The complete guide to cleaning and organizing your kitchen

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Blowing Foam -Fun In The Kitchen
A guide to organizing your kitchen cabinets

Get your kitchen in order with this go-to guide for cabinet organization.

It’s important to love where you live.  Having a clean and organized kitchen plays a big roll in that.  Let us help you with your lovely Philadelphia to keep your home clean and tidy.  Organization will help to keep you loving your home and city more.   There are strategies, gurus, and services galore that focus on household overhauls that you can choose from.  However, when it comes to organizing your stuff, it sometimes just better to do it yourself — and as simply as possible.   This is a great opportunity to clean as you go.  Don’t start to organize until you’ve taken inventory and purged the items you no longer need (like that mini food processor you bought with good intentions but never actually use).

So before you start browsing those homes for sale to find a larger place for all your stuff, take a deep breath.   Now is the time to consider these simple kitchen organization tricks.   The kitchen tips can help you but the fun back into what should be one of the most functional rooms of your home.

A kitchen with the following steps labeled.

Start with a blank slate

Start from scratch when you’re playing the organization game, it’s important — especially in the kitchen.  You’ll want to first empty out all those cabinets and drawers, and sort your stuff into three piles: trash, donate or sell, and keep.  Take the trash out immediately, and put the donate/sell pile somewhere out of sight (like the trunk of your car), so you won’t be tempted to put any of it back into the keep pile.

There are many places to donate here in Philadelphia.  Check out these.

American Red Cross Blood Donation Center

https://www.redcrossblood.org

Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia

https://www.habitatphiladelphia.org/

Philly AIDS Thrift

http://phillyaidsthrift.com/

 

Then, separate your keep pile into smaller piles by usage: cookware, dishes, seasoning, and storage, and put them near the cabinets and drawers where they’ll be most convenient.

A kitchen with cabinets and drawers that have been organized.

Location, location, location

Think about how you use your kitchen.   Yes, cookware takes up a lot of space — but it should still be easily accessible and kept close to the stove. If getting out your stock pot for spaghetti night is always an exercise in frustration, your take-out menus will probably get more use than it does.

The bottom shelf — prime cabinet real estate — is for deeper pots and pans.  Store with handles out to render them just a quick grab away from use and to give you a clear view of what dimensions and depths you actually have on hand.   And remember to clean as you go.   If you need help to stay motivated, call a House cleaning service to make this all move faster and easier.   HomeworksHouseCleaning.com is here to help

A kitchen with dishes and serving ware in it.

Like goes with like

Once prep is done and you’re ready to enjoy your culinary creation (a simple cup of coffee totally counts!).  Remember,  the “Dish Zone” should also be prioritized for easy access to what you use most.

Naturally, this space should live near the dishwasher or dining table (or both).  These are spots where they’ll spend the most time. Dividing this zone into quadrants will save time on cleanup and help traffic flow when you encourage guests to help themselves.

Think of the top sections as ideal spots for fancy wares: party plates, serving bowls, and wine glasses.  All these can be kept safely organized until party time. (Be sure not to stow any of those pretty glasses on their rims — hanging is ideal — as the chance that they will explode in a dishwasher or chip other dishes is almost a guarantee.

Finally, bottom shelves are meant for everyday dishes and glassware. We suggest storing plates and bowls on one side and water glasses and favorite mugs on another to make locating, rotating, and keeping track of like groups a simpler process.

A kitchen with many different things in it

Consider how often you use an ingredient before storing it

Believe it or not, your spice rack/seasoning hodgepodge doesn’t have to be sprinkled with daily stress.  That long-forgotten Aleppo pepper, gifted dry rubs need a new home in the discard bin.  Clean and organize spices, oils, and other ingredients in order of how often you use them. You’ll cut down on the scavenger hunt that this area often induces.

Add some cork on the inside of the cabinet door, and you’ll have a spot to pin recipes or keep your kitchen conversion sheet handy. Have a specialty spice you don’t want to forget to try? Make a note about that and store it here for a hint of cooking inspiration.

Now your ready for a fresh, clean start to the year ahead.   Schedule your philadelphia calendar for next year and make this an annual event.   Keeping your home clean and organized builds that relationship with your home that it deserves.   Loving your home, requires a little bit of attention to maintaining over the long haul of life just like any marriage bliss.  Happy, healthy home. 

or just call us!

215-629-1836