How to organize kitchen cabinets to prepare faster and easier meals
Kitchen organization feels like a big job - yet the payoff justifies the work. When you learn how to arrange kitchen cabinets, the room looks better, works better and daily tasks such as cooking and wiping down counters turn simpler. You also throw out less food and fewer half used products.
Start by emptying every cabinet and drawer. The short lived mess lets you see exactly what you own. If your kitchen is small, you might clear the whole room at once. If the space is large, handle one group of cabinets at a time - perhaps all baking cabinets first - all cleaning cabinets next.
Place each object into one of three piles - keep, donate or toss. Judge every item with honesty. If you have not touched it in a year or if it is cracked, let it go. Drop the discard pile in the trash or recycling. Bag the donate pile and drive it the same day to a local charity, resale shop or the curb for “sidewalk shopping.”
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Now you face only the keep pile. Split it into clear groups - plates, pots, spatulas, cereal, dish towels and so on. Seeing the groups side by side helps you picture which shelf or bin should hold each group.
Draw a quick mental map of your kitchen. Store spatulas, spoons and spices within arm's reach of the stove. Set cereal, rice and canned goods beside the counter where you chop. Keep olive oil and pasta at eye level. Push holiday platters and ice-cream makers to the top shelf or to a closet in the hall.
Use every inch you already have. Screw a narrow rack to the inside of a cabinet door for spice jars. Hook a small basket under an upper shelf for dish cloths. Add one open shelf on a blank wall for cookbooks. Roll in a slim cart if you need more surface and you can still walk past it.
Tape a scrap of paper to the shelf edge or drawer bottom that names what goes there: “Coffee filters,” “Lunch boxes,” “Measuring cups.” Every object then has an address and family members know where to return it.
Before you put anything back, wash it. Wipe the shelf, the drawer bottom and the cabinet door. A clean, fresh surface completes the new order.
