Awesome Tips for Organizing Your Kitchen

If there is one room in my house that I would like to keep organized, it's my kitchen.

If there is one room that never stays organized, it's my kitchen.

This leads to a cycle of continuous reorganizing, replanning, and then messing it up again.

I'm getting better though.  My issue is that I have very little counter space or drawer space.  I have lots of cabinet space, but it's not all the right size for what I would like to use it for.  These factors force me to get creative when it comes to finding logical, practical places for food and utensils to live.

I have worked for a while on the best ways to organize my kitchen, tried out a lot of things, and come up with a few really good ideas, mostly from Pinterest, but also a few from Brian and a few from my own desperate brain.  Here are my most awesome organizational tips for the kitchen.

1)  Magnet Strip for Knives

Brian suggested this because he's a genius.  My knife block took up a lot of room on  my counter, so why not get rid of it and mount a magnetic bar to the backsplash instead?

Obviously, this has to be well out of reach of children, but it works so well!  No more figuring out which hole is the right size for which knife!  No more big clunky block taking up a square foot of valuable counter space!  No more pulling three handles out before you find the knife you're actually looking for.  Genius.

2)  Produce Baskets

I saw this idea on Pinterest forever ago, but I modified it because I wanted bigger baskets.  It took me over a year to find the baskets I wanted.  For some reason, none of the places I looked carried anything similar.  Brian finally found these at Home Depot, I think.  We got three, and I love them.

Since I am trying to eat a lot more fresh food, that means lots of produce that was just sitting on my counters, again taking up space!

This way, it frees up my counter, and makes it look much nicer, too!

3)  Hang Measuring Cups and Spoons

This is another idea I saw on Pinterest, and it works really well, although I simplified mine.  I just got Brian to put some hooks on the inside of one of my cabinet doors, and I have one set of measuring spoons and cups that I keep on them, plus a couple of extra hooks for extra spoon sets.

That way, I can grab just my 1/8 teaspoon without having to use all the other spoons in that set, too.  Plus, no more rifling through drawers to find the one you need, and it frees up more space in my drawers for other things!

My only warning about this is that it took me a while to get used to the motion and the sound that they make when you open the cabinets.  For the first week or two, I just about jumped out of my skin every time I opened the cabinet door, thinking something was jumping out at me.  Now, I don't even notice it.  I have heard that the silicone collapsing measuring cups and spoons would help with that, but I don't own any.

4)  Leave Room for new things

Whenever I organize my pantry, it always looks so nice.  Everything is visible and accessible, and all the like items are grouped together.  Baking goods, canned goods, oils and vinegars, etc.

Then I go grocery shopping.

This always frustrates me because of course I return home with new things, like another canister of oatmeal, or a new bottle of honey, or a new bag of flour.  These things don't have a home, because the almost-empty bottle of honey or canister of oatmeal is still in it's place.  I empty my flour into my canister, but I still have two pounds in the bag.  Agh!

What usually happens at this point is that I just make room for them haphazardly, stacking them on top of something else, shoving the oatmeal next to the hot chocolate because it's the only place it fits, etc.

And now I'm unorganized again.

My new solution, then, is that this time, when I organized my pantry, I intentionally left open spaces for new items.

Space on the shelf next to the Cheerio's.

I know, that sounds so elementary that it can't possibly be worth mentioning, but I figure it took me nine years of running my own house to figure it out, so surely someone else has this problem, too.

5)  Accessibility is Key

I don't know if anyone else does this, but I default to organizing my kitchen pretty much the same way my mom did.

(Well, I mean, when I organize my kitchen and don't just stack stuff on top of each other like an edible Jenga game...)

After all, it's what I grew up with, so I'm used to it.  The problem is that my kitchen now is not at all set up like the ones I grew up in.

For example, my mom always stored the pots and pans in the drawer under the stove.  I did too, in our old apartment, but when we moved into this house, I found that the drawer below the stove is teeny tiny, and not at all tall enough for even one pot, let alone several.  I kind of panicked.  Where do pots and pans go if not under the stove?

So for about two years, they have been in a bottom cabinet beside the refrigerator, because they didn't fit in most of the other cabinets.  This is super annoying because I had to basically kneel down to get to them, and they were just stacked on top of each other, so they were always clanging around and making noise, and I almost lost a digit every time I tried to wrangle one out from under all the others.  Not at all convenient or accessible.  Also, moderately dangerous.

I cleared off one shelf that had previously held my casserole dishes and other baking pans,

and now it holds my pots and skillets!

This make so much sense, since I use them more than just about anything else in the kitchen.  It might not seem like putting them in the pantry is a logical choice, but if you can look beyond where you think things are "supposed" to go, and see where they would be more accessible, you might come up with some creative new ideas for organization!

6) Label

I love to label things (and people, but I'm working on that...).  I have a great little label maker and a huge supply of computer labels ready at a moment's notice.  I saw some pictures on Pinterest of a kitchen someone had organized and they had labeled everything so neatly, it really made it look more polished.

