They say that the kitchen is the heart of the home, and in many ways this is true. It is often the place where people come together to break bread and catch up. The kitchen is where food is stored and prepared, and during the day, it is usually the busiest room in any home.
The average kitchen needs to be productive at all times, which means it needs to be organised. There needs to be a logical flow to appliances, worktops and storage areas, otherwise cooking, cleaning and entertaining can become a nightmare. Follow these 10 easy tips to make the most out of the space in your kitchen without resorting to costly renovations.
1. Hang as much as possible
Space on your counters and in your cupboards is precious, so anything you can do to keep it free should help you to organise. Think about how you use your kitchen, and hang utensils, towels and oven gloves at strategic points. Use shelves, hooks and anything at hand to hang the items you use the most.
2. Arrange your items in order of use
Make sure the items you use are placed on the top shelves, near the front of your cupboards. Items you rarely need can sit on lower shelves or in the deepest recesses of your storage units.
3. Store similar items together
Think about the cooking processes you undertake in your kitchen. If you bake a lot, keep all of your baking items in one place. Store like with like in order to minimise the amount of time you spend searching for the utensils and items of kitchenware you tend to rely on.
4. Display your china
If cupboard space is at a premium in your kitchen, choose your most attractive chinaware, and give it pride of place on worktops or shelves. You can create an eye-catching feature whilst freeing up space for everyday items that don’t look quite as good.
5. Categorise your food
Designate certain cupboards or areas within cupboards to specific food categories. For instance, your baking area will contain items such as flour, icing sugar and baking soda. Consider buying a storage rack for vegetables, and keep all of your tinned goods in one place too.
6. Use transparent storage
It can be very frustrating when you can’t find certain items because they are packed away in boxes. Use wire baskets or transparent plastic to store food and everyday kitchen utensils. This way, you don’t have to empty a series of containers to find what you need — everything is clearly visible at all times.
7. Use doors
By attaching racking to your cupboard doors, you can store various items in them. Towel holders and pocket storage products are perfect, as they can be simply hung on the inside of a door and kept out of sight.
8. Use a trolley
A shelving unit on wheels provides a solution to two problems. Firstly, it is somewhere to store heavy items such as pots and pans. In addition, you can push your pans out of the way, and wheel them back to your cooker when they are needed. This will save your legs and your back.
9. Make your sink a food preparation area
A lot of people struggle for counter space in the kitchen. A quick way around this issue is to place a large chopping board over your sink. This creates an extra area of work space to help you prepare food in an organised and tidy fashion.
10. Use rolling shelves
Everyone has kitchen cupboards that are stuffed with everything from cleaning agents to pans. To utilise your cupboard space fully, install rolling shelves to double or triple the space you have. Shelves that pull out also make accessing items a lot easier.
It doesn’t matter how small or irregularly shaped your kitchen is; these organisational tips will keep the heart of your home clean, tidy and ready for action at all times.
