7 Traits of Every Organized Kitchen

One of the most cluttered and disorganized spots in the kitchen is most likely the sink. If you and your family aren’t in the habit of immediately putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher, then plates and bowls pile up quickly. To help facilitate this process, always empty the dishwasher when it’s done running; that way no one has an excuse to leave dirty dishes in the sink!

There’s no reason you should be having to reach around Thanksgiving platters and Christmas cookie cutters in the middle of the summer. Organized kitchens always have seasonal items stored away somewhere if it’s not currently that season.

Make sure you have a spot for everything in your kitchen. If things are just placed in spots randomly, not only is it frustrating to find something, but no one will put things away since they don’t know where it goes. Have a spot for all kitchen items and make sure everyone in the family knows where that spot it.

When finding spots for everything, make sure they’re ideal spots. That means putting things near where you’ll use them: put cups near the fridge or sink, plates near the table, etc. No need to have to traipse across the whole kitchen for a glass of water!

There’s really no need to have 3 dozen cups in your cupboards when you only go through a few every week. Organized kitchens only have a limited number of cups, bowls, plates, etc. The number will depend on your family and your circumstances, but make sure you cut down, if necessary.

Your fridge and freezer should also be really organized. You can not only have specific places in the fridge for things like milk, meats, etc., but you can also use bins to make them even more organized. This will keep things in place and also help the family know where to put things.

While it’s great to have tons of cookbooks to choose recipes from, you probably don’t use all (or even most) of them. Cookbooks can quickly eat up space, so keep the few that you use, copy the recipes from the others that you like, and then donate or give away the unused cookbooks. You’ll have tons of more space to get things organized this way!