Sorting & organising a small kitchen

[Jemster]

Hi
We are a family of four with a small kitchen. It is always cluttered which makes it hard to clean thoroughly. The cupboards are rammed full of things that are used very infrequently. Often when I open a cupboard a load of stuff falls out and I have to practically empty it to find anything!

I am taking tomorrow as holiday to tackle it and would really like some tips.

Main things are:
Shall I get a breadbin? Bread bits all out on side at moment.
How much tupperware shall I keep and how to store it?
How much stuff in general should I keep?

Thanks

Only keep what you use regularly. How much tupperware do you actually need? Think very carefully and then only keep that amount.

Do the same with all the other kitchen stuff, get rid of everything you don't use on a regular basis, and then the occasional stuff that you want to keep designate to one cupboard.

ORganise your cpboards so that you can reach everything in them without having to move or take out too much other stuff.

KEep your worktops clean. I would say don't get a breadbin, but others with disagree. They are bulky and take up a lot of worktop space.

I have a wire mesh hanging shepf in one of my copboards that is for bread stuff. It utilises space that would be unused otherwise, above the cereal boxes.

Be ruthless.

Cup hooks underneath cupboards free up lot of cupboard space - each strip is about the width of a cupboard and can take 6 mugs. Can look sweet in a kitsch vintagey way too.

I think I have the smallest kitchen known to man I camt even fully open my oven door declutter the cupboards I dont have a bread bin I use a shelve in one of the cupboards the only thing I have on the workspaces (only3) are microwave kettle sugar tea and coffee window ledge is used for washing liquid and cleaning stuff

Check and oringise your food cupboards too so you are not buying stuff that you have already

My work surfaces are separte and only the size of a single cupboard one either side of the oven and one next to the draining board which is used when washing up

Gadgets are often bulky and don't always get that much use. I'd consider getting rid of all gadgets you don't use regularly - or at least, box them up for loft/shed so you can find them if you need them but they are not in the way day to day.

You can buy mini-stair like contraptions or wire internal shelves for cupboards so you can make better use - tins don't stack easily so putting a second shelf in just above your baked beans = twice the space.

If you have a freezer and/or tumble dryer - great if you do - put them somewhere else. Garage, hall, even a bedroom. Then you've got space for another cup board.

6 plates, 6 cereal bowls, 6 pasta bowls, 6 side plates, 6 cups, 6 dessert bowls, 6 wine and 6 water glasses.
A complete set of cutlery,6 of each, they're cheap in ikea, treat yourself with new ones.
2 trays for the oven, a small round one for cakes ans one for fairycakes/muffins.
2 frying pans and 3 pots in different sizes.
A collapsible sieve and a grater.
2 wooden spoons.
2 chopping boards
A tray.
A pot for utensils(I have them all hooked on a round stand, bought a set from homebase, tin opener, pizza cutter, bottle opener etc)

One cupboard for supplies. On one shelf tinned tomatoes, beans, tinned fish etc. above put rice, noodles etc.
one cupboard for baking, underneath keep mustard, soy sauce, salt etc.

Bread bin and fruit bowl.
Under the sink cleaning products, detergent etc.

I keep bread in the fridge - our kitchen is tiny too. It keeps it out of the way and fresher - I put it at the top. We tend not to have bread as bread though so toast/ sandwiches so it has time to warm a little before consumption.

Agree with storing elsewhere any less used equipment - maybe keep a list so you know where it is. Our fondue set has only just re-emerged after years of exile in shed and the occasional 'whatever has happened to..' hope the clearout goes well.

I'm watching this with interest as I have the same problem

Forgot to say, we have continental breakfast, so I keep the honey, chocolate spread, tea pot etc on a tray that comes out in the mornings, the rest of the time it lives in the cupboard. If you have cereals, put the boxes (or decant?) and the bowls on the tray, just put the milk on in in the morning and take to the table, no more rummaging, just take the tray to the table.

I also have a drawer for cling film and foil and sandwich bags etc, but before I used to keep them in a pretty narrow long box.

Get hooks for over the cupboards doors and hook your teatowels.
Might be very 60s but I have a tidy for washing up liquid, brushes, soap and nail brush on the window sill.

I've always thought that bread goes off quicker in the fridge?

bread.com/content/keeping-bread-fresh

Use hooks on the backs of doors to hang your favourite utensils and things like oven gloves. So much easier than rummaging!

Seriously just get rid of things you don't need, keep the most popular things and chuck everything else. Most of the time you do not need four of everything. I also find it easier to decant things like flour, cereal, sugar, etc in to plastic boxes which are labelled and stacked.

