Organising hacks for the kitchen

[KCSIE]

Kitchen is currently being remodelled and refitted. Very exciting.

That means the contents of my old kitchen is all piled up in a heap in the spare room. Quite overwhelming!

I would love the new kitchen to be and stay organised, so please share with me your top tips for organisation!

I feel like I'd love a label maker. 😂

Everyone needs a label maker.

I'm at the planning stage for my new kitchen & I want a lot less crap in the new one!

I decant EVERYTHING from packets into Tupperware or similar and always have. My mum was a Tupperware rep in the 60s so I grew up with it😂

If you go down this route, make sure whatever containers you get are from the same range, so they’re either all the same size, or if you have various different sizes, they nest properly.

I do find that with decanting, I can see at a glance exactly what I have in the cupboard and pretty much never run out of anything, but without hoarding an excessive amount.

Have you gone through and got rid of everything you don’t need?

Drawers not cupboards for the kitchen so that stuff cant get hidden at the back

Pick a brand and type of (say jam or pasta) that you like and stick to buying just that

cutlery dividers for kitchen tools and in drawer knife blocks

Group kitchen tools by category that makes sense to you, DM does it by handle, I do it by material (metal tools, plastic tools)

This is in progress!

@Heyhoherewegoagain what containers do you use?

@KCSIE I use genuine Tupperware! I know it’s really expensive these days (I think it a,ways was!) but mine is a mix of 20+ years old that I’ve bought myself, and a lot inherited from my mum from her rep days-so it’s older than me (and I’m over 50!) but in perfect condition (unlike me 😂)

Really think carefully about where you put everything. Think about stepped shelves for tins. Use lazy susans and pull out tubs.

I use lazy susans for herbs, and in my fridge for sauces. I have packet mixes and baking products in pull out tubs. Everything is labelled clearly.

I use lock and lock for decanting things like flour, sugar
etc.

The easiest way to stay organised is to have less stuff and obvious, easy to access places for everything.

Don’t rush the move- once the kitchen is finished and cleaned only put what you need straight away back in there. Then add your favourite things, organising them nicely.

This changes your entire perspective because you shift from which of these 6 sets of crockery will I get rid of (none! I love them all) to do I really want to put another set in here and disrupt the zen.

Aim to have a box of maybes that you’ll keep for another few months, so that you can be a bit ruthless about it.

Yes this is the plan, to only put back what we need, use and want and not all the tut that DH seems 'this will be useful one day...'

I agree - drawers instead of cupboard- these are amazing for putting drawers into existing cupboards. https://www.drawerboxes.co.uk/blum-tandembox-internal-kitchen-drawers-c102x2276411

We use brabatania square storage boxes. Expensive but all comparable and stack and I have bought over the last 3-4 years in sales slowly depending on use. Smallest size I use the most

If going down the decanting route, make sure you buy jars/boxes etc that FIT the thing you’re buying. I’ve got loads of lovely Kilner jars in my drawer. And lots of ends of packets where the 500g bag of pasta didn’t quite fit 😡

What about under the sink storage? How is your 7nder sink cupboard organised?!

Are the smallest ones 0.7l ones or do they do smaller still?

When I designed my new kitchen I had a large cupboard next to the fridge with ALL the food in it. The other cupboards were for the plates, pots, pans, mugs - basically everything else not food. So when I went to get food, it was all from the same area no messing.

I loved that kitchen. When we redo this house I'm using the same system. It won't be for a while though.

A larder unit with pullout drawers
storage containers that all work together. Home bargains have a good range although they usually don't have many in Stock so I ended up buying them piecemeal over many months

when you've used something put it back properly

wilko used to do flat trays for putting stuff in drawers, very handy to separate your tools

i have mountains of cooking equipment and ingredients (ex chef) but it's all very neat and tidy

buy spices if you possibly can all from the same maker. I've gradually replaced mine so they are from Sainsbury's which makes the spice rack very neat. I actually have my stuff like nam pla, yuzu juice and the spices in two rotating containers that I got from Argos. Keeps them all neat

I've got a sliding drawer under my kitchen sink that makes life so much easier.

I can post a photo later?

Also I was taught a trick by my old dad last year. Can't believe my 60yo self hadn't thought of it before.

Replace items when you START the remaining bottle/box/packet etc.

So don't pop washing up liquid in the shopping list when you're near the end, but when you open the bottle. That way you'll always have at least one in stock, no running up.

Here's some of mine, I printed the stickers myself on some sticky backed label stuff I got on Amazon

.

Keep only one of each utensil, eg 1 masher not 3. Keep worktops clear and only have maybe a knife block out, close to where your prep area is, then you don't need to walk around kitchen holding knifes. Have a big storage jar for wooden spoons etc. Wooden worktop savers are handy. Get big wide drawers for misselaneous bits and a pot drawer.

This is my sink area, I got the shelf thing in lidl and I like having all the cleaning bits together so I can just lift it out, keeps it tidy

Lock n lock boxes plus a label maker

Lakeland, Joseph Joseph, and John Lewis are my go-to places for kitchen storage.

Store flat things like chopping boards, trays and baking pans (including pizza trays, muffin tins, roasting tins) vertically in a cupboard. I use pan stands from Ikea to keep them standing up.