Week two in our Spring Organising Series and we’re tackling kitchen organisation this week!
The hub of any busy family, the kitchen can easily become a dumping ground for paper, mail, sports bags and dirty laundry among other things.
I will be delving deeper into kitchen organisation – under the sink, the fridge and presses in future blogs. However, here are my top tips to help you get started on re-organising your kitchen.
Kitchen press Before
1. CREATING ZONES:
An organised kitchen is one that contains different zones for its different uses. This means that you arrange kitchen items beside the area or the equipment that you use with them.
So for instance, in most houses, cleaning products – sponges, dishwasher tablets, sprays etc. are kept under the sink. Most people do that.This is an example of a zone. Keeping items that clean the kitchen near the equipment that cleans (i.e. the sink!)
By creating zones within the kitchen, it avoids zig-zagging as you use the kitchen – whether that be for cleaning, or meal preparation. It makes it easier and quicker to retrieve anything you need and most importantly, it makes it much simpler to put everything away when you’re finished.
Below are some examples of the types of Zones you would find in a kitchen and the items you might find within each zone…
1. TABLE DRESSING
Crockery,
Glasses, cups,
Cutlery
2. COOKING:
Pots and Pans
Steamers
Juicers
3. BAKING:
Baking Trays
Cake Pans
Mixing bowls
Weighing scales
Mixers
Blenders
4. FOOD:
Fridge
Vegetables
Confectionary
Dry food stuff
Canned Food
Cereals
Baking goods
Spices and herbs
Sauces, Oils
Jams, Spreads
Pastas, soups
5. PACKAGING:
Aluminium foils
Sandwich bags
Baking paper
6. CLEANING PRODUCTS:
Bin bag liners
Wipes, polishes
Disinfectants
Bleach
Paperware
Washing up/ dishwasher
Laundry products
7. DRESSAGE:
Napkins
Tablecloths
Candles
Towels
2. TAKE ONE CUPBOARD AT A TIME:
As you begin to tackle your kitchen, don’t feel like you have to do the entire room in the one go. Take it one cupboard at a time.
Remove items from each and place them on the kitchen table. As you place each item down, look to see if a similar item has already been put out. If it has, put them with each other. You are now creating a category. Toss out things that you no longer want, that doesn’t work or that are out of date! With the remaining items, place like-with-like and sort everything out together!
Emptying out press & arranging items into categories. Categories created here were: Extra toiletries; sewing;
3. PLAN YOUR SPACE:
As your categories emerge, decide where in the kitchen you would like them placed. In other words, plan out the zones of your kitchen. Your dressage could be near the table for instance. Cleaning products under the sink. Herbs, spices, oils and sauces near the cooker. Baking utensils next to the oven etc.
Watch in particular the size of the category and the press or cupboard that is to be its’ new home. Is the press big enough to hold everything? If not, is there a press beside it so that the category can spread over two cupboards? Remember, in order to maintain the zone you need to keep similarly used items together. And this may involve some rearranging to the original layout of your kitchen. But it will work much more smoothly in the end!
4. CLEAN AS YOU GO:
Before you return items to the presses, make sure to give them a wipe down and make them sparkle!
5. THINK ABOUT YOUR STORAGE:
As you return items to the presses, make a list of items that need storage bought for it. For instance, placing spices back into the press, would they be better held in a spice rack? Or the cleaning products under the sink, could they do with a mesh basket to hold them in place.
Make a list of storage that you would like to get to enhance the usability of your kitchen. Measure presses and cupboards where you would like this storage and add these measurements onto your shopping list. That way, next time you are out shopping you can purchase wisely and get things that you know will work.
One storage box was given to each category. Here, category examples are: Toiletries; DIY; coffee. The storage used were Pluggis range from Ikea
All of this will encourage the organisation of kitchen. Having a clean, clear and organised kitchen space to look at will nourish your soul!
Kitchen Press AFTER – All items clearly categorised, visible and accessible
Tomorrow, I’ll have an array of tasks you can complete over the next week if you want to get stuck in & finally sort out a press or two!
And stay tuned for more, on Friday I share my favourite storage to use in the kitchen!
Happy Organising!
Sarah
