Filed under: In the Kitchen
The kitchen is typically the social center of your home, which means it can also attract clutter like no other room in your house! Besides being the place where you prepare meals for your family, it can also be a place to snack, entertain, read mail, do homework, or sit and chat. With all of this activity, it can easily collect coats, backpacks, unopened mail, newspapers, unused appliances, gadgets, and various odds and ends.
When clutter seems to be taking over your kitchen, it’s time to take control. With the tips below you can manage your kitchen and ensure that it stays a warm, inviting, and organized place to both socialize and prepare meals.
- Take inventory of gadgets and small appliances, and reduce. Take a good look at what you have, and make a list, if that helps. Are there duplicate items? Broken items? Appliances you don’t use? Decide what you don’t need based on how many times you use it, and be honest! Now you can donate to a charity, give to a friend, sell it (eBay or garage sale) or throw away.
- Clear the counter. As your primary workspace, you want your kitchen counter to be free of clutter and easy to clean. While you may have a lot of gadgets that do some neat things, you might not use them on a daily or even weekly basis. Think of your counter top as premium space and reserve it for your most essential kitchen tools – those you use every day. Find another home for the things you don’t use regularly.
- Assign everything a home in as logical a place as possible. If items are used together, try to store them next to each other. For example, keep pots, pans and cooking utensils near the stove.
Vision China White Wine Goblet Stemware Chest
Store bowls and measuring cups/spoons together. Keep coffee and coffee filters near the coffeemaker.
- Use hard to reach cabinets and shelves to store seldom used items. Specialty dishes and appliances, like the china you only use during the holidays or the large roaster you only use for big parties, can go on high shelves or in the back of cabinets. You can even store these items in a different area, such as the basement, attic, guest room closet, or in a box in the garage.
- Use under-cabinet storage tools to maximize your use of space for larger items. Pullout racks and shelves can help you use the dead space at the back and eliminate the need to dig to find things. For tall cabinets, add racks and shelves to take advantage of vertical space.
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Wood Expandable Kitchen Drawer Dividers
Install drawer dividers or utensil trays to organize silverware, knives, and small gadgets. This allows you to break up your kitchen drawers both vertically and horizontally, keeping like items grouped together and easier to find.
- Clean your pantry. Empty each cabinet, tossing items that are old, stale, or that you won’t use, and place items you are keeping on your counter. If your realize you have 8 cans a green beans, consider donating a couple to the local food pantry. Once you know what you have, you can organize your pantry.
- Group foods together in categories for easy access — cereals, snacks, canned goods, baking goods, oils/vinegars, spices, etc. Use containers to keep smaller items together, such as drink packets, tea bags, granola bars, pudding and Jello boxes, seasonings, and gravy and sauce mixes.
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Monthly Wall Calendar
Create a family command center, even if this is in a different room. This is where you can store your family’s calendar, important information, opened mail that requires actions (bills, RSVPs), notepads, pens and pencils, etc. Now that you have a home for these items, get in the habit of putting items away and filing papers instead of letting them collect on the kitchen counter.
- Create a place to hang coats, store backpacks, and keep shoes so these items don’t migrate to your kitchen. Again, this might be in a different room, but if these items have a home, there less likely to accumulate on the backs of chairs, on the table, or on the floor.
Recipe Organizer & Party Planner
With all of the activity that happens in your kitchen, you’ll want to make sure every item in your kitchen has earned its right to take up your valuable space! Focus on organizing your kitchen for its primary purpose in your home, whether it’s baking and cooking, eating meals together as a family, or entertaining guests. Items that don’t serve this purpose can find a better home in your house, or can help someone one else more than they help you!
May 2, 2011
Is your dream of stress-free holidays about as likely as a Hawaiian White Christmas? This season you can sleep in heavenly peace when you follow these simple steps and strategies.
In his book, Getting Things Done, David Allen talks about the stress of open loops. “Open loops,” he says, “can include everything from really big to-do items like ‘End world hunger’ to the more modest ‘Hire new assistant’ to the tiniest task such as ‘Replace electric pencil sharpener.’”
