Give Me Your Tips for an Organized Kitchen - Page 2

[Potty Diva]

Originally Posted by its_our_family

I wanted one of those too but dh said no We have about 3 ft of wasted space behind the back door.

PD-- What is above your stove??

Kind of in-step with the fold down work counter, I would love to have something I could fold up and down over my washer and dryer (that sit in between the stove and fridge). A counter space that I can use when I cook, and lift up when I need to load and unload laundry. Could I make one of those?

IOF- There is a narrow cabinet above my stove. It houses my measuring cups on one shelf and on the lower it houses my homemade honey and dill pickles

The cabinet next to my sink keeps my dishes and glassware.

The double cabinet above my wm and d are where I keep spices, dried goods like beans, coffee, sauces, etc.

I have the little shelving unit for canned goods and cannisters.

The 'closet' I mentioned is for our hanging clothes, an old broken dresser that I keep fabric and winter outwear in, and the clothes hamper. I have along one wall in the closet a 4 shelfed unit. It holds tupperware, blender, rice maker, blender, and my pots and pans I mentioned. I have two drawers, both narrow. One for flatware, the other for knives and extra cooking utensils.

:LOL I know you were dying for all this info!

BTW, our feng shui sucks as we have stuff under each of the beds

[mimid]

Alton Brown (of Good Eats) recommends cleaning out 1 cabinet and 1 drawer and when you use something put it in the empty area making more room as you need. Over a month you will realize what you really use. Also make sure that everything in you kitchen can do double (or more) duty unless it is something you use a lot.

[Mommy&Will]

Originally Posted by mimid

Alton Brown (of Good Eats) recommends cleaning out 1 cabinet and 1 drawer and when you use something put it in the empty area making more room as you need. Over a month you will realize what you really use. Also make sure that everything in you kitchen can do double (or more) duty unless it is something you use a lot.

Hey that is a good idea. I'll try it.

[cielle]

Alton Brown

We have tons of cupboards and our kitchen is still a mess. I'm impressed with how clean PD and IOF keep their kitchens!

[Jachut]

We built our house so had a chance to do what we wanted with the kitchen, even though it was a spec home we paid extra to change the kitchen to our specifications. Even so, over 12 years we've added and changed things.

FIrst thing we did as we built was raise the bench heights and make sure we had a microwave space built into the cabinetry. I hate microwaves on benches, in fact I hate anything on the benches. THe kickboards are hinged so provide hidden wine storage underneath them. We've got lots of drawers instead of cupboards - including big flat drawers to store plates. Our pantry is liek a huge double built in robe that originally had five big shelves in it - we ended up getting people in to fit it out with wire baskets, pull out shelves etc and that works much better, and we replaced the standard appliances last year for really good quality European ones - the difference that a good Miele oven and cooktop make over the crappy Westinghouse ones we had is unbelievable - suddenly I'm a good cook, lol, and I love our new dishwasher too. We've got pull out rubbish bins with separate recyclables storage and a space for a REALLY big fridge.

The kitchen's getting a bit dated now in terms of colours and surfaces - its just cheap old laminate but we probably wont stay in this house much longer anyway. If we were to, it just needs an update on the cupboard fronts/benchtops but the basic structure and layout is great.

I keep it uncluttered, the benches are clear, its just a matter of being organised. I regularly clean out cupboards and drawers and get rid of what I'm not using.

[lmonter]

A few random thoughts...

* If you don't already, only buy really good kitchen knives - not the cheapy sets from wherever. We have 2 Henckels paring knives, and I use them for *everything* (even thought I shouldn't - the rest of our knives [barring the bread knife] are crap). My MIL has had the same set of Wusthof knives for 20+ years and they're still going strong.

* An old boss of mine would get a spice carousel as a wedding present for a lot of the weddings she was invited to. It's somewhere on the Bed Bath & Beyond site - each rack holds 10 or 12 spices, they're refillable, and you can either shake out what you need, spoon out what you need, or use the handy-dandy 1/4 tsp measurement dispenser on the bottom. Although only let the person who actually cooks fill them up - dh went nuts when we first got them, and there's about 6 that have spices in them that I haven't used in 3 years. : But, you can put the carousels on the counter, or, like us, mount them on the underside of a cabinet.

