Organizing Your Home: the kitchen

During this series, we have talked about organizing your pantry, your refrigerator, and your freezer.

This we'll talk about organizing the kitchen in general. I don't know about your home, but a lot happens in our kitchen! We don't have a large kitchen (by any stretch of that word!), but our kitchen is very functional and works well for us right now.

Here's what I leave out on my counters all the time:

• Stand mixer
• Spice rack
• Knife block
• Cutting boards
• Canisters (I have eight in all.)
• Toaster
• Toaster oven
• Cooking utensils.

Because we live in a small condo, I find it to be much easier to leave these items on my counters. One, I simply don't have the space to store these items anywhere else! And two, because I cook and bake regularly, I prefer to have easier access to these commonly-used items.

However, everyone is different, so just because this works for me doesn't mean it will work for you! If you have the space to store unused items and you prefer having them out of sight, go for it!

This is how I organize my cabinets:

• Cleaning cabinet (under the sink)
• Baking cabinets (pans, Pyrex dishes, mixing bowls, etc.)
• Everyday plates, bowls and glasses
• Serving dishes
• Other appliances: blender, emulsifier, George Foreman grill
• Plastic storage containers
• And of course, one of the cabinets is our pantry.

And here's what's in my drawers (I actually have too much drawer space here!):

• Everday flatware
• Other miscellaneous cooking utensils
• Potholders and trivets
• Plastic wrap, foil, plastic bags, etc.
• Kitchen dishclothes and towels
• Spices
• And...of course we have a "junk drawer" with lots of odds and ends!

None of my cabinets and drawers are overflowing in our current kitchen, which makes me happy! For the first time, I am actually very happy with how our kitchen is organized. When a kitchen is well-organized and works well for you, cooking and baking will be much easier - and more fun!

Take 15 minutes today to organize your kitchen counters, cabinets and drawers. What changes can you make to help your kitchen be more functional?