The kitchen is the heart of the house. We start the day with breakfast, then prepare lunch and gather around the table. Coffee time, homework with the children, the preparation of a cake. Let me tell you how to organize a small kitchen.
Especially if it is small, clutter and confusion are just around the corner. To make it less chaotic and more functional as possible, the organization of spaces and utensils must reign in the kitchen. Having an organized kitchen means:
- Have everything we use most at hand
- Know exactly where to find what we need at that moment
- Find a space for everything, despite its small size
Are you tired of searching through the clutter of pots and pans for the lid you need? To rummage to the bottom of the shelf and make your way through a tide of jars piled up to find the chili? If you keep reading, you will find several tips to organize a small kitchen perfectly.
How to organize a small kitchen?
There are smart solutions that allow you to find space for everything you need, even when the kitchen is small, helping to keep it tidy.
The usefulness of hooks
Hooks save our lives. Use them above the hob to hang utensils: stirrers, spoons, cutting boards, graters… But that’s not all. You can also use them inside the furniture, hanging on the doors. Under the sink, they can be useful for sponges and tea towels, while inside the cupboard, you can use them to hang a pocket where you can store lids or spice jars.
Wall-mounted tool holder
In addition to the hooks, you can use the kitchen bar for hanging utensil holders, where you can store everything you use most frequently without crowding the drawers too much.
Make use of the walls in height
Do not hesitate to add shelves and shelves in height, even at sight. In those higher up, you can place the pots and dishes you use less frequently.
Don’t leave the niches empty
Fill niches and recesses with shelves and racks to use as sideboards or to store kitchen accessories. The secret to having a tidy and functional kitchen is a good organization of spaces. How to arrange appliances, dishes and pans in an optimal way?
Establish “work” stations
Start by defining the space of the various workstations you need in your daily life in the kitchen. Certainly, there will be a tea/coffee station, with a coffee machine, a kettle, a jar of sugar and a few cups. Another essential station is the work station, the space in which to cut, slice, knead… Close to this space, there will be the knives, the cutting board, the scales and all the tools we use most often.
Arrange the objects according to the frequency of use
When putting the kitchen in order, the first question is: “how many times do I use this object”?
Arrange what you use daily within easy reach, while the things you use less often can be stored on less accessible shelves, such as those higher up. For example, place the dishes you use every day on a shelf not too high near the stove.
The utensils you use every day, those you take, use, wash continuously, can be placed near the dishwasher, sink and stove.
Group objects according to their function
Put together the utensils that are part of the same “subject area”: all the cutlery in the same drawer, all the pans in the same shelf, and so on. This way you will always know where to find them and they will be tidier.
Don’t pile up
To group does not mean to pile up. Avoid messily storing things, throwing one on top of the other in a bad way, because this will make it hard to find what you are looking for. You have to make sure that everything inside is easily visible when you open the door or the drawer.
How to organize kitchen furniture?
It is good to start with what remains visible to better organize the kitchen furniture, such as the appliances. It is not said that they all have to be on the worktop. On the contrary, it is better to place the ones you use more rarely inside the shelves. This avoids creating confusing overcrowding on the work surface.
At this point, arrange all the kitchen utensils and dishes, always considering the frequency of use. Keep the dishes and pots you use most often on the shelves closest to the countertop, while the things you use less rarely can be stored further away.
The secret to multiplying the space is to divide it: use dividers, especially in the drawers, so that everything has its precise place and is easily found.
If you are short of space, get help by purchasing a food trolley, which was once used to serve meals at the table, but today it has become a precious piece of furniture for the kitchen. You can use it to support fruit, jars, dishes.
How to organize kitchen drawers?
The top drawer is dedicated to kitchen cutlery and serving: forks, spoons, knives, salad cutlery, rice spoon… But also kitchen knives and wooden spoons.
For this drawer, it is essential to use dividers to place each type of cutlery in its compartment. If the drawer is deep enough, you could place the cutlery vertically instead of horizontally. It would save you a lot of extra useful space.
The second drawer is dedicated to small kitchen accessories: graters, potato peelers, can openers, nutcrackers, strainers, pot lickers, spatulas and small spatulas.
The third drawer, as tradition dictates, is that of tablecloths, dishcloths and kitchen towels, as well as aprons.
The kitchens of a few years ago have two more drawers of the same size. However, in more modern kitchens, there is only one larger drawer, very useful for storing salad bowls, containers, and pots.
Tags: organize a kitchen, small kitchen