Put into holiday terms your open loops might be anything from “Ensure everyone’s happiness at Christmas” to “Make cupcakes for Junior’s class party.”
Allen’s solution to open loops is getting things off your mind and captured in a trusted system. Your trusted stress-reducing system starts with creating a Holiday Binder. Equip it with pocket dividers and label the sections – Holiday Planning, Cards/Gifts, Food/Décor/Parties, and Highlights/Review.
Holiday Planning – In this first section list your “no-matter-whats.” These are the traditions, activities, food, etc. that are most important to you and your family. Have a family meeting between now and Thanksgiving and record everyone’s holiday favorites. They might include a trip to the tree farm, attending a Christmas Eve Service, or simply watching favorite Christmas movies together. The items that qualify for no-matter-what status must be scheduled on the family calendar. As other opportunities arise throughout the holidays make sure they don’t bump what you’ve already prioritized as a family.
Create a Holiday Budget sheet (go to www.practicalspreadsheets.com for free downloadable forms) where you project the amount you will spend on gifts, entertaining, travel, decorations, etc. and the actual amounts spent. Keep a “Receipts” envelope in the divider pocket to store gift and other holiday receipts.
Schedule all the tasks associated with holiday planning on your calendar as appointments – decorating, shopping, baking, etc.
Cards/Gifts – Create labels for your Christmas card list and keep a hard copy in your Holiday Binder. Schedule your photo session (if doing photo cards) and give yourself a deadline of December first to have your cards signed, stamped, and ready to send. As you receive change of address info for people on your list, slip it into the divider pocket for updating later. If preparing Christmas cards is particularly stressful for you, consider sending a New Year’s greeting in January and eliminate it from your pre-holiday to-dos.
Your Gift List should include the names of each of the people you’re giving to and columns for Gift Ideas, Gifts Purchased, Budget Amount, Amount Spent, Wrapped, and Shipped/Stored. Keep your Holiday Binder handy throughout the year, so that if you think of a gift idea, or purchase something prior to the holidays, you can record it. Schedule on your calendar two shopping trips and wrapping sessions during November.
Food/Décor/Parties – Create a page for each meal or party you’re hosting and list supplies and tasks associated with those events. Be sure to check stock of what you have before purchasing food and decorations. Work as a team with friends and family and delegate what you can, so that you will enjoy the event too! As you pull decorating and party ideas from magazines, tuck them into the divider pocket.
Highlights/Review – This section may not help much this year, but it’s an investment in the future. Create a page to record your family’s holiday experiences, events, memories, etc. – those things you think you’ll remember forever, but don’t. Next record any changes you’d like to make for next year’s holidays. Store programs and other memorabilia in the divider pocket.
I can’t promise a stress-free holiday season, but as you focus on what’s truly meaningful to you and your loved ones and plan and prepare accordingly, you will experience a more joy-filled holiday season.
Thanks to Organized A to Z partner Brenda McElroy for contributing this article. Brenda is a professional organizer and owner of Organized By Choice in Fresno, California. She helps people make the choices necessary to regain control over their home, office, or schedule so that it truly reflects what they value most. She is a member of NAPO, and you can visit her Web site at www.organizedbychoice.com.
November 8, 2010
Try our Recipe Organizer and Party Planner to manage all the details of your Thanksgiving Feast!
Yes, “Organized“, “Stress Free” and “Thanksgiving” can be used in the same sentence. It all starts with the word “organized”. Don’t let it scare you. Embrace it. By being organized and planning ahead you can actually enjoy a holiday.
Start by deciding on what you want your holiday to be like. Do you really want to serve a sit down dinner for twenty (20) people? Or would a buffet be acceptable for you? Would it be acceptable for your “family”?
The pressure of trying to please everyone, especially parents and doing things “exactly” like when you were little and everything was perfect is how the “stress” starts.
