The kitchen is the character and the heartbeat of the home.  Every kitchen is as individual and unique as the home and the owner.  The kitchen shows your personality, cleanliness, and overall persona.  It doesn’t matter if the home is old or new, dark wood or light, small, or large.  What does matter is the cleanliness of the kitchen. 

As we are all busy with work and fun, it is not ideal to spend a lot of time cleaning in the kitchen.  Organizing will help to eliminate additional cleaning time. The goal is to keep countertops and surfaces as clear of items as possible.  This means organizing! 

First- you will need to assess the content of your clutter.  For example, mail, papers, bookbags, kitchen counter appliances, etc. are some of the unnecessary common clutters.  Once you know what you have, then it makes it easier to organize to fit your personal needs.  The second step- is to figure out what space you have and what you need per area.  An example is all pots and pans on the left side of stove, all bakeware right side of stove, toaster and small appliances in the center island or bottom of the pantry.  By assessing what your biggest clutter is from, you can move forward with the organizing.

Creating a drop zone is easy If you do not have one.  Start by adding a bench, wall hooks for bags, and baskets for those loose items.  Kids Supplies and Pet Supplies – if you have a drop zone, you may want your area designated to the kids bookbags, mittens, coats, and shoes.  I have a basket for dog leash, and disposable bags.  Labeling baskets or containers will help you when you need something in a jiff.

Those loose items such as keys, batteries, pens are often shoved into the junk drawer.  We all have one, even if not intentionally.  Using drawer divider organizers will help to sort the items.  For example, I use mine for the various types of batteries, gift cards, hex keys, tape, glue, and more.  Don’t forget to grab a basket for the mail.

The pantry and the lazy susan cabinetry should be a storage focus.  These areas are multi-functional. .  Some people put different things in these areas to include pots and pans, so personalize to fit your needs.   I have two cabinets with the lazy susan.  One has coffee and beverage items to include the travel mugs.  The other has canned goods. 

The pantry is a great place for small kitchen appliances when not in use. You can label and utilize different baskets or organizing products.  My pantry currently contains plastic ware, boxed items and cereals, chips, some bulk items, small kitchen appliances, additional drinking water, and many other miscellaneous products.  I have gotten away from labeling since the products tend to change for me, and I need to reorganize about every 6 months. 

There are some neat products and ideas for your kitchen organizing:

·         Electric Countertop Compost Bin- the compost bin takes your food waste and creates mulch for your fruit and vegetables or outdoor plants within hours instead of days.

·         Kitchen trash and recycling Bin – depending on your kitchen there are many varying sizes and types of bins.  Make a conscious effort to have the trash and recycle separate in the kitchen avoids separating time later.

·         Bottle Storage- Curved cradles allow you to store bottles of water and wine on their sides creating a beverage center (can be seen in the picture).  You can also utilize these in the pantry. Using multiples stacked will allow for additional storage.

·         Coffee station – the coffee lovers are dedicating one area for coffee.  You can repurpose an antique buffet, built-in desk, or a pantry cabinet into a charming coffee bar of coffee station.  Add a glossy finish for easy cleanup.  Add some baskets, jars, and mugs for convenience.

·         Kitchen herb garden.  Get the greenery in your kitchen with fresh herbs to add to your cooking.  There are many options with a variety of herbs to choose from.  Growing plants also has the benefit of reducing stress and improving your sense of well-being.

The refrigerator is a kitchen challenge.  It is easy to become filled with leftovers or outdated products.  So, if you cannot check the refrigerator for trash daily, then make sure you look on trash day.  Grab a bag and clear the take-out containers, check the expiration labels and the fruit/vegetable drawers.  Another good time is as you are planning your grocery list.  Don’t forget to wipe the surfaces with warm soapy water.

Outdoor kitchens are handy and great for entertaining.  If your outdoor kitchen does not have storge, keep your kitchen supplies close by dedicating a cupboard close to the outdoor area It is important to clean the area on a regular basis regardless of use.

Get rid of those things that you don’t use or have broken.  Find the tools and appliances that work best with your lifestyle.  Searching and googling ideas will give you many ideas that suit you better.  The biggest goal is to have a clean and organized kitchen which shows well and makes your life easier.  So, show your character in the kitchen.  Bring out your personality while making your kitchen show the best it can.