When you are organising a small kitchen, you have
to get creative when it comes to space-saving solutions. We
have a small galley-style kitchen. Honestly, it’s so small that we could never
do the “date night” cooking together, otherwise, we would be hitting each other
when we were mixing the ingredients in the bowl ☹
If you are organising a kitchen – Don’t waste storage space on items you don’t need or use. This is so hard for me to say because I am Queen of the gadgets.
Decluttering is the
first thing to do when you want to start organising any kitchen – but it is so
important in a small kitchen.
You will need to discard the items that:
· You don’t use or can’t see yourself using
· Anything that has expired or you are unlikely to eat
· Is broken or missing parts
Once the decluttering has been done, you’re in a much better place to
start thinking about how to organise what you have left.
1. Store Your Non-Essential Items Elsewhere
There is no rule to say that all the kitchen equipment needs to live in
the kitchen full time. If you have space
then that’s brilliant – you can keep everything in the kitchen, but for those
with a small kitchen try storing the once-a-year items (for us it’s items like
the halogen oven) in the loft, or basement.
The same goes for surplus gadgets and utensils – place them in baskets
to keep them neatly together and consider storing these on the top of the kitchen
wall cupboards if you have them. In my kitchen, all of our drinking bottles/insulated
mugs/flasks, except for the one I use daily, are in a basket on top of my wall
cabinet.
2. Make your Zones Flexible
Zoning your kitchen sounds difficult but I bet you are already doing it. The
cupboards around the sink and dishwasher are usually designated as the cleaning
zone. These will have all of your cleaning
products, sponges, and cleaning clothes.
Whereas the cupboards and drawers around the oven and hob should
contain pots, pans and bakeware etc.
Your dry ingredients should have their zone, too – if you are like
me and not lucky enough to have a pantry. It is pretty rare for
houses in the UK to have a pantry. The Zoning Method is an enormously
efficient way of organising the kitchen, but when space and storage are at a
premium, you’ll need to get a little creative.
In small kitchens where zones are close together, or even cross over in
some cases, it helps to break activities down even further; tea/coffee making
zone, seasoning zone, baking zone and so on. Group “like” items
together in containers or baskets, that way you can move them around the
kitchen as you need.
3. Keep the Worktops Clear
When organising kitchen worktops in a small kitchen,
minimalism is key – This is the only time you will ever hear me say
this. Keeping the worktops clear of clutter gives you more cooking
space and keeps the kitchen looking neat and tidy, plus, it is also very easy
to maintain when there is not a lot of equipment out. A rule I like to go by is to only keep out
appliances you use daily and put the rest away.
Did you know that your mind reads items which are grouped on trays as
one item on a countertop as opposed to several? I think it is worth investing
in everyday items that are not only practical but look if they are out on
display. I decant my handwash, washing
up liquid and sanitiser gels into plain brown pump top containers to keep them
looking uniform. I also do this with my oils and
vinegar. Whereas my sauces which are in the cupboard don’t get the
makeover, but they do have their own container 😊
4. Think Vertically not Horizontally
If you can store your items vertically rather than horizontally this
becomes a real game changer in a small kitchen. You will find that
your items are far easier to access. Vertical storage is ideal for oven
trays and chopping boards as well as dinner services.
5. Use Drawers Rather Than Cupboards
If you have filled your cupboards, why not think about using your drawers for items that would normally be usually stored in cupboards – drawers are the unsung heroes of the kitchen. You can tailor these to your exact needs, by using draw dividers or containers. This allows easy access to kitchen essentials rather than digging into the back of kitchen cupboards. I have 4 drawers in my kitchen. I keep my cutlery and smaller utensils in one, my spices- it is so handy to just grab a spice, use it and return it to the drawer, my small baking equipment and my final drawer is the obligatory junk drawer.
6. Open Shelving
Sometimes wall cupboards
can feel imposing in a small kitchen, the option to
remove them and create an airier feel sounds great but it does
pose a storage issue. Open Shelving comes into its own in the small
kitchen. When it is organised well, it can, not only
maximise storage but is a great way of injecting style and
personality. It’s such a handy place to position dinnerware
sets, for easy access and for display purposes.
