Organize Your Life Day 10: Kitchen

The kitchen is the hub of the home. Morning, noon, and night, we prepare food, devour meals, and bond with friends and family. The feeling in the kitchen can spread out to the rest of the house.

Today’s goal is to make that feeling one of order and calm, creating a space that is easy to maneuver and maintain.

Welcome to Organize Your Life Day 10: Organize Your Kitchen.

This is part of a mini-series on overcoming parenting (and life!) overwhelm and stress by organizing your life. Click here to see the introduction and links to other days.

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With as much time as we spend in the kitchen, it makes sense to have it be one of the smoothest running spaces in our home. With a kitchen that is well-ordered and easy to maintain, we limit stress and save time so that you can focus on what matters most. Today’s post provides tips and ideas for simplifying, organizing, and systematizing (SOS) your kitchen. If you missed the introduction to SOS yesterday, be sure to check it out.

As you read through the post, record any notes or tips in your Workbook or journal that you want to remember about organizing your kitchen.

1. Simplify

Remember, simplifying our space means we are removing everything that we no longer want or need. Over time we tend to accumulate stuff. Sometimes that stuff doesn’t even fit in our space anymore! If you have drawers that won’t shut easily, pantries that rain cereal, or cupboards that are jammed, you will love how it feels to simplify. Grab your donation box (we’re going to fill it this week!), and keep your garbage and recycling nearby. Let’s get started.

We want to go through everything in the kitchen and consciously keep those items we still use and want. Here are a few ideas to get you going.

Drawers, cupboards, and countertops:

• Tupperware, sippy cups, and water bottles are easy places to start. If they don’t have functioning lids, say goodbye!
• Do you have an appliance for everything? If you use those appliances, enjoy having them, AND have space to store them, keep them. However, if your cupboards are crammed and you’re saving that crepe maker because you might want it for a baby shower sometime in the next five years, donate it.
• Check your drawers for duplicate serving and preparing utensils. Typically two of things are useful for kids who want to help in the kitchen. More than that and you could probably just wash a dish in between preparing foods.
• Vases are a common culprit of over-owning. Keep a small variety of sizes or colors if you want, but feel free to pass on some of those beauties!
• How many mixing bowls do you have? Even if they came in a set, if you only use the big and little, give away the medium one.
• Is your towel drawer hard to close? If you never run out of towels, get rid of a few or move some out of prime real estate.
• Keep one lunch box per person.
• Get rid of your junk drawer. Use these tips on clutter to clear it out.
• Do you have 50 grocery sacks? Keep ten and recycle the rest. You’ll be getting more on your next trip to the grocery store.
• Keep countertops as clear as possible for cooking.

Fridge and pantry:

• Go through the fridge and toss any spoiled leftovers, fruits, or vegetables. While I believe there’s some wiggle-room on the expiration date of most condiments, throw away anything that is past the date you would use it.
• Do the same purge in the pantry, removing anything stale or past its eating point.

Remember, if you’re not sure you want to part with an appliance, extra pot, or anything else, put it in your “Half-way House” box to be moved out to the garage. If you miss that crepe maker, pull it back out. If you don’t use it in the next six months, it’s easier to donate at that point.

As you read this list, what came to mind? In your Workbook or journal, answer the following question. Are there any appliances or other items you could donate or move out of prime real estate?

2. Organize

After you have pared down your kitchen to the items you actually want and use, you are ready to find the best places to keep everything. Remember our three user-friendly questions. Who is using it? Where are they using it? How often are they using it?

