Kitchen Organization [General]

2011 Feb 2
gizmodo.com

After reading the article and watching the video I thought I would share AND would like to ask all of you to share things that you do in your kitchen.
Share your tips for kitchen organization and perhaps we can all benefit.

2011 Feb 2
When I finally got around to putting in a new kitchen (my 50th birthday present to myself!) I pretty much did what this fellow did....sorting things by function and frequency of use. I now have a drawer for my baking utensils and mixing bowls, a small cupboard for my small appliances and a shelf devoted to baking supplies. Our breakfast stuff....cereal, coffee, morning coffee cups etc. are all in one cupboard right near the fridge (handy to the milk and fruit). Our kitchen is not large and this makes it easier to stay out of each other’s way and not cross paths when we working in the kitchen. And once in awhile, I find taking everything out of just one cupboard or drawer, cleaning, editing and putting everything back in order is an easy way to refresh my kitchen.

2011 Feb 2
I keep a range of frequently used cooking oils/vinegars/etc. in 12" square baskets about 3" deep. The ones in the picture are from Dollarama LOL. The baskets can be stored in cupboards when not in use, and easily moved to wherever they are needed. I also have deeper baskets that go up on high shelves full of unusual ingredients. It is much easier to take a basket down from a high shelf and sort through it on the counter than to have to remove a bunch of individual items to access things at the back of the cupboard.

2011 Feb 2
Well, this isn't exactly in my kitchen and I haven't actually gotten around to doing it yet either ... but I plan to make some "boxes" for the shelves in my standing freezer in the basement. There are 4 decently spaced shelves that are immovable because the coolant runs through them, but you can't really pile stuff up on them because they freeze and want to slide around. I have some old sheets of carboard from some IKEA cabinets that I've been saving so I could cut them down (and staple together) into appropriately sized boxes for each shelf. That way I can pile more stuff in and still be able to half-pull a box out so I can sort through it.

We have a spinner in the counter corner that we keep salt, sugar, olive oil, lemon pepper, soya, vinegars, all the usual stuff that we use when making salad dressing on. I can reach everything anyway, but the Dragonlady has a hard time getting into the back corner so she can spin this and get to what she needs.

2011 Feb 2
Since I live in an apartment I have to make do with what I've got. Even though the kitchenette is tiny I must admit I have ample cupboard space which is actually an issue for hoarders like me-;) For about five or six years now I clean out my kitchen cupboards on an annual basis for clutter control.

The cupboards above my kitchen counter is my pantry. I take everything out, wipe out the cupboard, and update the list of items I have in there, then attach the list to the side of my fridge. (I have these nifty clothes-line type pegs that are magnetized so I use them to hold my lists.) I like to have the list handy so when I do my menu planning for the upcoming week I can use up what I have before heading to the store. I try to finish up what I have in the pantry by spring because, once the markets open, I will be buying fresh stuff.

The cupboards below my kitchen cupboard is where I store my small appliances and my drawers full of cutlery, gadgets, etc. If I have any containers/gadgets/whatever that I haven't used since last year out they go. Lots of work but worth it in the end.

2011 Feb 2
i picked up the sliding stainless steel pot/storage racks from home depot that mount inside your bottom cupboards - probably the best purchase i've made for ease of access and keeping things neat and tidy.

2011 Feb 2
Green painters tape and a sharpie are by far my favourite organizational tools. It is far better than regular tape as it sticks (as long as it was applied to a dry and room temperature item) yet doesn't leave sticky goo on the items. I use the tape to label containers both in the fridge and freezer as well as preserves. Makes it easier to identify exactly what is what. Also everything also gets dated. When the herbs were purchased, when the meal was cooked and/or put into the freezr, when the tomatoes were canned etc. Excellent for stock rotation.
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There is a small area of counter space between the fridge and sink's drying rack that wasn't a space that was used much as it is awkward. It became a dedicated station for coffee/tea. It houses the burr grinder, timer, kettle, a small (refillable) container of coffee beans, the bodum returns there when done, the mugs are in the above cupboard (bottom shelf). Makes mornings run more smoothly.

2011 Feb 2
You're right organization is the key. This drawer has been on my organize list for a year now.

On one counter with cupboards above and below, I have organized all my baking things.
Ingredients above, mixing bowls, measuring spoons, cups below.

The best equipment I have that has made baking so much easier is a kitchen aid mixer. You can start creaming butter while you get everything else together.
It also has to be easily accessible or you won't use it.

At the cooking class the chef said a messy cook is a bad cook. I don't agree with that because I was very messy, but it did make me more conscious of cleaning as I go along instead of leaving it for my sous chef (hubby) to help clean up.