* Try to have a spot for everything behind the cabinet doors. The less you have on the counter, the more working space you have and the cleaner your kitchen looks.

* Pot racks are awesome. You can hang your most used pots on it, and put the lids on the rack above. Don't overload it - but if you're simplifying and all that, it shouldn't be a problem. (If you do get one, make sure you put the hooks for the chains where it attaches to the ceiling in studs.)

[haitimom]

i read the book "escape from the kitchen" by denise schofield. excellent book on kitchen organization, creating "zones" and so on. as a matter of fact i read it twice(my local library had it) so much info.

[countrymom]

I have found an organized kitchen involves a combination of visable & close at hand things--those you use often--and placing them where they need to be--and where you can see if ingredients are low---and having other items --not much used ,put away--out of sight.

I keep out rice and oats and kosher salt in big glass mason jars on counter beside stove--as we use a lot. Coffee filters and coffee beans, grinder and coffee machine are by the sink.
All other cooking ingerdients are put away--in pantry--drawers or high cabinet/lazy susan.

Dishes & items for special occassions are way up high--highest shelf where I need a step stool--but I don't use that often. Plastic items for kids are in a low drawer where they can help themselves. Baking dishes--pans etc. are in a big cupboard . If everything has a distinct place , it helps.

Also, making emptying the dishwasher (if you have one) immediately ,a rule, helps greatly--I just started doing this and my kitchen seems much more organized as the sink is always empty and the dishwasher isn't a holding place for clean dishes anymore.

I have yet to tackle the getting rid of pans/utinsils etc. that I don't use often. For now I am holding on, in part because I have the space. We are lucky to have deep counters & a huge island w/ built in storage all under it.

[~Nikki~]

We're lucky to have a ton of cupboard space. Actually, no, we don't. We just don't have a lot of junk. I even have one big cupboard that is currently totally empty (it's DD's hiding spot), and another shelf that has nothing on it.

Anyway, we just recently moved, so it was the perfect time to declutter. Here is how we set up our kitchen:

-Spices in the cupboard above the stove. All duplicate spices were tossed out. All spices that were over a year old were tossed out. All spices that we NEVER use were tossed out.

-Pots in the cupboard to the left of the stove. It's a lazy susan style cupboard. I keep the lids to each pot on the actual pot they go with, so I'm not fishing around for lids and/or knocking over a giant pile of lids everytime I need one. I got rid of all the pots/pans we don't need. So we currently have 4 pots, 2 pans.

-Lunch boxes, picnic box, bread baskets, and other random things we only use once in a blue moon are in the cupboard to the right of the stove. It's the hardest to access (it goes deep, and you practically have to climb in to get anything) so it was a good "randomness" cupboard.

-We got rid of all of the mismatched cups, and just kept our single, Ikea set. They fit perfectly in the cupboard. The mugs go on the shelf above them. The shelf above that is empty.

-We got rid of all of the pointless kitchen gizmos. It turned out that we had several appliances that did the exact same thing.

-We got rid of all of the extra big spoons, spatulas, etc, so that now we only have what we need. Everything else went to Goodwill.

-We have one set of dishes. All of the mismatched hand-me-downs went to Goodwill.

-Under the sink, we have garbage, a bin for recycling (so that the counter doesn't get cluttered when people are too lazy to take it out to the garage), and a little canister of dishwasher soaps (so that DD can help with the dishes, by loading the dishwasher...she loves this).

-On the counter, we have the coffee maker, the microwave, and the tea kettle. Oh, and a set of knives (so that they're well out of DD's reach). Everything else is in cupboards. The tea kettle has a spot in the cupboard, but we use it so often that it ends up staying on the counter.

-We have a pantry beside the fridge, that ALL of the food goes in. I go through it once every few months to get rid of anything that's reached it's expiry date.

-I go through the fridge once a week to get rid of any leftovers, and food that has expired or gone bad.