To keep shelves
looking neat, tidy and well arranged, organise them by grouping items into
clusters of odd numbers, ideally three items, and add different heights and
sizes in each cluster, for example pairing items like chopping
boards stored vertically with a horizontal item, such as a few
stacked cookbooks. Then introduce a couple of sculptural items, such as a bowl
of lemons or salt and pepper mills. Hey, presto! Useful, organised and
so pretty.
7.
Customise those Corner Cupboards
It can be difficult to store and access items in those awkward and
hard-to-reach corner cupboards, however, they can become
an effectual space for storing bulkier kitchen items such as pots,
pans and appliances that you don’t use very often.
Some amazing tools help you make use of all of the
available space. There are carousel shelves, that spin around - allowing you to
store items at the back of the cupboard but giving you easy access to
them. Some racks slide along and out of the unit
when you open the door, these take the stress out of heavy lifting
from awkward angles and neatly display larger pieces like pots and pans.
8. Keep Food in Check
I know, this is a given – however, it is very worthy of a mention. When
I was suffering from depression– I had ZERO motivation to get out of bed never
mind keep an eye on what food was about to go out of
date. Technically I do still have depression, as it's going to be
with me all my life – Yey me 😊, but at the moment I
am at one of my high points. So, my motivation is at an all-time
high – once again I digress – so unlike me.
If you have a small kitchen then you know the importance of cramming
every space with what you need, so they need to be well-ordered –
and a space-efficient food storage system needs to be in
place to ensure cooking tasks run smoothly, and doesn’t turn into some chaotic
event that you wish you had never started in the first place – can you see why
I never started a cookery blog 😊.
One of the best ways I have found is to get rid of bulky food
packaging from items. I transfer all the dried foods,
nuts, cereals, flours, sugars, pulses and so on, into labelled containers.
This makes it much easier to locate what you need.
Keeping a food inventory is a handy tip so that you only
purchase items that you need, that way you won't overbuy products and overfill
your cupboards. I use a freezer inventory but I am yet to start
using a fridge inventory, although I have both available
for you to download for free.
However, I do use Stock Rotation, which is a great way to ensure that
you don’t have expired foods lurking at the back of the cupboard., employ
a ‘first in, first out (FIFO Method)’, so the items with the nearest
expiration dates always remain at the front.
Using risers, lazy Susan’s and storage bins are great for
keeping oils, condiments, spices and tinned food easily accessible. It may feel
daunting at first but it’s definitely time well spent; no
more hunting around for what you need not only saves time
and effort, plus you’ll have a clearer idea of what food items are in there and
when they need to be eaten.
9. Portable Workspace – and
Storage
I know it is tempting to stuff things in a cupboard willy-nilly if
you’re short on storage space. Praying that when you open the
cupboard things don't topple all over you, and you make it out alive… But try
not to cram everything in; consider flexible furniture, such as a
butcher’s trolley, this can be brought in for busy times, such as baking, then
moved out of the way when more floor space is required. I used to
have a butcher's trolley, but I decided it wasn’t the way I wanted to store
some items, and now that I have my Ninja Foodi I wish I had kept it, yes I
have Declutter Regret but this is the only item.
10. Over Door Hangers and Racks
Overdoor hangers are a godsend when it comes to organising a small kitchen,
utilising the doors can go a long way towards keeping essential ingredients in
order. You can store all your herbs and spices together in a hanging door rack
freeing up the drawer/countertop that you keep them in. This
is my next job to do when I re-decorate the kitchen, at present my spices are
in my drawer AND on my worktop in a spice carousel, I should practice what I
preach in respect of the spices ☹ However they
are all labelled up (which took me no time at all with my Brother label Maker).
I just bought some tea towel holders but rather than using
them for tea towels, I put my microfibre clothes in them for a quick grab when
I want to dust or buff my windows.