Simplify Your Kitchen in Nine Easy Ways
ERA Evergreen
SPECIAL SAUCE: OUR RECIPE FOR RAVING FANS
SPECIAL SAUCE: OUR RECIPE FOR RAVING FANS
When simplifying your home, everything gets streamlined, and your days flow easier. And since so much of your daily life is spent in the kitchen, it’s natural to want to pare things down inside it to make it less complicated on all levels. Preparing meals will be more manageable with a straightforward type of kitchen, agree?
Make cooking enjoyable and the mess much less overwhelming by simplifying your kitchen! Gain at least 1/3 of space with these nine easy tips to simplify your kitchen!
Declutter Your Tupperware
Many homeowners don’t realize how many food storage containers they’ve accumulated over the years until they take them all out of their drawer or cupboard. That said, check your stash and immediately discard all the cheap plastic containers (yogurt, sour cream & cottage cheese containers). Recyclable containers can be kept.
Look at what’s left, have enough containers on-hand to last a week, and do your best to keep it down to your set amount. When you run out of containers, it’s time to clean the fridge and have a left-over night for dinner.
Hide Kitchen Stuff You Don’t Use Daily
If you look at all your kitchen stuff a little closer, you’ll notice that it’s all mixed in together– the things that you use daily and those that you don’t, like your mixer, wok, muffin tins, serving items, etc. Dedicate a closet space for this stuff, so you don’t have them lying around, creating more clutter in your kitchen.
Dump Your Duplicates
If you have a lot of the same thing, e.g., kitchen whisks, utensils, cooking items, appliances, etc. (yes, they DO seem to multiply overnight!), it’s time to donate it. Assess what you have and decide if you really need more than one set of measuring cups, slotted spoons, or salt and pepper shakers, and do like Elsa– let it go!
Avoid Using Your Counters for Storage
Are you the type to use up all your counter space for kitchen decorations, pans, utensils, mitts, and basically, anything that should be in proper storage and NOT lying around? Drop that habit. Learn to clean up after cooking and put everything in their designated space. Use your kitchen counter for “making” food, not storing things!
Sort Your Cooking Utensils
Kitchen tools make our lives easier, so take them to the next level by sorting them properly! Categorize everything by usage, size, and how much you use them. As a pro tip, pull everything out of your utensil drawer, and as you pick up each item, ask yourself: “When was the last time I used this?” “Does it make my life easier?” “Do I like using it?”. If the answer is “I don’t know” or “rarely,” free up that space in your utensil area and give that item to a new home.
Designate a Space for Everything
If you’ve got enough kitchen storage space, use it effectively. Invest in acrylic, see-through containers, and designate space for each item around your kitchen, especially the small ones. Adopting a habit of always returning your kitchen stuff in its proper place will also help keep your space organized.
Review Large Kitchen Items
Think through all the large items you have in your home and recall when you used them last and if there’s any way you’ll use them again. It’s normal to jump on the homemade bread-making phase ten years ago and have no desire to make your own bread. Let go of the items that aren’t serving you in this stage of your life to make way for kitchen stuff that will!
Group Items By Use
After decluttering and simplifying everything you have in your kitchen, it’s time to create a systematic way of storage. Grouping items by use is a great way to simplify your kitchen, as it reduces the amount of back and forth in your kitchen and helps everyone know where items go so they can put them away. It’s also best to keep your things within reach, where you’ll need them, like grouping all cooking utensils in a drawer by the stove and storing glassware near the dishwasher for easy unloading.
Purge Your Cleaning Supplies
Your kitchen stuff also involves your stash of cleaning supplies, especially the ones that end up in the cleaning supplies graveyard under the kitchen sink!
Pare down your supplies to only the few you use regularly. Box up the rest and donate them to an organization that helps set up homes for people getting back on their feet. You can also call your local waste management company to ask how to dispose of excess cleaning supplies.
