By Susan Layden

This is the First in a 5 Part Series on Getting Your Kitchen Organized:

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Photo Courtesy of Alice Carrier / Flickr

If your kitchen counters, cabinets and pantry are jammed and cluttered with “stuff”, half of which is rarely, if ever used, it is time to do surgery on this vital organ of the house. We spend a good part of each morning and evening in our kitchens. In many homes, if you park your car in the garage, you may enter directly into your kitchen. If the cabinets, and frig are jam-packed and the counters are covered with papers, appliances, food, and miscellaneous items it does not make for a peaceful nor inviting place to cook, to eat or to communicate with other family members. This is more likely to give you a sense of stress, overwhelm and lack of control.

Decluttering and reorganizing your kitchen will make a big difference in your day to day operations, as well as your overall attitude. The feeling of peace and being in control is priceless. Kitchen clutter is usually costing you big – both in terms of money, when you buy things you already have but just can’t find, as well as emotionally, by being a drain on your energy and feeling badly about yourself, when you can’t keep up with it all. As with all organizing, you want to look the area over and break it down into manageable pieces. You can accomplish this in one long day, or take one area at a time until it is mission accomplished!

I would recommend tackling the famous “junk drawer” first. Everybody has one and it should really be miscellaneous items used in the kitchen and home, but not for cooking or meal prep, per se. It shouldn’t take long but will give you a good sense of the process.

  1. Take everything out of the drawer and Sort through it all. Do not leave the immediate space around the drawer. Purge anything that is junk, broken, etc. If there are items which belong elsewhere, just set them aside to be relocated when you are all done with the drawer.
  2. Once things are sorted, Assign a Home to what is left. When you have established a real home for items, there is a 95% chance that it will be returned to that home. Think where am I most likely to look for this item – not just, where should I put it?
  3. Most “junk drawers” contain items such as, pencils/pens, scotch tape, extra house or car keys, batteries, notepads, tape measures, screwdrivers, flashlights, glue, loose change, postage stamps, etc, as well as items that have somehow magically landed in there. So, make some decisions on what you would logically want to store in that drawer based upon its size and location in the kitchen, as well as whether it also serves as a tool or desk type space.
  4. Containerize items, that is, put them in drawer dividers or small containers as much as possible, to help keep things sorted, neat and orderly, thus easy to see and use.
  5. Equalize or maintain the space. In a couple of months, if it is starting to have things that don’t really belong there, then do the process, again. If you do this on a regular basis, there will be less and less to sort and organize and you will be in control, as life happens.
  6. Success!!