I got a bunch of storage containers from the Dollar Tree, printed off some labels on my computer, and voila! So easy!

(Actually, at the time, it wasn't that easy.  I kept trying to find some super cute templates, but none of them were customizable, so it was either use their six pre-made labels or just be happy with basic labels that say what I want them to say.  I chose the latter.)

Labels are great because you never have to wonder, "Is this all-purpose flour, wheat flour, white wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, pasta flour, or bread flour?"  Yes, I have all of those flours.  Don't judge.

Also, when you run out of something, you don't have to remember what was in the container!  Heaven forbid I should accidentally put organic whole wheat pastry flour in the container that used to hold pasta flour!


I hope that this inspires you to organize your kitchen in a way that is more helpful and easier to use.  I'd love to hear some of your favorite tips and tricks as well!

Unless your advice is to buy fewer types of flour.  No one wants to hear that.

How to Be Awesome at Cleaning: Kitchen Edition

Since we have moved, I have tried to be better about keeping things clean.  One big reason for that is that I am home now, instead of working, so I have more time to do that.  I've especially gotten better about cleaning my kitchen, and it actually stays clean-ish most of the time.  That's like, Nobel-prize worthy compared to how it used to be.

Part of it is that I've gotten better about how I clean my kitchen.  I'll show you.  Here's my previous method:

1)  Don't ever clean the kitchen because you are too tired.  The fact that you even have dirty dishes means that you managed to provide food, so you deserve a gold star for that.  Now go sit down before you fall asleep in the refrigerator.

2)  Repeat step one for several days/weeks.

3)  Completely freak out because things are such a mess.  Use tears if necessary.

4)  Spend hours cleaning the kitchen, or guilting someone else into doing it. 

5)  Swear that you won't let it get that bad again.

6)  Repeat steps 1-5.

I will grant that this system has its flaws, and with some careful evaluation, one could probably come up with some improvements.  Nevertheless, that was my tried and true method for years.  Years, I tell you.

BUT NO LONGER!

Well, at least not usually.

Now, my kitchen cleaning method goes like this:

1)  Clean kitchen in the morning.  This is the cleanest your kitchen will be all day. (Most of the cleaning tips, including Flylady, will tell you to clean it at night so that you have a gleaming kitchen to wake up to.  I haven't gotten there yet.  I kinda feel like, it's really all a big cycle, so who really cares what time of day the clean part of the cycle hits?)

2)  Bake, cook, prepare, and do other things that mess up the kitchen.

3)  Try to clean that stuff up as you go as much as possible.  It helps if the dishwasher is dirty, so you can just stick stuff in there.  Kitchen should be fairly clean before making dinner.

4)  Make dinner.  No matter what I'm making, if it's not spaghetti, it involves using at least 3 of the 5 main pots/skillets that we own, five plates, exactly half of the silverware, three spatulas, and a pair of tongs.  I don't know why, but that's always what seems to happen.

5)  Make a half-hearted attempt to clear the dishes after dinner, put away food, and leave the rest to do in the morning.

Hey, I didn't say it was a perfect method.  I just said it was better than the previous one.  At least there is a moment in each day when my kitchen is very clean, and several moments when it is at least decent.

Oh, and there are several awesome tools that will help you in cleaning the kitchen.

• A scrubby sponge that is on the end of a handle and the handle holds soap--This is my best friend.  I don't even care so much that it automatically dispenses soap, because I do use my dishwasher, but I love not having to touch the sponge.  Those things are gross and wet and foamy and gross.  Eww.  Gross. 
• A regular sponge with a scrubby side--I never use this, but Brian does.  I guess it's useful.
• Rubber gloves--Brian uses these all the time.  I don't.  I mean, I hate touching dishwater, especially if it's cold, and I hate touching gross food that has been in the water, but I hate the smell of rubber gloves more.  Once you wear those things, that's what your hands smell like the rest of the day.  Plus, they're all powdery inside for some reason.  I just suck it up, touch the water, and then use lots of soap and hand sanitizer afterwards.
• Steel wool--Actually, I think mine is copper wool, but whatever.  I don't use this very often 'cause everything is nonstick, but every now and then, your crock pot is just not gonna come clean by itself.
• A spray nozzle on the faucet--We just got one of these for the first time when we moved.  It's awesome.
• A disposal--We don't have one in our new house, and I miss it so much.  Like, every day.
• A dishwasher--Part of me feels like this is a huge waste of time and money, because you have to wash everything before you put it in the dishwasher, but the other part of me trusts the system.  The system wouldn't lie to us, right?
• Dish towels--You need like, a hundred of these, which is approximately how many we got for our wedding, so I guess that's good.  You need big ones to dry stuff with and small ones to wipe stuff with.  Bonus points if your small ones have a net side and a towel side.  Those things are awesome.

Lastly, there are several steps to actually doing the dishes.  I have refined my technique to the following:

1)  Find everything that can go in the dishwasher without any cleaning on your part.  The trick is to not turn on the water, and just throw stuff in there.  Cups, silverware, and other stuff that isn't very dirty falls into this category.  This is usually how I get myself motivated.  I just tell myself I'm just going to throw a few things in there, and it gets me warmed up.

