9 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen
This week starts a two-week party of all things kitchen. What better way to kick this party off than by talking about an organized kitchen, the most used room in the house (outside the bathroom). It can be the favorite room in your house, or the most hated. The fastest way to hate your kitchen is through a mess. Think of your kitchen like a rock star. It performs well when it’s clean and organized. But messed up and unorganized, it’s like a strung out rock god where every performance ends with an embarrassing on stage collapse. Don’t let that happen to you.
A good rule of thumb is to keep what you commonly use within reach. My kitchen is set up with the “3-5 Step Rule” in mind. Everything I need while cooking should be within 3-5 steps of each other. An organized kitchen, no matter what the size, is critical for complete functionality. You are putting on a show every night for the toughest fans, your family. Rock out every show by following these tips.
- Put glasses and cups close to the fridge for a quick drink.
- Designate an area in your kitchen as a prep area. This is very important. You need a place that can be used to set up all of your ingredients. It doesn’t have to big. A small, but organized area is better than a big cluttered counter.
- Put your knives near or on your prep area. You never know when you’ll need to slice or chop something.
- Keep essential spices near your stove/prep area. As your cooking, take a taste every now and then. If you need to add a little salt or basil, it’s right there.
- Keep commonly used pots and pans within reach. This can be done by using pot hangers. If you keep your pots and pans in a cabinet, make sure the ones you use the most are up front and not buried in the back.
- Have a drawer dedicated to items you commonly use, like measuring cups,measuring spoons, small prep bowls, cheese grater and such.
- Have small kids? Dedicate a cabinet to them, one that is preferably on floor level. I have one that I store their bowls and cups in. When they were younger, I kept toys in it and would change them out from time to time. This kept my roadies occupied in the kitchen and helped keep them from getting into other cabinets.
- Keep items you don’t use a lot in the hard to reach cabinets. You know what I’m talking about…a perfect place is the cabinets above your fridge. I mean seriously…when was the last time you climbed up there? This is a great spot for seasonal items.
- Go through and clean out you kitchen every now and then. Get rid of stuff you don’t use. (I should do this.)
What about you? What do you do to organize your kitchen? Did I miss anything? Feel free to share your comments. As always, thanks for reading and keep on rockin’.
Rock Star Dad
