It is one of the most used rooms and that is exactly why it often sinks into chaos: the kitchen. Although there is plenty of storage space here, the upper and lower cabinets, drawers and shelves are jam-packed. But is it really because you’ve been hoarding more and more groceries in recent years – or could it be that you’ve spread dishes and cutlery, pots and pans, spices and baked goods around the kitchen without any real system? The next time you find yourself looking for something specific for more than five minutes but can’t find it, you might want to rethink your organization system and reorganize the kitchen.
While it’s not great fun, decluttering is still necessary – and the first step to recovery is clearing out all of the cupboards and drawers that are in your kitchen and sorting out anything that’s broken, duplicated, or unusable . The things either end up in the garbage or you donate the discarded things that are too good to throw away but no longer have a place in your kitchen.
In the second step, you should thoroughly clean the kitchen cupboards and drawers once they have been emptied – you won’t be able to do this anytime soon, so use it! Before you put away any leftover items, it makes sense to divide them into different categories, i.e. crockery and cutlery, pots and pans, tins and spices.
The same applies to your groceries: organize your stocks so that you always have the foods together that you need more often, that you have bought in advance and that you need for cooking. Also pay attention to which foodstuffs are not going to last as long so that they do not end up in the garbage. Incidentally, this does not apply to canned food – the content can be consumed much longer than stated.
Do you also have a kind of “knick knack” drawer in which you store all sorts of things that you think you can use again at some point? Then you’ve probably lost track of things long ago. Here you can bring more order into the system by using a sorting aid. So-called drawer organizers are available in different sizes and different designs, here is an example:
Store all household items so that everything you need more often is within reach. In other words, the drawers near the stove are best suited for the cutlery or the spices that you need for cooking – there are also special inserts for this. Pots and pans should be placed near the cooking surface, sharp knives near the work surface: Use a space-saving magnetic strip that is attached to the wall, for example.
Valuable storage space is wasted all too often: starting with the rubbish bin, which in many households finds a place in the base cabinets. Apart from the fact that leftover food releases moisture and mold forms more quickly, the area can be used very well for other purposes. Instead, use a separate trash can with a lid that you put in the kitchen.
Does your kitchen have a corner cabinet? Then you will surely store a lot of household appliances there, such as a food processor, that you do not use that often because they are difficult to reach. It is better to use a special corner cabinet swivel fitting that offers space on several levels and can be rotated so that you can easily get to everything. The cheaper alternative would be a circular cabinet.
Regardless of whether you have a pantry or just a drawer or a base cabinet in which you store food: You can also create order here by organizing the stocks systematically. All products that are used the most get the best place. To get a better overview, storage jars are recommended, which you ideally label (don’t confuse salt and sugar) – for example with a label printer.
It is particularly difficult to create storage space in small kitchens. At least that’s what most people think. The fact is that there are many little tricks that will help you to have more storage space – no matter how big the room is. Use the kitchen cabinet doors to hang smaller items on the inside. There are also special devices for this, such as adjustable curtain rods (plus kitchen hooks), a door shelf or a cupboard insert (e.g. for cups).
You can also create order in the fridge, because what many people don’t know is that every device has different climate zones, i.e. the temperature varies between the individual compartments. If the refrigerator has been set to the recommended average temperature of seven degrees, there are around twelve degrees in the vegetable compartment (at the bottom) and almost four degrees in the top compartment – and that has a good reason to make food last longer. However, eggs, milk and vegetables all like it cold to varying degrees, and some foods even have no place in the refrigerator at all. Therefore, it is best to proceed as follows when clearing.
Tip: You can check the temperatures with a special thermometer for the fridge.
There are also different climate zones in the refrigerator door. The best way to arrange the food here is as follows:
And one more tip at the end: Tomatoes, lemons, garlic, onions, avocados and bananas do not belong in the refrigerator – these foods should be stored at room temperature, as they cannot develop their full aroma in cold temperatures.
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