ORGANIZING YOUR KITCHEN
Photo: Edgar Castrejon
The order can be described as the action of positioning different items in a logical en systematic manner in a defined space. Sounds complicated right? Let’s break it down a bit: in our case, we are talking about is our kitchen, the space where we spend quite a bit of time and where, in many cases, aside of preparing our delicious food, we share a cup of coffee with dear friends, or even sit down and help our little ones with their homework.
The preparation of our food depends very much on our state of mind, even more nowadays, when the stress, the lifestyle and many times, the lack of resources force us to be more creatives and make better decisions with what we have available.
Our homes are offering a more peaceful environment when they are clean and organized, which definitely applies to the kitchen as well. Having an organized kitchen helps us save time and money that we can then invest in other things and activities that require our attention. In order to be efficient in organizing our kitchen, we have to think strategically, considering the space and objects we are using, as well as the frequency of use of the different items. Not to forget that we all have our habits and preferences, which means we all have a different view of what an organized space would look like. You will figure out if your space is organized, if it fits your personality and if it makes you feel good to move around it.
This may not come as a surprise, but an organized kitchen fosters creativity, inspires you when preparing your recipes and you even end up having more patience to do things with your kids.
Seriously, an organized kitchen is inspiring! Or well... this may have not been the case if we think of Joan Brown, when she created Noel in the Kitchen, one of favorite paintings. Joan’s kitchen was not clean nor organized, but it was filled with a lot of love and affection. The kitchen can be a place of passion, fire and transformation, as literal or as poetical as you would like to take this.
Before going any further in detail, I would like to emphasize this: Use your own criteria. These are merely some suggestions. Take them as they are and make them yours, adapt them to whatever works for you.
Tips for organizing the kitchen:
Keep an agenda considering the time and days that we’ll work on the organizing
Make an inventory of the items you have in the kitchen and try to use and repurpose items that you already have
Make sure you have containers to store the different items. The glass containers are the most aesthetically pleasant ones if you would ask me, and they also allow you to see what is stored inside. But, hey! It’s your kitchen, not mine! Use whatever works best for you and your space.
Labels. Many of them are already predesigned, so it’s just a matter of sticking them to the container.
Permanent markers. This is so handy and you just need a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol to clean it up.
Pot and pan protectors. If you are piling your pans, these protectors will make such a difference and will extend the life span of your cookware.
Plastic storage containers for miscellaneous use. Whether it is to store your meals or any some vegetable that you just cut, we never have too many of them!
There is such a variety of products in the market nowadays, that surely, there is a solution for everyone. Share this with your family, have fun figuring out this process together. As a last piece of advice, make sure your choices make sense for the people sharing your home!