It’s your house and your dinner party. You can start new traditions. I didn’t say that it would be easy or that you wouldn’t get some flack, but all “traditions” started somewhere. Make your own. You deserve some happiness.
If you really want a fancy sit down dinner party but twenty (20) people is too much for you to handle then cut the guest list down.
If you really want all twenty (20) people there then maybe you should consider a buffet. It’s much easier and your family will eventually come to terms with the fact that maybe you aren’t serving a formal sit down dinner, but the food is just as good.
You can make Thanksgiving as simple or as complicated as you want….it all depends on how organized you are willing to be.
A good way to keep the stress levels down is to divide and conquer.
Enlist your family for help. Don’t take “no” for an answer. This is your holiday too and you have a right to enjoy it.
And we all know that old saying “if Mom isn’t happy, no one is happy”.
Start at least two (2) or three (3) weeks before Thanksgiving.
Decide on the type of gathering (formal or informal), the size of the guest list and the menu.
Don’t attempt to make something new for dinner or try out a new dessert that day. It could turn out to be a disaster and that would cause you more stress. If you really want to try a new dish….test it out prior to Thanksgiving.
Menu: Do you really want to serve cranberry relish and sweet potato’s even if you don’t like them and only serve them because “they are always served at Thanksgiving”?
Make up your own menu (yes, it is radical). Serve something different. Serve something you like!
If you are having a small Thanksgiving dinner don’t feel obligated to serve Turkey. I know, blasphemy!
Last year I made stuffed Cornish Hen. It was wonderful and just as delicious as turkey. You can also stuff a small chicken or even a duck! Or be really different and have Ham! The possibilities are endless.
Start new traditions! It’s not easy to buck the system but once you make up your mind that you deserve to be happy and stress free on a Holiday you will wonder why you waited so long.
Remember, the whole point of a Holiday is family and friends and spending “quality” time together. Everything does not have to be perfect. Be thankful for what you have and not for what you don’t.
A great piece of advice: don’t attempt to clean your oven Thanksgiving morning before you put in the turkey. I did that once, years ago. I then found out that after the oven is cleaned it needs to cool down and the oven will stay locked for another hour or so after it’s done. And you can’t open it! It certainly put a dent into my dinner timetable!
By starting early and making lists and getting as much done ahead of time as possible you will avoid a lot of stress.
Once you have your menu planned work backwards and make up a timetable to what needs to be done.
For example: if you want your dinner to be served at 6 p.m., what time do you have to put the turkey into the oven? What time do the potato’s and vegetables need to be started? Just make a list and put it on your refrigerator door so that you don’t have to second guess yourself and aren’t panicking at the last minute.
When your family or guests start to arrive your mind and attention will be elsewhere….so a list can help you stay on track. Don’t leave anything to chance.
A few days before Thanksgiving:
- Shop for all of the essentials, including as much of the food as can be purchased ahead of time
- Make sure that you have enough spices and things that you will need for the food (and rarely buy)
- Do any of the baking or make any desserts that can be made ahead of time
- Thaw the turkey (the size will determine how many days it takes to thaw in the refrigerator)
- Buy the wine or any beverages
The day before Thanksgiving:
- Buy any last minute items at the grocery store
- Chop anything that can be chopped ahead of time (vegetables, bread for stuff…but do not stuff the turkey ahead of time) and put them in plastic bags so that you will be all ready to go the next day
- Make sure you have enough ice
- Prepare any of the food items that can be made ahead of time
- Make your family aware of exactly what you need them to help you with on Thanksgiving. Having assigned tasks for your kids and spouse ahead of time takes away some of the stress of what’s expected of them the next day.
The night before Thanksgiving:
- Set the table and get out all of your platters and serving dishes.
- Make sure that you have enough dishes and silverware. If you don’t, now is the time to call one of your guests and ask to borrow something. Don’t wait until the last minute to find out that you broke the gravy boat last Thanksgiving and never replaced it.
When I entertain I love to use all of my special platters and dishes. I love to fuss over my family and I love to set a very special table. I don’t consider it extra work or a hardship or stressful. It’s my way of telling my family and friends just how special they are.
