I heard this statement years ago, and it is something that resonated with me. My experience has been that if my kitchen is a mess it is hard for me to get (and keep) on top of other areas within my home. Do you feel the same?
For my daily tidy of the kitchen I have developed the habit of starting in a certain spot and working my way around the room. As I do this same process over and over and over again it becomes quick and natural to get the space in order with a minimum of thinking required.
The kitchen is the place where all the action happens. In my tiny house it is right inside my front door. That does give me a certain incentive to keep on top of it, but I’m not perfect! I’m not always successful at keeping my kitchen neat and tidy all the time 🙂
Here are a few things to consider this week as you spend some time in your kitchen and think about small things you could do to make it run more efficiently.
Take a look in your fridge and pantry cupboards and get rid of once-in-a-lifetime items like the red currant jelly you used 3 tbsp of 2 years ago at Christmas. As you come across items that are unlikely to be eaten by your family give them to the next person who comes to your door.
How much space are cookbooks taking up in your kitchen? Be ruthless as you go through them and think about which ones you really use on a regular basis.
My experience: When I moved, I went through my recipe books and donated a bunch. The ones that I used occasionally, for one recipe, I ripped that page out and got rid of the book. More and more I have been transferring recipes to my laptop. As I use a recipe that I had in written form, I try to quickly type it into a document and save it that way. I only have a few books now that I actually keep in my kitchen. I have a couple of duotangs that I taped paper recipes and tear-outs into. When I use a recipe from the internet now I cut and paste it into a document in the recipe file on my computer. Having recipe boards on Pinterest is also another way to create your clutter free recipe collection.
How about you? Are you are a person who loves the tactile feeling of using actual recipe books? Do you have a collection that you use regularly? Is your kitchen storage space at a premium? Perhaps you might consider moving all but the most frequently used books out of the prime real estate of your kitchen and into storage somewhere else. Perhaps on your bookshelf in the family room? This could free up valuable space in your kitchen to store other things that you use more frequently.
Something to ask yourself…..
Now a days we can find a recipe for anything we want on the internet. Do you really need to keep the collection of recipe books that you have accumulated over the years?
DO YOU HAVE TOO MANY KITCHEN GADGETS?
Go through all your kitchen utensils and anything that you don’t use regularly – at least once a week – set aside. The things you use regularly should be stored in prime real estate, but the seldom used items shouldn’t be. There is no need to root past them to get to the things that you use every day. Get yourself a bin and store the infrequently used items (chop sticks, turkey baster, icing squeezer…..you get the idea) on a top shelf or out of the way spot in your kitchen or pantry. You can still access the items when you need them, but it makes daily food preparation much more efficient.
Or here is an alternate option
Put all your kitchen gadgets and utensils into a box. As you use the gadget, put it back into its original home (drawer or jar on counter). After 2 months, donate or pass along all the gadgets left in the box – you didn’t use them! The exception can be the turkey baster since it is a seasonal gadget!
Our BEST kitchen tip!!
You know how you buy a large bag of flour and it doesn’t all fit in your flour container……or you buy a bulk container of basil and it doesn’t all fit in your little spice container? Try this!
1. Open the new package and fill your container.
2. If it doesn’t all fit in then put an elastic band around the container. This is a visual cue for you that you have more of that product stored elsewhere.
3. Place the remainder of the product in a bin marked product overflow and store it somewhere that is not in “prime real estate”…..perhaps on an upper shelf or in your pantry.
4. When the container with the elastic is empty then go to your product overflow bin. Grab the remainder of the package and re-fill your container. When the original package is empty, it is time to remove the elastic. No elastic on the container is a visual cue that you don’t have anymore in storage and need to put the item on your shopping list.
5. This works great for all kinds of items. We even use it for our different types of cooking oils. They are often in large jugs or tall bottles that are difficult to store in the kitchen. Put them in smaller jars, and store the larger containers elsewhere……don’t forget the elastics!!
Do you have mountains of plastic containers?
The next time you are feeling that the spot where you store your plastic containers is out of control, ask yourself these questions:
- Do I have more containers than what I really need and use?
- Am I storing things in prime real estate that I don’t use regularly?
– Maybe you have special containers that you use only when you do your Christmas baking
– Or certain larger items that you only use for entertaining
– Containers that you fill only when you make large batches and put extra meals in the freezer
These items should not be stored in prime real estate but rather elsewhere, in your kitchen overflow area.
3. Am I saving too many recyclable containers?
The key to keeping your plastic under control is to simplify!
Above, I mentioned a kitchen overflow area. This is something we all need. Mine is down in basement. It is a couple of shelves where I can put the things that I only use occasionally that I don’t want taking up prime real estate in my kitchen.
In my kitchen overflow there are such things as:
- my large roasting pan
- containers that I use to store Christmas baking for the freezer
- my french onion soup bowls
- my juice glasses for when I have company
- a bin of seldom used gadgets (including things for cake decorating)
Are you a family that takes various types of vitamins several times a day? Does each person have their own combination of what they take? The standard pill containers that you can buy to sort and count your prescription drugs by day are great for that purpose, but most of the vitamins and supplements are too large to fit in those tiny compartments.
We came up with an easy and efficient option at our house to save valuable space in our kitchen. Head to the hobby section of your department store and buy one of the sectioned containers that are intended for storing various craft supplies. The type I chose has 18 sections in it – each about 2” square. It also has a flip-top lid. I filled the various sections with our vitamins and supplements and used my label maker to clearly label each section.
At meal time I take the container out of the cupboard, open the lid and everyone takes what they need. It really is working smarter not harder. With one flip of the lid we have access to everything we require. No opening bottle after bottle to get out what you need.
The large vitamin bottles can be stored in a spot where they don’t take up room in prime real estate and then brought out when your daily supply container needs to be re-filled.
Grocery Shopping
Grocery shopping is something to streamline wherever possible. Create yourself a grocery list template to hang on your refrigerator. I did this a few years ago and have since trained my family to add items to the list in the appropriate areas. I designed the document so that it was set-up in the same order as the store – going aisle by aisle. I add items during the week and then simply grab the list when I’m ready to go. In the old days I used to make a list on a piece of paper during the week, then sit down before I went shopping and re-write the list so that it was in the order of the store……wasted time!! The new method is much more efficient and because the document is on my computer I can change the master list at any point if the aisles in the store are switched around.
There are also great apps for use on your phone if that works better for you. I still like the paper list so that all family members can easily add items when we are working in the kitchen.
Grocery Shopping is a life skill to teach your children. As my teenagers started driving it was often a condition of being allowed to use the car. “Sure” we’d say “you can have the car, but there are a few items we need you to get at the grocery store while you are out”. They learned that food doesn’t just show up in the refrigerator. It takes time and planning and help from the whole family.
If you are looking for more great kitchen ideas, check out our Heart of the Matter Kitchen Organizing Boards on Pinterest.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
If you are praying for it, God is working on it!
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