From Chaos to Calm: The Power of Kitchen Organization

Do you love your kitchen? Or do you feel overwhelmed when walking into that room?

Traditionally, the kitchen’s primary function was to prepare, cook meals and store the tools needed to do these tasks. Over the years, the area has become a place for central gathering for family and friends. In many cultures, the kitchen is considered the heart of the home and is a place where important family traditions are passed down through cooking and shared meals. The kitchen plays a vital role in the home, serving both practical and social purposes.

The kitchen, and its surrounding areas, can be very productive areas of your home. If you organize them well and make the kitchen a place where you want to spend your time, the tasks in your home will become fun things to do. The easier your tasks are, the happier you will be. Take the idea of stations into consideration when organizing a new kitchen.

Dishwasher area - this daily tasks can become a real pain over time. With this thought in mind, try to keep it as easy as possible. You should store your your dishes, glassware and silverware close to the dishwasher. I also recommend that you keep the counter on top of the dishwasher clear. This gives you space to empty the dishes and then put them away in groups.

Where will you prepare daily meals? This is also an area where you can ease anxiety and save frustration. Most kitchen areas will be set up with the sink near the stovetop, separated by a section of counter. This is a perfect place to prepare dinners as you set washed produce on the counter, cut accordingly and have close to the cooktop for when it is needed. If you have the ability, this is a great place to put cutting boards and knives. There are different options to store knives, in my home, I store them in the drawer just under this prep area.

Where do you prefer to have your appliances? Some people like to be able to see them on the counter……I mean they like to see them ALL on the counter. It is nice to have them handy, but it is an eye sore and maintenance in cleaning with more items showing. Not only does it make the kitchen look busier, but you are also taking away great productivity workspace. I tend to chose the ones that I use most often and that can be neatly tucked back along the back wall.

How To Start The Day

Then there is the morning cup of Joe to think about. That area is the most important one in our kitchen. We keep everything that we need for coffee, lattes, teas and hot cocoa on a cart in another part of the kitchen. The last thing I want to do is make a cup of coffee next to the dishwasher and stress about putting the dishes away. And I would prefer it not be placed next to the prep area and thinking about making dinner this early in the morning.

Other areas in your kitchen to consider when organizing is a meal planning area. This would be an area with great lighting where you have your cookbooks and cuisine binder close by to flip through.

Do you like to bake? If you do not, someone in your household probably does. Things are so easy when all of your baking goods are together neatly in one cupboard. In the drawers below utilize that counter for spatulas, measuring spoons and cups, and other baking tools. If you keep a stand mixer on the counter, this would be the best place for quick and frequent use.

What kind of natural light comes into this area? Don’t forget to evaluate your windows and appreciate the sunshine. Is there room for a small herb garden?

I mentioned before about keeping counters clear. Not only does this keep the anxiety at a minimum, it is also very efficient for when you need to finish up a project or tackle an unexpected job. I am blessed with a large island in my kitchen. Not only does it give me great space to handle food prep, but other tasks in the house get accomplished here as well.

Some of these examples are gift wrap. Nothing is more difficult than when trying to wrap a gift in a small area. If you have area for a wrapping station, great. If not, you can create a flexible solution such as a mobile cart with your necessities on it. Bring this out to the area where you can wrap - and this is amazing come holiday season.

Paper clutter is another overwhelming situation. I have been slowly converting to digital, but tend to like holding paper documentation (Call me old fashioned). Even if you keep up with filing papers in a system, there are times where you need a clear space to sort papers for one reason or another.

I love the home plans that include a washer and dryer either in the kitchen or close by. I view laundry as another essential task that seems to never end. If the kitchen is the core of the home, this is a great place to multitask the responsibilities. A large counter is amazing for folding clothes after they come out of the dryer. Maybe this could reduce the amount of socks that are lost? If you have your clean laundry being folded on the counter - you can see everything! Consider having these appliance in your kitchen environment when you build a home in the future.

In addition to the laundry, this is a great place to take care of any sewing items. I always seem to have something that needs worked on or fixed. I dread pulling out sewing stuff for one small item and I will let a pile grow before I reluctantly do these tasks. It is very easy to take my sewing basket out of the closet and place it on the island. For small sewing tasks, this is a good way to get things done more frequently.

Depending on your clothing needs and lifestyle, this can also be a place to iron. I don’t have many things these days that need ironed as I do more steaming in my master closet, but in a pinch, this is a great place to do a little extra pressing with the iron.

This is a good start to implementing a well organized kitchen and having it be the productive hub of the house.

If you are interested in seeing more, check out our YouTube Video.