A Place For Everything: A List Of How I Keep My Kitchen In Check

 

It will probably not surprise anyone here that I like to Be Organized. Everything has a place, and I expect to find each thing in its place. Part of my fastidiousness comes from growing up in a home where this was not always the case. There were six of us in a very small house, and my mother was not the most enthusiastic housekeeper. My father was zero help in that area, being the breadwinner and quite the chauvinist.

Another reason I came to value Organization was my career. A highschool teacher with an average of 130 students for a class load, I learned that Being Organized meant my very survival. I had a system for everything, with fail-safes built into each of those systems. Nothing slipped between the cracks. My gradebook--yes, the actual black book--was a thing of beauty and efficiency and could tell me volumes at a mere glance. I had to build this empire because teenagers can find any flaw and exploit it to their advantage and to your ruin.

One important place in my own home that I'm quite Organized is my kitchen. It is a small, galley-style kitchen that also includes a breakfast nook. Space is at a premium, and I do cook, so I want it to be efficient and workable. Here is a list of

Ways I Keep My Kitchen Organized

1. Pot Rack 

2. Utensil Hooks

3. Containers With Their Lids

4. No Counter Decor

5. Store What You Don't Use Often 

I'm sure that none of these are revelations to any of you, but in case you have a small kitchen like I do, maybe one or two of these might be helpful. 

Kitchen designers or people who predict trends don't interest me. I want a functional and easy-to-clean kitchen. One of the best things I ever did was get a hanging pot rack. I put the pans I use most often on that and they're always within easy reach, ready to go. The rest of my cupboard can be used for sheet pans, cake and pie pans, and my big pasta pot. And lids (which are neatly stowed in the wire basket from a former freezer). 

I really dislike a big jumble of kitchen utensils like peelers, spatulas, ladles, serving spoons and whisks cluttering up a drawer. Not everything I use/need will fit in a cute crock on the counter. I installed a bunch of hooks, like plain old robe or towel hooks, on the wall, and hung a lot of these items if they had holes in the handles (or through the splines of a whisk). This saves space and the items are right there when I need them.

My good friend and fellow blogger Shirley taught me to end the madness of storing plastic tupper-type containers and lids separately. The summer I retired, I cleared out the plastic container cupboard, tossed any that had no matching lid or container, and stored all remaining containers with lids on them, keeping only the good stuff. It has been that way ever since and it has been life-changing. Trust us; do this.

My kitchen is red, white, and black and full of Holstein cows. I am a Cow Lady. Love them. You can imagine the vast amounts of Cow Stuff I would get for gifts, let alone the stuff I couldn't resist buying for myself. However, if that stuff lived on my counter, I was giving up valuable real estate I needed for food prep and other kitchen work. Rick built me shelves above the door frame and window, and I pared down my collection A LOT. None of it lives on my counter; I can't afford to give up that workspace.

Do I have a huge stainless steel bowl big enough to bathe a baby in? Do I have muffin tins? Do I have three springform pans and lots and lots of wineglasses? How about an electric griddle, ten boxes of pasta, five cans of tomato soup, ten cans of various beans, and dozens of Mason jars for homemade pickles as well as even more smaller jars for pesto season? Heck yes I do. They all live in my basement on the sturdy shelves my husband built in the pantry area. There is no way I want any of that stuff--and more--in my kitchen until I need it.

How many of these methods do you already use? Do you have more to share? 

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