The only other thing I can suggest when you get started, is to take everything out of the cupboards, and make "keep", "donate" and "trash" piles. With every item you pick up, ask yourself if it's something you actually use, or need. IE: Do I really NEED this strawberry de-topper (yes, I actually had one...) Wash out all of the cupboards, and put things back one "zone" at a time. Put things away in the areas that you actually use them in. It makes sense to designate the cupboards around the sink for dishes. The cupboards around the stove for cookware. The cupboards near the fridge for food (for ease of putting groceries away). The low, hard to reach cupboards for things you use, but not every day.

Good luck.

[fek&fuzz]

I have to recommend a magnetic knife holder. It hangs on the wall and holds all your knives and kitchen shears wtihin easy reach, out of reach of little ones, and not getting dull in a drawer. I had dinner at my landlady's and she had 2 of them, full of knives, and I went and bought one for myself the next day. It is the best.

I have to second the hanging pots in unused space. I hated crawling under the counters to find a pot.

Also, I hang my colander right above the sink, then when I need to drain I just pop it in the sink and pour. Afterwards, I just hang it back up.

I am always figuring out ways to make my kitchen more organized. I love it.

[SleeplessMommy]

Here is what we do:

* magnetic knife holder ($6 at IKEA!)
* 2nd magnetic knife holder, for use with small metal-lidded spice jars (similar to baby-food jars) We buy spices in bulk at Indian Store, then transfer to small clear glass jars.
* Get a hanging kit for the toaster oven.
* NO toaster... we use only the toaster oven!
* Remove as much "carp" as possible from the kitchen counter... makes use and cleaning easier.
* Above-the-stove microwave/hood (was great in our tiny former house.)
* "good" china (something we really don't need) in the dining room, not kitchen.
* fridge with freezer on the bottom. (only problem is toddler can eaily find the ice cream!)

Best regards,

sleeplessMommy

[LeosMama]

We were able to use two cabinets just for baking supplies. We found that we just couldn't use these two cabinets (one cabinet, two doors, so about 3.5' wide) for anything that we use regularly, as it is right over the dishwasher and in a funky spot. We at first had out plates and glasses here, but you can't unload the clean dishes from the machine into the cabinet as the machine is in the way. And there just wasn't room in the pantry for everything. So my mom came up with the idea of putting as much of the baking supplies as possible in there. I bought these cute little drawers from walmart that are really just little cubbies. They fit on the shelves in the cabinets and I can put all the little baking things in there, like the spices I use only for baking, the dyes and sprinkles, gelatin packets, cake decor tips, etc. All that little stuff that clogs up the drawers. Also in that cabinet are the mixing bowls, all of the morsels, brown sugar, powder sugar, etc in acrylic jars rather than the bags. I don't quite have space for the flour and sugar jars, but I've thought about buying square jars to put on the shelves up there.
As I couldn't get the drawer locks to keep the toddler out (he opens them all except the magnetic kind and they're too pricey to use on all the doors), I put all the sharp things (except the knives, which are in a knife block) in a sliding metal basket in a cabinet. This is a cool thing I got at Bed Bath & Beyond http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...=102803&RN=51&
We have a single cabinet on one side under the counter. It was just a spot that filled with crap and was a big pile of mess. So I put this in there and now I put a bunch of bowls on the shelf in front, my loaf pans on the back of it. In the slide-out basket is all the sharp things (cuisinart blades, cheese slicer/grater, etc). Now I don't wonder "Where is that gadget piece?" If it's sharp and it's not a knife, it's in that basket.
We have a pot rack over the counter 'L' that sticks into the middle of the kitchen. Putting up the pot rack made a HUGE difference in our space.
We put all bulk stuff into one cabinet. Also the stock pot and pressure cooker are here.
You know those funky cabinets that are stuck in the corner of the kitchen so you can't reach the back of it? We use that cabinet for all the misc appliance storage. The waffle iron, cake storage box, slow-cooker, pot lid rack in front, rice cooker. The less used things go in back, the more used in front next to the pot lid rack.
We also use the drawer under the stove for pot lids.
We bought a pot lid rack (also at BBB, but I can't find it on the website) that is made of wire so each of the lids stands up next to the other, like a paper organizer
http://www.officemax.com/max/solutio...BlockOID=49351
And instead of putting lids in it, we put it into another under-counter cabinet and stuck the cookie sheets and cooling racks into it. Works awesome! This cabinet also has a shelf at the back, so cake pans go onto it over the baking sheets.
I still have a lot of work to do, I hate how much stuff is on my counters. Thanks for getting me thinking about this!