But again…..the Holiday and family and friends are what’s important….not the china or the food. So if you aren’t the type of person to pull off a sit down dinner with all the decorations don’t beat yourself up. There are only so many Martha Stewarts around. And she has a staff to help her!
Thanksgiving Day:
- Wake up early so that you can have some “you” time to have coffee and relax before the day starts (it will get stressful enough later so the morning might be the only time you have)
- Read over your lists and timetable
- Gather all of your food and cooking utensils, pots and pans ….
- Measure out everything that you can ahead of time and set it aside
- Follow your time table and start making the food according to the schedule
- Once the food comes out of the oven let it rest a while (you can cover it with foil)
- Start cutting the meat and plating the food
- Have family members start their assigned tasks (setting out and serving food, pouring the drinks…)
ENJOY your meal…… sit and talk…..
After the meal:
Have a plan in place to clear the table. Since I always make a ton of extra food so that my guests can take home leftovers I start with portioning the leftovers into plastic containers and putting each family’s containers into a plastic bag and setting it near the door so that they don’t forget them.
Once I have the leftovers divided up and mine put away in the refrigerator and freezer I then start to collect the rest of the dishes and put them into the dishwasher. I don’t start the dishwasher until after they leave so that we won’t be bothered with the noise.
Again, this is where your family members can jump in and help clear and stack dishes. It makes quick work of things when you have other people help.
I need to have as many things cleared up and put away as possible before I start serving dessert. This also gives everyone time to rest and relax before they start eating again.
Some people like to leave the dishes and the mess until the next day. And sometimes I wish I could too, but its worse the next day when you get up and walk into a mess. I’d rather get it done and over with.
Make quick work of it (or as much as will fit into the dishwasher) and then sit and relax and spend time with your family.
Remember, a Holiday is supposed to be enjoyable. If it’s not, figure out why it isn’t and change it. Skip the big complicated meal, the fancy desserts and the good china and make it as simple as you are able to handle.
Start your own tradition….and make it about family!
Karin E. Fried, CPC, is the owner of Organizational Consulting Services. You can visit her Web site at
www.organizationalconsultingservices.com.
November 1, 2010
My organizing tip is to treat shelves and cabinets that have hard to reach spots like a drawer. Use containers inside the cabinet to easily get to the hard to reach spaces. This helps avoid the “bowling effect”, where you reach in to get something from the cabinet and knock things down as you pull it out. You pull out the container to get what you need and then put it back. Think like the pull out shelves, without the pullout shelf expense.
Thanks to Organized A to Z.com partner Gail Gray for contributing this tip. Gail is owner of Homemaking Organized. You can visit her Web site at www.afreshstartorganizing.net.
August 3, 2010
Richmond, VA – Kathy Jenkins, CEO of online retailer Organized A to Z.com, has announced the addition of stainless steel motion sensor trash cans to the company’s inventory of organizing and storage products.
Manufactured by Nine Stars USA, the motion sensor trash can allows users to have little or no contact with trash when throwing items away. The lid automatically opens when motion is detected within 10 inches of the infrared motion sensor on the top of the can.
“These trash cans are great for any kitchen, bathroom, or in any room of your home or office,” said Jenkins. “When trash accumulates in a can, germs build up, too. By avoiding contact with the lid and other trash, we reduce the chance of coming in contact with those germs and getting sick from them.”
Since they open on their own, these trash cans also make it easier for those with physical challenges to discard items in the trash.
“The lids are perfectly engineered with a tight fit to insure odors are kept inside the can. They are produced from high quality stainless steel to protect from rust and water damage, so they are durable and will last a long time,” said Jenkins.
The motion sensor trash cans are battery operated, and each trash can will get a minimum of 10,000 open and closings before new batteries are needed. Most households will be able to use the trash cans for at least six months before replacing the batteries.
The trash cans come in a variety of sizes, including a round 1.3 gallon, and rectangular 6.3 gallon, 7.9 gallon, 11.1 gallon, and 13.2 gallon.
