The start of a new year is a great time for a fresh start – for yourself and your home! In fact, an organized home is a great first step to making positive changes in your life: You can be more efficient, make the most of your living space, and waste less precious time trying to find things when you need them.
It doesn’t matter how organized you are, most of us can usually think of a corner or two in our homes that can use a little re-organization.
That’s why we’re introducing a new series on home organization. Today, we focus on the kitchen – a room that is often about more than just cooking. It is often a hub where families gather to spend some quality time together. Get your kitchen ship shape with these nine simple organization tips.
1. Get Cookin’ with Your Utensils
The number one rule of efficient kitchen organization is to store things where you use them. With this principle in mind, consider keeping your utensils within easy reach from your stove.
Credit: Susan Brook Interiors
2. Slicing & Dicing
Use a clever organizer like this one to keep your knives within easy reach of where you do your chopping, without cluttering up your counter space.
Credit: Mediterranean Kitchen
3. The Spice is Right…. Where You Need It!
For a real cook’s kitchen, build your spice rack right into your cabinetry so that you can peruse your collection at a glance.
If you prefer to keep your spices on hand but out of sight, consider a pull-out spice cabinet right by the stove, where you are likely to use them.
If you are tight on storage space but don’t want to compromise on spices, or their accessibility, mount your spice rack to the inside of cabinet door.
Credit: Green Goods
Credit: Roundhouse
Credit: Bunker Workshop
4. Give Your Gadgets a Home
Small kitchen appliances are practical, time-saving devices, but they can overtake your kitchen like dandelions do your lawn in the summer-time. Stow them discreetly out of sight in a streamlined built-in unit like this one, and keep your kitchen pristine without losing out on convenience.
Credit: Studio Dearborn
5. Organization on a Silver Platter
File your platters vertically, so that you never again have to deal with the struggle that ensues when — amid the chaos of your dinner party — you desperately need that bottom platter in the stack.
Credit: Mullet Cabinet
6. Step Up to the Plate
Consider storing dishes within easy reach, inside drawers equipped with a peg board & dowels. It is so much more practical than top cabinets, you’ll wonder why you never thought of doing it before.
Credit: Hemphill’s Rugs & Carpets
7. Go Vertical with Your Cutlery
Here’s an innovative way to organize your flatware. Consider filing your cutlery vertically, especially if you have a large set and are tired of spoons travelling over to where the forks should live, or if you want to mute the irritating clatter you hear every time you open and close the drawer!
8. Family Command Center
Manage the chaos of your family members’ busy lives with a centralized message hub to help you keep track of appointments, schedules, lists and bills. Keep it all in plain sight in a wall-mounted command center, or tuck it away in a clever built-in solution like this one.
Credit: Jenna Burger Design
Credit: Starline Cabinets
9. Clean Up Your Act!
Keeping your home squeaky clean will be that much easier if your supplies are close at hand. We love the cleaning supply closet at left, and the fact that it is very well equipped, and yet every single item is within easy reach.
Does your kitchen need more than a little re-organizing? Contact Keith Green Construction to find out about our kitchen remodeling and other construction services.
