Declutter and Organize Your Kitchen for Spring
Your kitchen, because it is used continually by all the members of your household, can have a tendency to get cluttered. Adding to the disarray, the kitchen often becomes the drop off point for mail, homework, and paperwork. To enjoy your kitchen more and make cooking easier, the Signature Maids have prepared these tips to declutter and organize your kitchen this spring. Decluttering and organizing will reduce your mealtime frustration while making your kitchen more user friendly and welcoming. After all, don’t you want a bright, beautiful, and functional kitchen that welcomes you to enter, cook, and enjoy multiple times a day?
Decluttering Your Countertops
Depending on your kitchen design, this step can include both countertops and tabletops, as no surface is immune to clutter. Remove mail, paperwork, homework, and any other items which have made their way to the kitchen countertops, breakfast nook, or kitchen table that don’t belong. Put them in their proper place or if they need to remain in the kitchen area, find some attractive baskets or bins for storage that will keep those items organized but out of the way until needed. Sorting mail when you arrive home is a great hack – toss junk mail right away and sort others into appropriate storage for later handling. Likewise having attractive storage for each family member, means they can put their school bags and books, or work from home items into a unique storage basket or bin for easy retrieval when they are ready to work.
Decluttering Your Cabinets and Pantry
Decluttering in your cabinets, drawers, and pantry, will make your kitchen more user friendly and welcoming when it’s time to cook. Step one, purge duplicate items from your cabinets. In all likelihood you don’t need multiple vegetable peelers, potato mashers, or spaghetti servers, do you? Getting rid of duplicates of gadgets you don’t need increases your space, helps keep your cabinets more organized, and makes cleaning easier.
Consider installing hooks inside upper and lower cabinet doors to hand frequently used items. Permanent hooks or stick-on hooks are the ideal solution for holding measuring cups, salad tongs, measuring spoons, and even spice racks , utilizing otherwise wasted space. You can also add hooks to the back wall of your cabinets for items used less often, making use of wasted between shelf space. Keep in mind, today’s stick on hooks can handle some weight and won’t damage the interior of your cabinets.
Inside your cabinets, stacking cups and glasses can create additional space as can undershelf baskets and shelves which use dead, wasted wide-open space above your glasses, dishes, and bowls.
Now, let’s get organized. Sort your items by purpose and store them together accordingly in drawers and cabinets. That means common kitchen items like cooking spices, grilling tools, baking supplies, and stovetop needs are stored neatly together and within easy reach for the task. While you are organizing, keep frequently used, heavier items, like mixers, food processors, slow cookers, within easy reach, stored low for safety. For items you use daily, like your toaster or blender, organizing will allow you to make them a space on the countertop within easy reach.
Store glasses near the sink, where they are normally used and can be easily reached. Likewise, spices, oils, and tools used for cooking should be stored near the stove.
Use drawer dividers to keep your small gadgets, knives, spatulas, etc., as well as your eating utensils, easily visible and within reach when cooking, serving, and eating. If you have a pantry, over the door shelving maximizes space and adds much needed additional storage. And finally, look for additional ways to organize your kitchen, for example a window ledge can be used to grow your own fresh spices, while stackable storage can be added in the pantry below the built-in shelving.
