or not, the kitchen ultimately becomes the main gathering area of the home. And where people gather, their stuff is close to follow. If your kitchen table is so cluttered with junk mail and bills that it looks more like the desk of a stressed out office worker than a cozy place to eat, consider creating a space on or near the table to act as a catch-all for these items.

Your catch-all needn’t be expensive. A simple basket that you can pick up at any department store will do. Once you’ve found a place for it, get into the habit of placing those items in the basket and going through it once a week to prune unwanted or unnecessary items. Just be sure to keep your basket away from any area that might get wet.

If you have kids, you can take a similar approach. Designate an area away from the cooking space where each child can place his or her books, school bags, and jackets. Use colorful bins, preferably those with lids, and teach kids to store their belongings there when they come home at the end of the day. Then, when you have company over, simply shut everything up in their bins and you’re good to go.

Store all little used appliances
Now, take a look at your countertops. If they’re buried underneath a crock pot, a stand mixer, and a blender, take a minute to think about how often you use each of these items. If it’s less than once a week, consider storing the appliances you don’t often use in a cupboard or drawer. That way you’ll free up countertop space for preparing meals and give your eyes a visual break from all that plug-in clutter.

Don’t think you have the cupboard space to store these items? Get creative and use any space that’s available and away from the main work areas, like the top of your refrigerator or even the hall closet.

Make it look easy with everything in reach
There’s nothing like watching a professional cook at work in a kitchen. With everything in his or her reach, the process becomes a fluid ballet, full of precision and ease. Take a tip from the pros by placing pots and pans near your stove so that they’re always within reach as you sauté and simmer.

If you have the space for it, consider purchasing a decorative pot rack to hang above your burners. This way, pots and pans go from dishwasher to stove area but still stay organized and out of the way. If you have a range hood or a low ceiling, inexpensive hooks can also be purchased to mount on the wall behind the stove area. If you choose this alternative, select just a handful of pots and sauté pans that you use most frequently to display there.

Create a coffee station
Finally, if you’re a coffee lover, keep your beans in check by creating a cute, convenient coffee station right within your own kitchen. Keep your coffee grinder, coffee, sugar, and your favorite teas in canisters near your coffeemaker. You can buy canisters with lids or re-use items like an old Mason jar to give it a funky, shabby chic feel.

If you’re pressed for countertop space, a wall-mounted coffeemaker may be just the thing for you. Reasonably priced models that attach to the underside of your cabinets can be found at many department stores. If you love espresso, you may also want to consider purchasing a built-in espresso machine. These espresso makers fit neatly into a kitchen wall and require a bit of initial work, but will free up space and provide tasty espresso drinks for years to come.

Article courtesy of The Coffee Couple – Join the Coffee Couple’s Coffee News Ezine today and get your own free audio report about espresso. Image from www.my-best-coffee.com.

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