Based in Richmond, Virginia, Organized A to Z.com offers over 1,300 products to help consumers organize any room of their home or office. Jenkins, a residential professional organizer with Come To Order® and member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), focuses on choosing products that are both stylish and functional. To shop for organizational and storage products to simplify your life, go to Organized A to Z.com at www.organizedatoz.com.
June 24, 2010
Many of us can relate to the difficulty of storing baking pans and cutting boards. They usually don’t stay vertical on their own, and if we stack them on top of each other, it’s hard to get to the ones you want.
Our solution – a Bakeware Holder! This organizer is lightweight with a low profile, but it helps hold some of your bigger bakeware items. Not only can you easily find what you need when you need it, but your cookware is nicely separated and protected from being scratched by other items.
Our Bakeware Holder is perfect for:
- Pie pans
- Cookie sheets
- Wire racks
- Baking pans
- Glass casserole dishes
- Stoneware
- Pot/pan lids
- Cutting boards
- and more!
Our Bakeware Holder sits lower than most vertical storage racks so it fits nicely in drawers and shorter spaces. The dimensions are 17″ x 7″ x 5.75″. Get yours at Organized A to Z.com today!
February 24, 2010
Better Homes and Gardens’ Web site for kitchen and bath ideas has recommended three Organized A to Z.com products for kitchen storage.
“It’s exciting to see our products featured by Better Homes and Gardens,” said Kathy Jenkins, Professional Organizer and Owner of Organized A to Z.com. “This is nationally-recognized magazine that many people use as a resource when redecorating and reorganizing their homes. It’s an honor to have our products in the spotlight.”
The BG&H Kitchen and Bath Ideas Web site (www.kitchenbathideas.com) is featuring Organized A to Z.com’s Vertical Cabinet Dividers, Linus Pulz Turntable, and Recipe Nest. These items are also available at www.organizedatoz.com in the Kitchen category.
Organized A to Z.com is an online retailer that represents organizing and storage products to help simplify lives. Based in Richmond, Virginia, Organized A to Z.com offers over 1000 products to help consumers organize any room of their home or office.
Owner Kathy Jenkins is a residential professional organizer with Come To Order® and member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), focuses on choosing prod
ucts that are both stylish and functional. To shop for organizational and storage products to simplify your life, go to Organized A to Z.com at www.organizedatoz.com.
February 17, 2010
One of Organized A to Z.com’s featured products for February’s “Organize Your Kitchen” month is this ingenious chrome Pull-out Wastebasket Organizer made just for waste baskets. This is a super tool for concealing your trash can, yet making it easily accessible when you need it. The frame glides on a ball bearing design, and it extends fully outside the cabinet for easy basket removal.
Do you recycle? This is a great way to contain the clutter if you have to separate your glass, aluminum, and plastics. The organizer holds 6 gallon (24 qt), 8 gallon (32 qt), or two 8 gallon (32 qt) containers, so you can choose the size appropriate for your needs.
Another great use – composting! This is a super way to hide your composting bucket while still keeping it in a convenient location so you can use it when needed.
We’ve mentioned several uses for the kitchen, but this tool is also handy in the bathroom! Sure, you can use it for your bathroom waste basket, but it also provides a nice way to hide your dirty laundry. Simply place your clothes hamper in the organizer, and you can collect the clothing that needs washed without a cluttered floor.
With all of these great uses, you should probably buy two right away!
However you use it, we’re sure it will be the perfect addition to your organizing arsenal of tools. February is a great month to purchase it – you’ll save 10%! We also have several other types of pull-out cabinet organizers that may help you out. Be sure to check out our 11.5″ Sliding Organizer, Under Sink Sliding Organizer, 14.5″ Sliding Organizer, 20″ Extra Deep Sliding Organizer, and the chrome dividers that fit these organizers for the ultimate in organized kitchen cabinets!
