The kitchen is the heart and soul of the home. Here, you spend time creating dishes that your kids will remember forever. Long after you are gone, they’ll pull from these memories of baking in the kitchen when they are sad. They’ll remember the flavors you created, as well as the many messes they were a part of. But because it is the core of the home, it is also the messiest, the untidiest, and the most disorganized.
You don’t need a large area in the kitchen to keep it clean and organized. However, you need a routine that you will follow to a T. You also have to be resourceful and creative with using your time, money, and resources.
Invest in Kitchen Cabinets
How can you organize the kitchen if it has no cabinets? You need cabinets and drawers to keep your pots, pans, and utensils. Sturdy wall cabinets are the best option because they are the most space-saving fixture for a kitchen. It takes advantage of the wall space in your kitchen, making sure they integrate well into the overall design and theme. Built-in cabinets and drawers are a must if you want to create more space in the kitchen. Don’t forget to maximize the vertical space, too.
Make Use of the Space Around the Fridge
If there is even a sliver of space between the fridge and the wall, make use of that space to store canned goods, bottled spices, and other essential kitchen items. You can make a rolling pantry yourself or buy one with the right dimensions from the local home store. These come in plastic, wood, and metal form, so make sure to choose the best one for your kitchen.
Install a Double-duty Kitchen Backsplash
Instead of ceramic or porcelain tiles, why don’t you go with a pegboard for a backsplash? It has a double mechanism for protecting your walls from oil splatters and for keeping tools that you often use handy. Everything will be reachable to you since you can hang pans, pots, and utensils on your wall. Sure, it’s not as neat as keeping them in your cabinets, but if you have very limited space, this is a wonderful idea.
Look for a Folding Table
A folding table can either be a counter or a working area. It doesn’t take valuable space in the kitchen, but it gives you enough room to eat your meals or work from home. When you are done, all you need is to fold it and store it in the gaps between cabinets and walls.
Unclutter Every So Often
Do you uncluttering duties religiously. This means throwing out bottles of expired herbs and spices. Cleaning the space under the sink is also a must. Keep your refrigerator and pantry shelves clean and tidy by removing anything you don’t use, don’t like to use, and way past their use-by date.
Organize with Plastic Bins and Jars
Bulky items are hard to store because they make you feel like there’s not enough space for them. That is true. What you can do is buy plastic bins and jars where you can transfer the contents from the bulky packaging. Your cereal boxes, for example, belong to the trash after you transfer the contents in a glass jar. The same can be said for your coffee, creamer, coffee pods, oats, cookies, and more. Make sure to label them so that they look super neat.
Use Containers in the Fridge
You need to organize your fridge, too. This means throwing away spoiled food, takeout boxes, and food containers that have a single piece of chicken in them. These take up space inside your fridge. There’s also no way keeping this much food in the fridge is healthy. You will need containers made specifically for cold temperature, as well as magnetic shelves that can stick to the sides of the fridge.
Put Risers Under the Sink
The space under the sink is used to store a hullaballoo of items—soap, detergents, cleaning aids, garbage bags, and other items. They are not the tidiest and most organized space in the kitchen. But the fact remains that this space should not go to waste. Using risers to create more space for the storage of pots, pans, or cleaning materials is another hack to remember.
Take advantage of your kitchen space, no matter how small it is. With the right tools, equipment, and knowledge, you can stretch what little space you have in the kitchen. Stick to your routine and watch your kitchen space expand.
