Organise YOUR Kitchen

All of this week there has been so much talk of organisation.... on Katrina's blog and The Decorating Forum. So we thought it fitting to give you a few tips on how to get your kitchen (the hub of the home) sorted.

5 tips before you start:

1. Do you have 1 hour or 4 hours to spare? This is important as you need to think about what you can achieve in that time. No good starting something as big as sorting your kitchen if you can't get close to finishing it. You may need to break up over a couple of days.

2. Garbage bags in hand. There will ultimately be 2 piles - give away or throw. You need to have the bags accessible before you starting pulling things out. Things you keep can go straight back into your kitchen.

3. Are you likely to be disrupted? If you have kiddies, do you have activities ready for them?

4. Do you get emotional about detaching yourself from items? If yes, get over it (mean aren't I? But I promise I am only helping you!). If no, you are ready to do this.

5. Are you serious about achieving this? If yes, get to it!

The aim:

The aim is to have a kitchen (pantry, drawers, shelves... the lot) that ONLY houses things you will use. If you didn't use it recently, then it has to go.

You do not need 4 egg lifters. You do not need 5 mixed herb spices. You do not need 8 casserole dishes (and probably half of them are chipped). Do you ever use the yoghurt makers?

You are going to remove things from the shelf 1 by 1.

Throw?

Keep?

Give Away?

At this point I highly recommend you have a sponge ready to wipe the shelves and drawers as you go.

The KEEP items:

I cannot stress enough how important it is to ensure the items you are keeping go back into the drawers or onto the shelves in an orderly manner.

Examples - all tins together, all coffee mugs together etc etc.

If you get this right, you won't have to do it ever again!

The best places for things?

Here are some ideas for drawers - they are great for crockery (including maybe your better dinner set), saucepans and frypans, casserole dishes and roasting dishes, tupperware, and recently Julie-Ann put her slow cooker in one because she wanted it very handy. We wouldn't suggest glasses or cups unless the drawer isn't very deep.
Glasses are good near the dishwasher as it makes it easier to unstack them.
Saucepans and frying pans near the hotplate.
Crockery is best near where you would plate up.
Narrow side cabinets are fantastic for trays and cutting boards.

Definitions:

Give away - to friends, family, or charity.

Throw - in the bin, not move it to another spot!

Keep - are you sure about that item? Yep? Then keep. If unsure... it has to go.

Organisation Tools:

We have sourced some bits for you that can help keep the organisation in tact. Don't feel like you have to have these. Like Katrina has been saying on her blog "you don't have to spend money to be organised".These are just ideas.

We enjoy some of the products and would love to hear if you have any of them, or can recommend any more? 

Katrina's pantry a few years ago.

Containers all stacked together. Lids on! No floating and missing lids!

Sorting food as you put it into the fridge helps you keep track of what you have. No lingering plastic cold meat bags in the back of the fridge.

Tea towel hooks - these can go inside or outside the door.

Pull out spice rack.

Another variation of an easily mountable spice rack.

Extra shelf for pantry so you can stack food. From Howards Storage World.

Pockets are excellent for packet soups, gravey, packet pasta. Can stack them all in together and they won't float through your pantry. From Howards Storage World.

Slide and stack basket (sorry about the quality). Great for in the pantry and under the sink for cleaning bottles. From Howards Storage World.

Utensil trays are a must! From Howards Storage World.

Grip mat for inside drawers so items don't slip around.



And to finish the post off we thought we would give you some organised kitchens for inspiration!

We would love your feedback. Your comments keep us motivated to keep producing fun posts for you to read.

Katrina & Julie-Ann.