The kitchen is the hub of the home and an organised kitchen means meal preparation and cooking becomes quicker and it’s easier to maintain a clean and tidy kitchen. When it comes time to organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets, be sure to make the best use of prime kitchen spaces.
It’s important to organise your kitchen so that it operates effectively. Placing items you use the most within easy reach will save you time in the kitchen.
Hints and tips to organise your kitchen……
When deciding on the best way to organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets, firstly think about your style of cooking and which items you use the most.
The items you use frequently should be kept in the easiest to reach places of the kitchen. I like to refer to these areas as prime kitchen spaces.
The items you seldom use you can allocate to the hard to reach and out of sight places of your kitchen drawers and cabinets. Prime spots in your kitchen would include bench tops, top drawers, eye level shelves and also easy to reach cabinets.
Prime Kitchen Space……
Make the most of prime kitchen spaces when it comes time to organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets. Think about how you use your kitchen and organise your space so that it works best for you.
If you like to make a smoothie for breakfast every morning, keeping the blender on the bench would make sense for your kitchen. This would save you time by not having to take it in and out of the cabinet and set it up each time you wanted to use it.
For those who like to bake, allocate prime kitchen space to the appliances, utensils and trays that you regularly use. This could include placing the stand mixer on the kitchen bench near a power point while allocating a specific drawer to house all your baking items in one place.
Drawers either side of your cook top can be used to keep items such as herbs and spices, as well as cooking utensils such as spatulas and tongs. Any items you reach for when cooking on the stove can be stored here for easy access.
Create a special drawer or cabinet on a low level that children can easily reach. Use this area to store their plastic plates, cups, bowls and cutlery. As a result, children can become more independent by allowing them to help themselves at meal or snack times.
Place the glasses and cups that you regularly use close to the fridge and in an eye level cabinet for easy reach.
Place the plates, bowls and cutlery you use most often close to the area where you usually plate up food.
Utilise prime kitchen spaces for items that you use daily.
Set up work stations in the kitchen…..
I like to keep my toaster and coffee machine on the bench in my pantry as these are two items I use every morning. Establishing a breakfast prep area around these items saves me time in the kitchen each morning as I have everything I need in one place.
Nearby I keep a cutting board as well as coffee mugs, spoons, breakfast plates and bowls as well as tea and coffee supplies. Everything is within easy reach for when I’m preparing breakfast each morning.
Find a space on your kitchen bench or in a Butlers pantry to set up a coffee or breakfast area in your kitchen. Include items like a toaster, kettle, cups, plates and tea and coffee supplies.
Make the most of how you organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets…..
Organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets in a way that makes it easy for you to find and use the items that you need daily.
Seasonal items you use for special occasions such as Christmas or parties you can place in harder to reach cabinets and towards the back of drawers.
Think of things like large platters and seasonal items that you use for large gatherings and not on a daily basis.
Keep high and hard to reach cabinets and the back of very low and difficult to access cabinets for items you use less frequently. Likewise, keep the lowest drawers for items that are seldom used. Place the items you use often in the top drawers.
If you organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets this way it will certainly save you the strain of struggling to reach everyday items on high shelves or constantly having to bend down to retrieve items, you need.
Utilise prime kitchen spaces for items you use every day and leave the harder to reach spaces for items you seldom use.
First declutter your kitchen…..
It’s a good idea to sort and declutter the kitchen items that you have before you begin to organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets.
Discard anything that is broken or is missing pieces. Donate items that you don’t use anymore. Consider removing items from your kitchen, other than seasonal items, that you haven’t used in the past 12 months. Chances are if you haven’t used it in that long, you won’t need it in the future either.
Donate any excess and multiples of items. During one of my kitchens declutter sessions I discovered I had 6 spatulas and 8 tongs. I decided to keep just 2 of each. If one is dirty, I still have a clean one to use. Therefore the more items you keep, the more cluttered your kitchen will be and the harder it will be to organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets.
Follow these simple guidelines on how to organise your kitchen drawers and cabinets and create a space that is easy to maintain and works effectively to save you time in the kitchen.
Elegant – Organised – Stylish – Functional
Organised Chic’