I store Tupperware in a bag for life so that I can pull the whole bag out of the cupboard and go through it standing up. I store lids in two clear zip lock baggies.

It was a flash of brilliance I am very pleased with

Watching with interest. Our kitchen is v. small, and I like to cook and bake. It does however take the joy out of things when you can't find any worktop to put your dishes on or chop anything.

Tupperware particular bane of mine.

And what to put in an above-counter corner cupboard that has an awkward shape. Not big enough for appliances etc., too big for food as it gets lost round the corner. Harumph. Stupid kitchen designer. We rent, so no remodelling possible.

Apparently ikea do a set of 15 pieces of Tupperware that all fit inside each other.

Give Tupperware its own place because its always going to be used. I have two baskets and know what's in each and the lids are stacked with the boxes. Planning on writing numbers on box/lid in permanent marker so I know exactly which lids fit with my ikea stuff as its all green!

Do you have any space on top of your cupboards (in between the to of cupboard and ceiling)? I bought some basket type trays from waitrose which sit on top of mine, and fill them with anything I want out the way. Also have a few frying pans up there.

My kitchen is not even small and its so cluttered its awfuk

We have a tiny kitchen too, and I'm pretty ruthless about what gets worktop space... I'd say no to the bread bin. We have a stovetop kettle to keep that off the work surface, and a handy alcove with shelves is home to books, microwave and toaster.

We have enough height to put an extra row of shallow cupboards above the main row of wall units... These are used for little-used items like cake tins, the blender and so on. If you have any space at all on top of your cupboards, get some big, lidded plastic boxes to store stuff on top of them.

We make full use of the dining room sideboard, which houses salad- and serving-bowls, wine glasses, and out-of-season stuff like picnic gear and thermos flasks. And we don't keep anything that hasn't been used in the last two years.

Tupperware is a pain in the arse, isn't it! Ours lives in the flimsy carousel type rack under the sink, which is pretty useless for anything heavier, and helps prevent it all falling out on top of you when you go to get something out of the back.

For Tupperware and small containers, something like a bag-for-life is ideal, pushed to back of cupboard behind items used more often, lids in see-through bag attached to inside of door.
Dry goods store safely in containers, which live in ice-cream/margarine tubs, one for rice, one for sugars etc., means boxes stack well , easy to lift out and no chance of weevils getting in.

For packets of dry things such as rice, flour, cous cous, pasta etc store them all in one or two large lidded tubs in the cupboard. Keeps them fresher, the cupboard cleaner, maximises storage and means you don't have a cupboard crammed full of leaking, stale packages. Same with spices - give them their own tub, ditto dried herbs.

We have just moved out of a flat with a small kitchen and I love to bake so it was a challenge.

We had the toaster and bread on a tray on top of the fridge. Cereal boxes and a bag for life full of Tupperware was up there too.

Another tray with tea jar, sugar jar and coffee jar sat on top of the microwave.

We had a side cabinet in the dining room that was given to us 2nd by a relative and that is where we stored all my baking equipment and ingredients. We also stored wine glasses in the same cupboard. Dry goods like canned food, jars, crisps, were stored in this cabinet. Come to think of it, half of our kitchen stuff were stored in this cabinet! When baking I cooled and decorated the cakes at the dining table.

Use all the space on top of kitchen cupboards.

I found that our small kitchen was always clean bse it did not take much mess to make very messy than you do in a bigger one. It was so much quicker to clean too. I find now that it takes me three times as long to clean the current one. Our landlord had squeezed in a slimline dishwasher and all dirty utensils went straight in there.

We have just moved out of a flat with a small kitchen and I love to bake so it was a challenge.

We had the toaster and bread on a tray on top of the fridge. Cereal boxes and a bag for life full of Tupperware was up there too.

Another tray with tea jar, sugar jar and coffee jar sat on top of the microwave.

We had a side cabinet in the dining room that was given to us 2nd by a relative and that is where we stored all my baking equipment and ingredients. We also stored wine glasses in the same cupboard. Dry goods like canned food, jars, crisps, were stored in this cabinet. Come to think of it, half of our kitchen stuff were stored in this cabinet! When baking I cooled and decorated the cakes at the dining table.

Use all the space on top of kitchen cupboards.

I found that our small kitchen was always clean bse it did not take much mess to make very messy than you do in a bigger one. It was so much quicker to clean too. I find now that it takes me three times as long to clean the current one. Our landlord had squeezed in a slimline dishwasher and all dirty utensils went straight in there.

I'd make sure you have a decent part of kitchen scissors then you don't need things like pizza cutters.
Great ideas here. I've been inspired to look for a wire basket to put under a shelf for bread.