2)  Find everything that just needs to be rinsed before it's put in the dishwasher.  I hate having a sink full of dirty water because that's GROSS, so I just run the water over stuff.  I realize this uses more water, but it uses less of me gagging, so it's a good trade off.

3)  Get down to the hard part, and get the stuff you actually have to scrub.  I have occasionally had to coach myself through this part with gummy worms. 

4)  Wash the stuff that has to be washed by hand, like pots and skillets.  This part, I have found, seems like the worst part, but it is not.  My pots and skillets are all nonstick, so usually they clean up really easily.  Dry them and put them away immediately.

5)  Wipe down counters and sink.  I usually use a dish towel and all-purpose spray cleaner.  Works great.

See?  Not so bad!  The only part that I really dislike is that once you are finished, your victory is short-lived.  Before you can turn around to receive your responsibility trophy, it's time to start all over!

How to Be Awesome at Cleaning

That title makes me laugh out loud. 

I hate cleaning.  I abhor cleaning.  Cleaning and I are not friends.  We are enemies.  And there's, like, this cold war between us, where we're both sabotaging each other behind our backs, but neither one of us will full-on declare war.

Until recently.

I did declare war on my house when summer started.  Things had gotten even worse than normal because the end of school meant even less time spent at home doing anything that seemed like cleaning, and we had to bring boxes of stuff home from my classroom that just sat in the living room for a long time.  But slowly, very slowly, I have triumphed over my house.  I am the last one standing.

Now, I understand that most normal adults clean their houses and keep them clean on a regular basis, and those people are probably thinking that this is the dumbest post ever.  But for me, this is an accomplishment very close to climbing Mount Everest (which reminds me of my laundry pile), and nearly as difficult.  It has just never come naturally to me, but I did it.  I got my house in a somewhat decent condition.

Here's how I did it. 

I've told you before about Flylady, this amazing website where I found my sanity.  I used her methods a couple of years ago, and it was great, so I thought I would try again.  I'm not quite as zealous as I was a few summers ago, so I haven't quite attacked it with the passion I had before, but still, it works well.  She has several basic principles that are really useful in cleaning and keeping your house clean, and none of them involve napalm, which was my only solution, so that's good.

Here are the ones I find most helpful.

1)  Change your attitude.  She would be horrified if she heard me say that cleaning is a war.  She refers to it as "blessing your family" and she insists that it doesn't have to be done perfectly.  Do something, anything, even if you don't do it right.  You're still helping everyone who lives in your house when you do the dishes, even if you don't load the dishwasher the correct way.  That was very helpful to me because I'm a perfectionist, and if I can't do it perfectly, I usually just don't do it. 

2)  Make routines.  I should know this as a school teacher.  Humans thrive on routines.  Even people who say they don't like routines get into routines.  I love routines, and I do well with them.  Even with just little things like getting ready for bed, I have to brush my teeth, take out my contacts, etc. in a certain order and God help whoever interrupts that routine, (as Brian has discovered).  So Flylady has us make routines for what we do in the morning, what we do in the evening, and then plans for how to clean the house throughout the month, so you don't feel like you have to do it all in one day.

3)  Maintenance is better than repair.  She has lots of little tricks for keeping the house maintained so it always looks nice.  Like, wiping down the counter and sink every morning when you leave the bathroom, or making sure your kitchen sink is nice and shiny every night before you go to bed, doing a little dusting with a feather duster, and just vacuuming high traffic areas once a week to keep things looking good until it's time to really clean that area.  Good ideas.

4)  Your timer is your friend.  Most people don't know this, but I'm pretty competitive by nature.  (Ok, everyone knows this.)  Racing the timer is a great motivation for me, plus, it keeps me from feeling overwhelmed.  Instead of, "this pile of laundry is going to take me five hours,"  I just set my timer for 15 minutes, fold, and then when the timer goes off I get to stop and do something else for a while.  She even has us do 5 minute cleaning blitzes, and it's amazing how much you can get done in five minutes when you're focused.

5)  Take your time.  Flylady says that your house didn't get messy in a day and it's not going to get clean in a day.  This is true.  I figure my house got messy over 7 years, so it will take about 10 years to get it clean again.  But the point is, do a little every day, and then don't worry about it.  It was like, a week before I could even tell by looking that I had been cleaning, but slowly it started to look better.  Now, it's not bad!  Not perfect, but not bad! 

Here, I'll show you some before and after photos.  Here is my living room on the first day of summer:

And here is my living room today:

Here is my bedroom on the first day of summer:

And here is my bedroom today:

See?  I did stuff!  Yay me!  I cleaned my kitchen too, but I didn't want to take pictures of that on the first day of summer because I was afraid someone might call in a hazmat team.  But it's clean now, too.

The guest room?  Not so much.  It's become our staging room for packing and storing boxes, so although it is more organized than before, it looks like a strange, square forest.