How to Get Organized in the Kitchen

The Kitchen – Part One

Is the junk drawer overflowing? What drawer? You ask. All that is visible is a bramble of pens, a ball of twine, old glasses, a key to…hmmm what does that open? crayon wrappers and bits and pieces of…is that dried out Play Doh? An aspirin bottle, a program from last year’s piano recital; wait…is that belly button lint? No, just some stray furr from the cat brush…Okay, it’s time to clean out. But it’s daunting, you might say. Where do I begin? I feel overwhelmed. It can be done, and once you get started, you will see that you have the desire and the drive to continue, especially when you see your progress.

You might say, oh, it’s just too far gone. What could I possibly do to turn this around? Start simple. First, make a plan. Pick just one area and make a plan. For example: the kitchen. That is usually where we all have a junk drawer or two. A lot of activity takes place here, so let’s tackle that room first. Number one: clear all your countertops, so you will have room to make and sort piles of things. A spray bottle of all-purpose cleaner and some paper towels and a dust-buster or small vacuum should be handy—well you want your neatly organized drawers and cabinets to be clean too don’t you? Next grab a couple of garbage bags or bins. One will be for trash, one will be for recycling, and one will be for donating. Another good idea is to take a trip to your local dollar store before you begin. Pick up some plastic organizing type trays and bins. I mention the dollar store because for a very small price you can get just what you need for a junk drawer. Now for the larger bins, I would recommend going to the mega-mart in your area.

So you are armed and ready, you have your garbage bags, your organizing trays, your cleaner and vacuum, okay let’s go! Completely empty out one drawer, then vacuum it out and follow that with a damp wipe of your paper towel. Now you have a nice clean drawer waiting for you to put your things back into it. A good junk drawer will be organized and neat and have all the essential items you need in a pinch. Begin to separate your items from the drawer in like piles, i.e. all pencils together, all pens together, pony-tail holders in one pile, etc. Any pens or markers, or anything for that matter that no longer works, is useful, or is broken, toss it out in the trash. Things that are still useful, but YOU have no use for, put in the donate pile. Papers that are not of a sensitive nature, put in the recycle bin, or shred, then put into the recycle bin. Now you are ready to put your items back into the drawer in an organized fashion.

Here is a list of what I have in my junk drawer:

A tray containing pencils; one with pens, a pair of scissors, a roll of tape, a small stapler and some replacement staples, some safety pins, a pair of nail clippers and/or a nail file, a ruler or straight edge, a calculator, a lip balm, pony tail holders, address labels, a lighter, spare birthday candles, and some twine.

How about that cabinet with all the “Tupperware” type items, or plastic ware?  You guess it.  Empty out the cabinet first, vacuum and clean it, then begin the weeding-out process.   I am sure there are several tops or bottoms with no mate.  Put them into the recycle bin, or donate them to Goodwill or another charitable organization.  Next, match each receptacle to its own lid or top.  I like to stack like items inside each other with one lid on top and then let the stack rest on the remaining tops.  You will always be able to find a top that way and the first container will already have its top on it and be ready to go. 

Do you have about 3 bottles of Windex or dish-washing detergent at varying levels of fullness?  You went to the store, didn’t know if you were out, so you purchased another bottle, just in case.  Because the cabinet is crammed full of cleaning products, you don’t even know that in the back is the same stuff you just bought.  Okay, you know what I am going to say here.  Empty out the cleaning supplies cabinet.  Clean it out and then combine like products into one bottle, i.e. same brand window cleaner in the bottle with same brand window cleaner.  Now, don’t go mixing bleach with ammonia, or dishwasher soap with laundry soap because they look alike—you will end up with a chemical reaction and a big mess on your hands.  Once you have the like items combined, you are ready to reorganize.  You may want to use bins to place your cleaning supplies into, and then when you need to use them, you simply take the bin with you when you clean.  Or you may want to have a bin with such items as shoe polish, table wax, brass cleaner, silver polish etc., as these are small containers and not used as frequently as window cleaner or all-purpose cleaner.  Or perhaps you want to organize your bins for each room, i.e. a bathroom bin that contains scouring powder, counter cleaner, mirror cleaner and toilet cleaner with some old cloths.   Then another bin that contains dusting cloths, furniture polish, leather cleaner, mirror cleaner, etc. for general cleaning of your main rooms.

Whew, we are still in the kitchen, now let’s look at the appliance cupboard. Or if you don’t have an appliance cupboard per se, why not round up all your small appliances and place them into one area. Again, you know what I’m going to say here, clean out the cabinet you have dedicated for their use, and then rearrange in a neat and easy to reach fashion. Items that will go in this cabinet could be: blender, hand mixer, chopper, salad shooter (yes I still have one of these!) food processor, stand mixer, bread machine, waffle maker, flour sifter, crock pot, etc. Anything you don’t find yourself using, i.e. that fry daddy that you got for Christmas in 1989, you might want to consider donating to your local charity. I have designated a cabinet for these items very close to where I work when cooking and baking, so that these items are easy to get out and handy. Why have a convenience item tucked away in the back on the top shelf of a cabinet that you can’t access. It will make your cooking and/or baking process more difficult if you have to perform calisthenics to get into the far reaches of that cabinet just for that lovely hand mixer.