[kathirynne]

Another book recommendation

My absolute FAVORITE de-cluttering book is called "It's Here, Somewhere!" by Alice Fulton and Pauline Hatch. It was written in the late 80's, but it's still very applicable.

The authors tackle one room in each chapter, and have great suggestions for each room. (It's a book about how to get rid of stuff, not just how to rearrange stuff, so the changes can be permanent.)

[clane]

I still need lots of help here, but I did free up space by donating the rice cooker and the bread maker. Neither was used enough to justify the space for "one function" items.

[kathirynne]

Progress!!

For the past two days, my kitchen has been driving me mad. So yesterday, in a moment of desperation, I de-junked three cabinets. That might not seem like much, but clearing out that space meant I was able to put nearly everything that had been on my counter into a cupboard. So now the only thing on my counter is the pickle crock that holds my utensils. (This morning I spent 5 minutes just staring at my cleared off counters! It was wonderful. )

This weekend, I tackle the bathroom!!!

[kimmie-pooh]

This thread inspired me! I started re-organizing and decluttering my kitchen.

~ I moved my spices from a cabinet into a drawer -- something I've been wanting to do for awhile, but I think I was afraid of the change.

~ I pulled out some Tupperware and two Corningware pieces that I haven't used in about 6 months -- I figure I can get rid of these.

~ I was able to move things around so now I have TWO more (empty) cabinets! And one shelf in another. I'm so happy about this! Because of this I was able to clear off some of my counters. I put my sugar and flour container, coffee grinder, and coffee press away. I was also able to store some accessories that I don't really use for my KitchenAid mixer. Before, I had no place to put them! I also have room to put other things that I use in my kitchen instead of in the diningroom or garage.

~ I rearranged some of my drawers, too. I gained a drawer that I can now use as a 'junk' drawer. Except I never really have a 'junk' drawer because I'm too organized for that. I put 4 plastic bins in the drawer so I can divide my junk. One has my candle lighter, matches, and birthday candles. One has tape, scissors, and pens. One has the clippy things to close cracker bags, etc. And the last one, I am going to use for small toys that I find around the first floor that I don't feel like walking all the way upstairs ( ) to put away.

[royaloakmi]

Since your friend isn't coming till next week, take everything out of your cabinets now. Over the next week, when you use something, put it back in a cabinet near where you used it.

By the time she arrives, you will know what you use on a daily/weekly basis and in what area of the kitchen you use it. This will really help you organize and declutter. 90% of organizing is getting rid of what you don't use.

[Aeress]

I am getting there with organization. I am still working on keeping breads, and fruits organized. I think I might get a hanging basket for some things and pot rack would be helpful. any other ideas would be helpful as I seem to have clutter and have to keep organinzing

[abranger]

great stuff here ladies...we are just about 3/4 of the way through a total kitchen remodel. I mean total to the studs. we got ikea cabinets and all base cabinets are huge drawers. no more hunting in the back the cabinets. We also got this to use as a pantry. Never have to hunt for anything!

I like the magnetic knife strip idea.

[kathirynne]

Organization ideas

Originally Posted by brendon

I am getting there with organization. I am still working on keeping breads, and fruits organized. I think I might get a hanging basket for some things and pot rack would be helpful. any other ideas would be helpful as I seem to have clutter and have to keep organinzing

I put all my bread (sandwich bread, English muffins, bagels, etc.) in a drawer next to my refridgerator, and put all of my "table fruit" in a basket on the table so that it's easily accessible for my children.

Also, I am lucky enough to have a drawer under my stove, so I store my pots and pans there. (The bonus of this is that I had to streamline my pots and pans in order to make them all fit into the drawer. )