2011 Feb 3
Not answering that one ;)

My kitchen is a total mess.
My food area is clean,so is my cookware,stove top and fridge.

But the rest of my "kitchen" is a disaster....
My kitchen area has a built in washer and dryer for clothing.
There is no space to air dry clothing...except in the kitchen across from where I make my food.
So there is a clothing rack there.

Then I have a bike and the only place to put it when it is not in use is....the kitchen,so it is not in the way.
everywhere else is carpeted and would track too much mud in spring.
I do have a "furnace room" and in there is some building supplies and my ski equipment".

Those sliding metal shelves look really good and would be useful for me.
Only problem is this year had a arm injury,then back injury and reaching overhead for anything was kind of hard...so have/had stuff on my kitchen counter.

2011 Feb 4
At work, my office is a catastrophe. But the kitchen is very well organized.

1) Three big drawers of alphabetized spices.

2) In the old kitchen, the trash and the cutlery drawer were right in front of the primary work area, so if two people were using the kitchen someone was always having to move out of the way. In the new kitchen, the stuff stored in the drawers in front of the primary work area is the stuff I almost never use while cooking. It has made sharing the kitchen a whole lot easier.

2011 Feb 4
Yup, my organizing is exactly like Solstice's drawer. It's almost a single layer deep, so as long as things are in the drawer like they're supposed to be I can find it ;)

2011 Feb 4
Like Pasta lover I'm in an apartment, and can't really change anything. I've been meaning to completely rework what's in there for over a year, and despite planning to move this year, I think getting rid of the clutter first will make it easier to move, and to get organised in a new place. (Priority in new place: better kitchen.) I have counter space which is taken up by way too much junk I haven't used in years, so... I need to get everything out, sort and only put back what I use.

I have done piecemeal things like my gadget drawer - it used to look like solstice's but is now quite clean, with only a couple of things to add (like good tongs). The annoying part is the 'lost' counter space running on the side of the fridge, and the cupboard space under it barely accessible since only one of the two doors opens fully, the other one is blocked by... the fridge. (It opens just wide enough to get a frying pan through, sideways.)

I have way too many mugs, when I use at most three at a time. Cleaning that would literally free up a cupboard shelf all by itself. The itch is getting stronger, so I'll likely break down one evening and start. And not finish it for a month...

2011 Feb 4
@Niall Do it! Get ride of the mugs. What is the maximum you'd need if you had dinner guests? 4? 6? Anything more IMHO is superfluous. You'll love the extra space.

I've been inspired to re-organize and I've decided that the idea of doing the whole kitchen is overwhelming. Instead I'll tackle one door or drawer at a time. Decided to do more then one? Great but I am committing to one at a time.

Since my last post I started in on the spices = two thin cutlery drawers and one other drawer. Sure most bottles were labeled bit it looked unsightly with tape of different colours, randomly stuck on with haphazard writing. Busted out my new P-Touch and labeled the tops of the jars and across the front (in case I change where/how they are stored). I know I had gone through for old spices previously but I still did a smell test and tossed the contents of at least two jars. Found some doubles and filled some bottles with items that were in bags.

I recently made up some Indian spice mixes and I decided to store them in increments normally used in my favorite dishes. Created some small vac-seal bags and measured out and labeled what they were and how much was inside. I figured that if we took the time to track down, toast and grind the spice mixes, may as well store them properly and have the full flavours whenever we use them.

I think I'll hit another drawer today...

2011 Feb 5
I keep my mugs hanging on hooks under the cupboards so that they don't take up that much space. You can buy the hooks by the armload at pretty well any hardware store. That way I can keep far more mugs than I actually need, without taking up much space.

2011 Feb 5
Some people like to have a colourful selection of mugs to choose from, others like to have their cupboards empty, but for 2. When we designed this kitchen a couple of years ago, we tore out the existing ceiling high cupboards and put in only a couple of 2-shelf boxes with lifting doors. It means that we don't keep much in them and absolutely HAVE to minimize what goes in them. It has worked out well and we've gotten over the need to have a dozen mugs just for the 2 of us. Having them hanging from underneath is a good solution in some kitchens, but wouldn't work with the spare look of ours.

Still, we have lots of cabinet space under the countertops and keep a lot of the overflow in the basement ... so as long as I don't mind the stairs, I can get to whatever I need.

Is this efficient? No. Not a chance. Somebody thinks it looks nice though.
I'm not saying who.

2011 Feb 8
I came across this blog post from thekitchn that is timely for those of us who are decluttering our kitchens: www.thekitchn.com And a link to food storage made easy: foodstoragemadeeasy.net I just cleaned out my last cupboard last weekend and I can now proudly say I have everything I need-;) Nothing to take to the Sally Ann for the first time in years. I just gotta stay away from those kitchen stores from now on...