Organize: Kitchen Quick Fix

Welcome to the EAD Living blog! We are so excited to have you here. If you are a new visitor, we'd love for you to subscribe to our RSS feed and visit our sister site, EAD Weddings. Thanks for visiting and we hope you come back soon!

The kitchen is a my major clutter attractor.  I sometimes go to the store to pick up spices, not knowing I have an unopened container of the needed spice in the back of the rack. It’s extremely inefficient and wastes money.  When I’m in need of organization, here’s what I do.

Cupboards, Drawers and Spice Rack
The big idea for this area is to reduce.  Get rid of any expired items in the Cupboards, Drawers and Spice Rack. Next, go through each of those four areas listed above and group like items together.  Create stations near the equipment you use.  Baking pans go near the oven.  Pots go near the stove.  Plates, silverware and cups go near the dishwasher.  Coffee supplies go near the coffeemaker.  It does not save you time to cart your coffee cups across the kitchen to the coffeemaker every morning.

Refrigerator
Same as above.  Get rid of anything that has expired.  Learn how to properly store pantry items, vegetables and fruits.  You would be amazed how much longer vegetables last if you do a little research.  We keep a cheat sheet posted on our fridge for easy reference.  It has made a HUGE difference in reducing food that goes bad too quickly.  Label the drawers if someone other than you puts away vegetables.

Cookbooks
I know you love them.  I know you can’t live without them.  But how many have you actually used in the last year?  Sell them on Half.com or donate them to a thrift store.  Start using websites from your favorite shows or chefs.  They’re free!

Flat Surfaces
Clean. Them. Off.  The top of the microwave?  Clear it.  The top of the fridge?  Clear it.  The oven?  Clear it.  Unless you have a kitchen that is less than 2 square feet, make sure your flat surfaces stay clean and empty. 

Sink
Empty it!  A clean and empty sink will make you feel a lot better about life.

Something to consider when organizing: if you don’t use the space don’t organize it for someone else without their input.  A clean and well put together office doesn’t do any good if the person using it can’t find anything!