While we are on the subject of ease of use, let’s talk a little bit about location. You have heard it said, location, location, location is so important. Take a minute and think about where you have located your most used items in the kitchen, i.e. utensils for eating/cooking, plates, drinking glasses, etc. Now think about where your dishwasher is located. For me, I find it easiest to have these high-use items located right above, below and beside my dishwasher. It sure makes unloading the thing a lot easier. Though now, I am happy to say, that job has been delegated to my oldest daughter, though I’m sure, deep-down, she appreciates not having to walk across the kitchen to put things away.

So if you are going for the total reorganization, don’t forget to think about your kitchen activities when you organize.  For instance, my cook-top is next to a couple of drawers, so that is where I keep things like spatulas, tongs, and large spoons, so that when I need them they are right there.  Another drawer could be designated for items such as can opener (yes I still use a manual one, something about an electric can opener seems so….how can I say it?  I am perfectly able to open up a can with a manual one, so why not?)  A bottle opener, wine opener and stoppers; small strainer, meat hammer for tenderizing, kitchen shears for trimming meat, etc.  I guess you could consider this a drawer for kitchen tools.  Again, use your plastic trays to keep everything neat and easy to find. 

It stands to reason, then, that the cabinets next to your cook-top should probably be designated for pots and pans.  Easy access is the key to organizing.  If you have cast iron skillets, place them inside one another with a paper towel lining each one.  Place your pots lids upside down on top of the pot and then you can stack the pots on top of each other.  Or, depending on the type of cookware you own, you can nest the pots together in like groups.  I keep frying pans and a griddle nested together and then I stack my pots on top of each other in like sizes.  Baking sheets could be stored lying on their sides in a cabinet near your oven.  After all, that is where they are going to end up once they have the food on them right?

Spices should be kept in a cool, dry place. I keep the ones I regularly use near my cook-top as well. Go through your stash of spices and toss anything that is old and has not been used by its expiration date. A good list of spices to keep on hand includes the following:

· A box Kosher Salt

· whole peppercorns

· cinnamon

· nutmeg

· onion powder

· garlic powder

· italian seasoning

· Montreal Steak Seasoning

· cumin (if you do a lot of southwestern-style cooking)

· rosemary

Obviously, you will have additional spices in your cabinet based on what you like to cook regularly that calls for things like thyme, cream of tartar, or cloves etc.

The pantry is your next item to tackle.  You might as well get a good-sized garbage bag for this one, as I find that when I clean out the pantry, there are usually things that need to go.  Check the expiration date on your items, and toss anything that is stale or looks bad.  Again you will remove everything and group like items together. For instance, I like to keep all my baking supplies together in one cabinet near my work surface, i.e. baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, chocolate chips, coconut, nuts, flour, sugar, cooking oil, extracts such as almond or lemon. That way, when I am baking, I’m not running all over the kitchen looking for that ingredient.  It is usually a trip to the fridge for eggs and milk and then everything else is all together in a bin that I pull out.  If you don’t have a cabinet right next to your work surface that you would like to dedicate to your baking supplies, you may want to keep them all together in a bin in your main pantry, then you just pull the bin when you bake.  Again, like items together, so all your cereal could be put into the plastic containers and lined up, your crackers together, snacks together, etc.  Canned goods are all together, again like items next to one another.  That way you know what you have when you go to shop, you won’t bring home another can of sweetened condensed milk, if you already have 3 in the pantry.

A side note on baking. I like to have my baking tools handy when I am working on my kitchen island making cookies, or cakes etc. I have a drawer there that is exclusively for baking. It contains measuring cups (nested together), measuring spoons, whisks, spatulas for scraping out bowls, the blades to my food processor, a lemon zester, cookie-baller, cookie press, small rolling pin, mixing spoon and beaters to my hand mixer. Again, if you don’t have the space right next to your work area, you could create a tool kit or bin and keep all these like items together for ease of use.

Of course, right next to the oven is a great spot for keeping, hot pads, oven mitts and an apron or two. You don’t want to have to hunt down an oven mitt when you find your cookies are about to go from golden brown to burnt and crunchy.

Baking dishes, such as Pyrex pans and casseroles, pie plates and other baking vessels should be kept together. When you are making that big spread for the family or dinner with the boss, you will be able to put your hands on just the right dish when you need it. You will be amazed at the time it will save, not having to hunt down the right dish for your brownies or squash soufflé.

So here is a recap of the organization plan:

· Clean out each drawer or cabinet completely and toss the things that need to go

· Stock your junk drawer with handy items and toss the…yeah…the junk

· Place like items together in a spot where they are most used

· Designate a cabinet for small electrics

· Designate a cabinet for pots and pans near your cook top

· Designate an area for baking goods

· Place your high-use items near the dishwasher

· Place your pot holders and hot pads near the oven

· Place your coffee mugs, coffee and sugar in a cabinet near your coffee-maker

· Put all your cleaning supplies together in one place (out-of-reach if you have small children)

· Weed out your old spices, keep the basics on hand, near where you use them most

· Keep like items together in your pantry

· Place all your baking dishes and pie/cake pans together

· Have a designated spot for all your cooking tools, near your work surface

One last tip—don’t feel overwhelmed. It’s not that hard if you do the job in small increments. Make your plan, get out your supplies, and a very important factor, I did not mention earlier, play some good music while you work. This is key. Great tunes, the type of music you enjoy, will only boost your mood and make you more productive, although it may cause you to break out in dance every now and then. But that is okay. Whatever it takes to get the job done.

Remember, organizing is a big job, but in the end it is a rewarding job. Essentially the time you invest in creating a neat and functional space for yourself and your family will be rewarded with the bonus of extra time. Why not take that extra time and do something fun for yourself. Go get a manicure, or better yet, crank up the music and dance.