Cooking in an Organized Kitchen

f you are on-the-go constantly, have little ones running around, find it tough to focus on chores or all of the above, there’s a decent chance your kitchen may be a bit out of order. A disheveled kitchen can dull the drive for cooking your own meals, leading to more takeout and more clutter. Try these ideas to get you on the path to a more organized kitchen and subsequently, an organized daily life. 

• Clear your surfaces. Take everything off of the countertops and decide what to clean and return, what to store and what to throw away. Think carefully about whether or not you want to keep certain items and try to only keep out the things you know you’ll need to use on a daily basis. 
• Ditch the paper. You know- the piles of mail and miscellaneous papers that are inevitably scattered across your bar or counter. To solve this common problem, hang a few magazine racks on a kitchen wall or keep a small basket on the counter as a catch-all for paper items. Dedicate at least one day per week to sort through all of the paper and throw away any trash. 
• Dig into the fridge and freezer for expired items. If you have a larger refrigerator, it’s likely that foods can get pushed to the back of shelves and long forgotten until a mysterious odor appears. Avoid this by checking weekly before you grocery shop so you know what you actually need to buy for meals and what is expired that can be trashed. The same goes for the pantry as dry goods don’t last forever. 
• Are your cabinets full of seasonal themed dishes and bakeware? To open up more space, clean these items and store them with the rest of your seasonal decor. Christmas plates don’t need to take up precious cabinet space year-round, so only have them out when necessary. 
• The dishwasher should be loaded and unloaded daily if possible. Streamline this task by making an effort to load it after dinner and run it throughout the night. This ensures a clean and dry set of dishes the next day so you’re not scrambling for paper plates and staring at a mess in the sink. 
• Search for miscellaneous kitchen gadgets and determine whether or not you really need them or if they are just taking up space because you don’t want to get rid of a gift from your wedding or housewarming. If you’re ready to let go of them, donate them to a local thrift store or list them on an online yard sale page.
• Tackle the junk drawer. This is another catch-all for random hair ties, screwdrivers, tape and more. While it is useful to have a dedicated space for small household items, the clutter can easily take over and you’ll find yourself digging endlessly for things.