Organizing Kitchen Clutter

 

Keeping A Clear Out The Clutter Promise

Promising to clear out the clutter is a common New Year’s resolution.  In fact, getting organized is one of the top New Year’s resolutions.

 

If you have vowed to get organized this year, the kitchen is a great place to start.  It is so much simpler to declutter a kitchen than anyplace else.  When you ask yourself the basic questions of “Do I love it, use it, or need it?” – the answers are quickly evident.  Unlike the clothes closet, you don’t need to try it on.  And unlike the attic, you are going to quickly know if you’ve been using that item or not.

Once you’ve sorted out the clutter by asking those key questions, tackle the pantry by tossing out expired items.

Now you are ready to implement some low-cost and easy ideas to keep your kitchen organized.  Here are some ideas from a kitchen I just finished organizing. These ideas should work for most everyone – and they originated from some very common situations.

 


 

Baking Pans:

 

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
Before

 

Organizing kitchen clutter
After

 

It is very common to have baking pans here and there.  It is also very common for them to be stacked in a frustrating pyramid so that you have to do juggling to get one out.  Using a rack, costing less than $10, really makes organizing easy.  These “bakeware” organizers typically hold something as wide as a 9 x 11 casserole or many slim items, such as a stack of cookie sheets or cutting boards.

Prepare for the Holidays – Head Back to Basics in Organizing
With the holidays fast approaching, you could probably use a little help in making your kitchen tidy and getting it organized.  Getting organized in the kitchen means getting down to the basics.

 

Sliding Drawers for Lower Cabinets
It is easy to update older cabinets with the addition of drawers.

 


 

Cooking Tools:

 

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
Before

 

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
After

 

In this kitchen, cooking tools were spread out among three different smaller drawers.  This larger drawer, was a mish-mash of items.  Cooking meant opening and closing multiple drawers to find the tool you need.  Begin by cleaning your largest drawer.  Move all the cooking tools to that one drawer.  Think of it as a one-stop shop for your tools.  As you organize, eliminate extras and donate them to a good cause.

 

Whisk those gadgets into shape
Learn ideas for those hard-to-organize and unusually shaped necessities.


 

Spices:

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
Before

 

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
After

Spices sometimes work in a cabinet.  Sometimes they do not. Figure out if they are working in your home by checking to see if you can get to them easily.  In this case, the stair-step organizers simply did not work.  Reaching for one thing in the back meant knocking over three things in the front.  It was like trying to play dominos!  Moving them all to a large drawer really made a big difference.

 

Some spicy ideas
Great ways to organize your spice cabinet.

You couldn’t possibly be outdated. Could you?
You don’t have 15-year-old spice – or do you? Check it out here.

 


 

Under the Sink:

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
Before

 

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
After

 

Is your under the sink a wasteland of unused space?  This small kitchen really needed to use that space.  We used another of the bakeware organizers to hold cutting boards.  Since you usually cut by the sink to rinse of vegetables and fruits, this is a great convenient spot.  Placing the blender and parts in a slide out basket makes it easy to use. Limiting cleaning products to those used in the kitchen helped reclaim needed space.  The others were moved to a utility closet.  Containing the products in a slide-out basket helps them find what they need.

 

Desperate for Cluttered Kitchen Help
My friend’s cabinets are so jammed with things that I don’t even know where to begin and how to get her organized. I am clueless for ideas on where to start in for her kitchen.

Hard-to-use Lower Cabinets – Get ideas for maximizing your space
Maximize the space you have by making the best use of your cabinets.

 


 

Junk Drawer

 

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
before

 

Organizing Kitchen Clutter
After

 

It is probably not that unusual that clutter was in several places.  Really, it wasn’t clutter but useful items.  They were just scattered here and there.  By adding dividers to this small unused drawer, it became a very useful drawer.  The drawer is located just under the mail basket and the outlet with the phone chargers so having pen and paper near-by is a must.  If you made a resolution to get organized in your kitchen, why not break the task down into small parts and just do one of these at a time until you have made it around the kitchen?

 

Ten “Next To” great kitchen organizing tips
Get organizing with this simple method. Learn about the “next-to rule.”

The junk drawer holds everything but junk
An organized junk drawer is worth its weight! Organize the things you need.

 


 

Lea SchneiderAuthor Lea Schneider, a columnist for What’s Cooking America, is a freelance writer and organizational expert whose organizing ideas have been published in many magazines including Woman’s Day, Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen and Bath Ideas, Family Circle, Parents Magazine, as well as numerous newspapers and websites.  She is a member of the Association of Food Journalists.

Getting organized is all about living simpler and making things easier.  The bonus is it often leads to saving money.  Lea Schneider’s kitchen organizing columns tell you how to organize the many things that relate to kitchens, menus, meals, and special food events.

Check out all of Lea Schneider’s helpful home and kitchen columns at Organizing Kitchens, Pantries, Menus and Meals.

 

 

Categories:

Kitchen Organization   

Comments and Reviews

Leave a Reply