Drawers, cupboards, and countertops:

• Keep plastic cups and bowls in a low drawer where kids can help themselves and clean-up after themselves.
• Put the silverware close to the dishwasher.
• If you bake a lot, put your canisters of flour and sugar in prime real estate. If baking is not your thing, move those pretty jars off your counter and into the pantry.
• Store knives high and away.
• Put a Lazy Susan in the cupboard to make use of inaccessible back corners.
• Appliances you don’t use often can go in the back of cupboards.
• Use small bins to organize silverware in drawers.
• Designate a place for replacements. One harder to reach cupboard (like that awkward one above the fridge) or even a shelf in the basement works. If you have too many towels, but they are perfectly fine and you know you’ll need more when this set is ruined, put some replacements in the specified place. The same can be done with extra matching glass cups, lunch boxes, or the 40 pencils in your junk drawer (which you won’t have anymore, right!?). Leave what you need in prime real estate and clear the rest. By keeping the replacements together, you’ll always be able to find them when they’re needed.

Fridge and pantry:

• Keep leftovers together in the fridge so they don’t get lost and rotten in the back corners. Store fruits and vegetables in drawers so you can keep your eye on them as well. If you put foods together by categories (fruit, meats, etc.) always in the same area, you will all spend less time hunting.
• In your pantry, keep the foods you use most often in the front of easy to reach shelves.
• Use a shelving unit in the basement for extra non-perishable food if you have a small pantry. This way you can buy in bulk when foods are on sale without overwhelming your pantry. It also gives you space for smaller food storage items. (You can often find shelves on Craigslist or build your own.)

3. Systematize

The systems and routines we choose help us maintain organization with minimal time and effort. The important kitchen routines are putting away items, cleaning everything, and rotating food.

Tips and routines for putting away kitchen items:

• Most kitchen clearing should happen as you go by whoever used the items. If you use scissors and markers for a project at the table, put them away before moving on. As a rule, don’t clean-up after your kids. It is more effective to remind them to take care of thie responsibilities and wait patiently for them to do so.
• Lunchboxes can be part of the afterschool routine. Before doing anything else, kids can put away their lunchboxes (taking care of leftovers), school papers, and backpacks.
• Do a quick tidy-up before bed so you wake to a fresh start each morning.

Tips and routines for cleaning the kitchen:

• If you didn’t do it on Day 6, determine who is responsible for deep cleaning the kitchen and when, as well as who does the dishes.
  • I prefer to be in charge of dishes and delegate when it works. I don’t want to be waiting on a child who is at an afterschool activity, choosing to do homework first, or wants to do their job right after school.
  • This post also has helpful information about introducing your family to new routines.
• Microwave- Teach everyone to put a paper towel over food in the microwave. This saves on splatters and therefore, cleaning time.
  • If the microwave does get splattered, wipe it out right away.
  • Every so often, heat a bowl of vinegar and lemon juice in the microwave until steaming. Wipe down the microwave with a clean cloth. This freshens the smell and allows any caked on food to wipe off much easier.
• To prevent time spent scrubbing the oven, put foil or spill mats on the bottom.
• If you prefer cleaning dishes or counters with sponges, be sure to clean and replace your sponges often enough. I prefer light colored washcloths that can be thrown in the washing machine with bleach and last much longer.

Tips and routines for rotating food:

• After grocery shopping, put newer foods behind older ones.
• Teach everyone to finish a cereal or package before opening a new one of the same or similar kind.
• If you didn’t decide on Day 5 how you will use leftovers, do that now.

Think about the systems and routines you want to put in place for your kitchen. In your journal or Workbook answer, “How will you keep your kitchen clean and organized?” Consider your pantry, fridge, or any other trouble spaces in particular.

Your Turn

It’s time to set your timer for the remainder of your hour and tackle your kitchen! Work to simplify, organize, and systemize. If your kitchen is far from where you want it to be, work through it one space at a time. Start with a specific drawer, the pantry, or the fridge. Use your hour productively, following SOS, and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish.

When your timer rings, record any thoughts, take-aways, or future action items from today. If there are spaces in your kitchen you didn’t get to today, add them to your Home Management Living List.

Enjoy your newly organized kitchen!

Tomorrow we will organize your paper work or office space. Coming up…Organize Your Life Day 11: Paperwork.

What successes have you had in managing your kitchen? Do you have any lingering questions? Please share in the comments.

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