Top Ten Tips to Kitchen Organizing by Janet Schiesl, CPO

Have you ever been digging in your cabinets and thought to yourself “I know it’s in here somewhere?” Do you sometimes feel like an explorer, on your knees with a flashlight, trying to locate a long-lost item?

A little organization can end these scavenger hunts in your kitchen. Here are 10 tips to get started.

1. Have a plan focusing on how your kitchen functions. Set prime space for the items you use everyday and move the occasionally used things farther away.

2. Start with the most visible area, the counter tops. Work one area at a time, before moving on. This will help alleviate that feeling of overwhelm.

3. Focus on the items you love and use. This will make organizing a positive experience. It will be easier to let go of things, if you know what you are keeping because you love it.

4. Divide your drawers. Instead of a jumble of utensils inside the space, use drawer dividers to make homes for like items. This will make it easier to find what you are looking for.

5. Designate and official “drop zone” for keys, cell phones, purse and mail. Assign a space that is away from the cooking area in the kitchen to avoid having to move or work around items.

6. Create storage to contain odd kitchen items. Collections of cookie cutters, cocktail napkins, whatever you have – contain these items together and create a home for them.

7. Add extra shelves to your pantry. Often wasted space between pantry shelves can be used by adding an extra shelf or stacking boxes. Every little bit helps.

8. Add task lighting. Install lights under your kitchen cabinets for task lighting. You don’t have to hire an electrician. You can buy battery-powered lights that stick underneath kitchen cabinets.

9. Designate a junk drawer. Not all drawers should store junk. Assign like items to certain drawers (and cabinets). If you are lucky enough to have an extra drawer, let it be the junk drawer, but cull it often.

10. Make organizing part of your kitchen routine. Just a few minutes each day (say after the dishes are done) of reorganizing will keep the space an efficient and effective work and family space.

Janet Schiesl, CPO^© is the owner of Basic Organization, a professional organizing firm in the Washington DC area. The Basic Team provides services to busy families, business owners, downsizing seniors and the chronically disorganized. We can teach you the skills to get organized and live a more simplified life, by providing you with ideas, information, structure and solutions to help you regain control of your space.

Janet is a co-author of the book Get Organized Today. A collaboration of professionals, that provides inspiration for getting organized. The book offers practical ideas that you can use immediately to live a better, more effective life. Find us and more information at www.BasicOrganization.com.

And if you liked these tips, feel free to check out Putting Pockets in Your Personal Life: 52 Tips to Implement Immediately. If you know you are operating without any “pockets,” and you realize that you have lost sight of the difference between calm and crazed, then this booklet will help you regain that realization and subsequently DO something about it.

Inside, you’ll find practical ideas to implement, letting you actually choose to put in pockets in your personal life (i.e., some protected space, both the physical and metaphorical). With these 52 tips in-hand, and you’ll be well on your way to greater peace of mind and productivity.