As most families know, the kitchen often becomes the central hub in your home. It’s where you gather for meals, meet for snacks, and discuss your day. It is the room everyone spends the most time in, but with a messy or disorganized kitchen, your central room can become a huge hindrance. No one wants to spend time in a big mess. Below are a few ideas to create and maintain a more organized and manageable kitchen. These are simple yet effective practices to provide cleanliness, health, and safety. Following these ideas should only help you in the process of getting order back to your kitchen.
Designate Your Dishes
Never leave a dirty sink full of dishes. A good dishwasher is a key to battle this issue. Wash pots, plates, bowls, and utensils off after you eat, then place them immediately in the dishwasher before you leave the kitchen. If you don’t have a dishwasher, designate an area for dirty dishes and make sure they are thoroughly rinsed.
Clear Out Clutter
Remove clutter from the storage spaces in your kitchen. Put all the stuff you don’t use in one spot. Either donate what you don’t want or throw it away. Old cleaning supplies should go, and any food you will never use should go away as well. Try to do these clear outs of your pantry or kitchen at least once a year.
Organize
Sort your drawers, and have a specific place where everything goes in your kitchen. Always put stuff back in the same place. Knowing where things go makes it easier to find a place to put them after use. Label cupboards if you can, and be sure everyone in the family knows where to put your supplies.
Use Containers
It may help to invest in Tupperware, and store things in your refrigerator you aren’t going to eat right away. Also get rid up stuff regularly in your refrigerator that is bad, or is about to go bad. It may also help to have the Tupperware to use instead of putting bags of produce in the refrigerator.
Make Room
Maybe you need more cabinet space or shelving. Perhaps there is a local cabinetmaker who could really help you maximize the efficiency of the space in your kitchen. There is almost an infinite range of possibilities when it comes to professional cabinetry and shelving design and implementation. If you don’t want to get all new space, make better use of what you do have with cabinet organizers.
Go for Design
If your kitchen never seems just perfect, it may help to get an interior designer or a Feng Shui expert involved. Sometimes the colors are not right, and space is just missing the right visual balance. A bad interior scheme can throw everything off; from mood to motivation. A new countertop can make a big visual difference and can even add value to your home overall.
Getting your kitchen the way you dream it should be is a continual process, and it takes effort on a day to day basis. Sometimes there are big steps, and sometimes it’s the basic maintenance tasks that lead to a better kitchen space. However, at times it’s just one little change that can bring an entirely new feeling to space. Perhaps consider a few of these options to arrive at and maintain a clean and organized kitchen space every day, from now and on into the future.