It’s the New Year and everywhere we turn there’s a media outlet that’s giving us organizing tips. Whether it’s on the glossy pages of a magazine or on the TV screen – there’s plenty of advice. Seems like most everyone decides to get organized at the beginning of the New Year. Now, it’s my turn to dole out advice!
First of all, choose a place to organize and break it down into manageable pieces. Organizing a kitchen is a great goal. A better goal is: I’m going to organize the kitchen. Today I’ll organize this drawer. Remember organizing is messy. You have to clear out an area before you can organize it. Don’t tempt fate and tear up a whole room or an entire closet. You’re courting disaster. Besides, finishing is a great motivator. Lots of little finishes will keep you motivated to get to the big finish: my kitchen is organized.
Here are a few miscellaneous tips that will help to organize any kitchen:
Transfer dry supplies into square or rectangular containers. Be sure to label. Round containers are space wasters.
Set up a mixing center where you can stand in one spot to prepare whatever you need to prepare without having to take a lot of steps back and forth.
If you want to use self-adhesive shelf liner – measure the drawer or shelf that you want to line and cut out a piece of cardboard that measurement. (You can use poster board, cereal box cardboard or several thicknesses of newspaper.) Then, cover the cardboard with the self-adhesive paper and place in the drawer or on the shelf. Easy to clean and easy to re-cover.
Keep in the kitchen only those cookbooks that you use all the time. Place the other books in another room. (Or enjoy the freedom of keeping recipes online.)
Use one motion storage for things you use every day. (That means you can open a closet, cabinet or drawer – reach in and grab what you need and put it back just as quickly.) You should never have to move anything out of the way to reach a high priority item.
Keep a list posted on the side of the refrigerator when you record the leftovers that you’ve tucked inside. That increases the likelihood that you’ll actually use them.
If your dishwasher doesn’t indicate if the dishes are clean or dirty, here’s a great idea to try. When you remove the clean dishes, fill up the detergent dispenser with dishwasher detergent and close the dispenser door. Load the dishwasher. Whenever you see that the dispenser door is closed – you know that the dishes are not clean. If it’s opened – the dishes have been washed.
The kitchen is the heart of the home. Let’s all stay heart healthy!