Five Ways to Bring Order to Your Kitchen

by Jennifer Iverson

The kitchen is the room with the most activity in our home. From eating meals to daily debriefs with my husband and kids, that room doesn’t go more than an hour without someone walking through. Which means it can get messy pretty fast!

I want to feel calm when I’m in my kitchen. I want to be able to make a meal without hunting for tools or ingredients. And I want my family and any visiting friends to feel at home there too. If you come to visit my house once, you are a guest. The second visit you are now family and I will put you to work!

Because I want it to be a space where we continue to gather and feel at home, here are five ways to bring some order to the kitchen.

1. Designate certain spaces for certain activities. Pick one side of the sink for clean dishes and the other for dirty. Define a meal prep counter and make sure your knives and cutting boards are within reach. Use a basket, paper tray, or metal bin to confine important papers and mail. These things take up valuable space and tend to spread. Look around your kitchen and see what other things need a defined home.

2. Clean out food storage containers. Are you a Tupperware fan or do you reuse food containers? Chances are you have a few that are cracked or missing lids. Get rid of them! Match lids to containers and only keep what you will use.

3. Create refrigerator rules. Corral the chaos and consider a few of these rules. Designate a shelf for leftovers. When it is full, make space by getting rid of something. Contain sauces to a shelf. Use the night before the garbage is collected to go through the refrigerator and clear out anything old. And don’t save leftover asparagus – no one is going to eat it!

4. Only buy the organization you will use. The bins and racks and lazy susans may look beautiful on Pinterest, but don’t go buy the tools unless you know they will fit your space and be what you need. Bins work great to contain snacks and drink packages. Racks can hold cookie sheets and pot lids. You can find holders for water bottles, wraps and bags, cleaners, etc. Lazy susans work great for spices and oils. Decide where you want to store these things and measure the space before you buy the containers.

5. Don’t discount the power of cleanliness. One of the biggest impacts on a space can be cleaning the windows, appliance fronts, and counter tops. It may not seem like that is organization, but your brain calculates the fingerprints and water spots even if you don’t think you see them. It acts like more clutter. So if you only have five minutes, start here.

Creating organization doesn’t have to be a big project. Each of these things could take you just 20 minutes. Pick one to do today and pick another to try on the weekend. Small, simple things can have a big impact on your space immediately. Your space can be comfortable and functional.

Want some personal help for your space? Contact me at jenniferiverson.com.

Jennifer Iverson is a speaker, wife, mom and efficiency expert. With over 20 years of experience, Jennifer loves helping women develop as leaders and accomplish their goals. She believes that communication is the key that unlocks healthy relationships and that anything can be accomplished with a good cup of coffee.

Jennifer is mom to six children, now ages 16-26, and truly does organize closets for fun.

Find her at jenniferiverson.com and on Instagram @ivymamma.