How to Organize Your Pantry & Kitchen Cabinets
An organized kitchen makes cooking and cleaning the kitchen much easier in day-to-day life. Take the time to organize your pantry and cabinets, and then get everyone involved in keeping them organized. Carefully planning the placement of your dishes and food can ultimately decrease the amount of time you spend in the kitchen searching for items. Rearranging and organizing your kitchen can also free up space you never knew you had. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Kitchen Cabinets
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Draw a sketch of your kitchen layout and the position of each cabinet. Designate zones or areas for each of the activities you perform in the kitchen. A cooking zone, a baking or food preparation zone and a cleaning zone are the most basic. This will help you determine where items will go when it's time to put everything away.
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Remove everything from each of the cabinets. Separate the items into things you use frequently, occasionally, don't use at all or things that are broken or incomplete. Donate or give away items that you don't use that are still in good condition. Throw away items that are chipped, broken or missing components, such as containers with no lids.
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Put your items away according to the zone in which they'll be used most frequently. For example, stack your pots and pans inside each other and place them in a cabinet near the stove with their lids. Plates and dishes that you use most frequently should be within arm's reach on lower shelves. Place them near the dishwasher or sink so that putting them away is convenient or near your serving area. Organize silverware and spatulas in drawers using plastic dividers.
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Use shelves or spinning trays to maximize the space in awkward cabinets. Store your rarely used items, such as bulky appliances, or specialty dishes, such as holiday dishes, up on higher shelves or in the back of cabinets where they'll be out of the way.
Pantry
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Remove everything from the pantry.
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Sort the contents according to types of food, such as baking ingredients, canned food, snacks, boxed dinners and pasta.
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Throw away any damaged or expired items.
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Arrange the items in the pantry, one shelf at a time. Store bulky or heavy items--such as extra paper towels, bottles of water or soda--on the bottom shelf of the pantry. Designate a lower shelf for the kids' food and snacks. Keep the items you use most on the shelf at eye level. Use plastic or see-through containers to hold pasta, flour, sugar, cereal and other items. Every item should be accessible and easily viewed. As you buy more food, rotate the food as a grocery store does to use the oldest items first.
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Tips & Warnings
Save room in your cabinets by nesting dishes and similar items inside of each other.
Stemware can be stored with every other glass upside down to save room.
Label containers that aren't see-through so you know what's inside without having to look.
Avoid overloading shelves or packing in too many dishes or too much food. This can cause shelves, dishes and glass to break.
References
- Photo Credit kitchen image by Rich Johnson from Fotolia.com