February 17, 2010
What does an organized kitchen look like? The first step is to take a look at what you have – cull out duplicates, old or broken items, things you don’t use, and tidy out drawers and cabinets. Once you have streamlined the contents of your kitchen, you can better organize what you have. There are so many organizing products on the market today that are specifically intended for kitchen organization.
Our 11.5" Chrome Sliding Cabinet Organizers is a Featured Product for February.
Consider where you could utilize cabinet pullouts, tiered racks, specialty holders, flatware trays, roll-out or swing-out racks, spring-loaded drawer dividers and other kitchen organizers to help maximize space.
In an efficient kitchen plan, the 3 most heavily used work areas should be laid out so that the lines that connect them form a triangle. Your kitchen may not be laid out this way, but you can still keep the rationale of keep-highly-used-things-nearby in mind. Put things near to where they are used. Cups, glasses, dishes, cutlery should be ideally located in the drawers and cupboards closest to the dishwasher. Pots and pans go beside the stove if possible. Gadgets go in the drawers right below the counter where prep work is done. Obviously it is not always possible to make these things happen based on space, kitchen configuration and storage, but it is worth examining.
Try our Fridge File to store extra papers that you need to keep close at hand.
Hang things up. Remember that any space you can use to hang something will free up flat space inside a cabinet or drawer. Move knives out of a drawer or a wood block by using a magnetic strip put on the wall to hang them. Get a magnetic sorter box to hang on the side of the fridge for coupons, takeout menus, a notepad and pen, and other papers that tend to accumulate on the countertops.
Another step to maximize kitchen organization is to manage frequently-cluttered areas. To better control freezer clutter, use plastic baskets in the freezer to hold like items such as frozen breakfast items or bagged side dishes and veggies. Reduce your inventory of empty plastic storage containers, and then separate lids from containers. Be realistic as you look at one-use gadgets and appliances – how often do you use them, and should they take up valuable cabinet space on a daily basis?
Remove original packaging whenever possible. Instead, use lidded food storage containers that are square or rectangular in shape (they are more space-efficient than round) for staples such items as flour, sugars, rice, chocolate chips, tea bags, and small bagged snacks for on-the-go. Having uniform, clear containers with labels on the top lid and on the side will make items easier to find. If you do need part of the original label or package, cut out and tape the directions or information onto the outside of the bin.
Our Linus Pulz Pantry Organizer works great for storing miscellaneous baking supplies a Kool-Aid packets.
Keep small packets (i.e. Jell-O, sauces, dip mixes) and miscellaneous baking supplies (cake decorating tubes, muffin cups, food coloring) together in a open plastic basket/bin, where it is easy to pull down the bin and pull out one of its contents.
Thanks to Organized A to Z.com partner Patty McPherson for contributing this article. Patty is the Owner of Orderly Manor® in Plymouth, MA (www.OrderlyManor.com). Orderly Manor provides organizing and redesign services for residential and small business clients. Patty is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, the American Society of Home Stagers and Redesigners, and the Real Estate Staging Association.
February 8, 2010
The kitchen is the hub of family activity and is usually the best place to communicate with each other. It often becomes a dumping ground for mail, kids’ backpacks and accompanying school papers and projects, telephone messages, recipes, and other household junk.
Consider setting up a command central or message station where there is a place for all these various incoming (and outgoing) papers and objects. You can get as fancy or as simple as you like with this. I have two small magnetic baskets on my refrigerator – one holds keys and the other holds ID cards that are shared by family members (such as children’s gym membership and health insurance cards in case one or the other parent is not around at the time of visits to the gym or doctor). A family calendar is magnetically held to the refrigerator, as are resources and references for school and town information.
A desk under the telephone holds phone books, message pad paper, pens and other office supplies needed for leaving notes. A bulletin board holds kids’ artwork.
To cut down on the dirt in the house, there is a shoe rack just inside the door for family members to put their shoes and keep their slippers for a quick change when entering and exiting the house.
Thanks to Organized a to Z partner Amara Willey of Time to Get Organized for contributing this article!
February 5, 2010
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