If you’re like me and have a small kitchen you will
understand the headache that usually comes with having limited worktop and
cabinet space. As a result, if there is
no proper organisation the kitchen can feel cluttered.
Free Kitchen Organising Checklist
A cluttered kitchen
can have a direct effect on how you feel. If you want an organised kitchen you
have to think carefully about what you need and what you buy, I have a FREE kitchen organising checklist for you to download.
Do you have unused appliances
in your cupboards, but no space for the things that you use every day? Now is the time to get that ever-growing assortment
of appliances under control and discard what you don't actually use from your kitchen.
Decluttering is the First Step to Organisation
I know I sound like
a broken record, but the first step to an organised space is decluttering, we
need to discard any appliances that we haven’t used, won’t use or don’t like
using. This can create a massive amount
of space in our cupboard areas and is a great way to maximise the
space in our kitchen.
My Unorganised Appliance Cupboard
My whole appliance cupboard was so unorganised. As I only have a very small galley-style kitchen, I do not have a lot of cupboard space. That's not great when you love baking and gadgets! I had to figure out how to store the appliances, tins and jars, baking and Tupperware all in one cupboard.
Sorting out Your Appliances
When you are sorting out your appliances, you need to think about what appliances
you use daily/weekly/monthly, and then what is pushed to the back of the
cupboard and is rarely used. Reflect on why
is that item rarely used?
· Is it too complicated?
· Is it too heavy to use?
· Do you find yourself using different methods to get the same result?
· Is it a duplicate?
· Is it broken/parts missing
Now is the time to
let go of anything you know you don't regularly use, and create some space
instead. This goes for all of the
little attachments for appliances too. If you don’t use the item, then you
don't need to keep those attachments either.
My multi-blender died,
I kept it for a couple of weeks, and I fully intended to get it fixed, but I never
did, so when I was decluttering, I decided it was better to let it go. However, it was only when I was
organising the baking drawers did I find the whisk attachment that came with it. Safe to say, that has now been discarded too.
Does it fit with your Organising Goals?
Also, don’t just keep things just because they came as part of a set. You need to think about what you use in your daily life and let that dictate what stays in your home, not just because it came with something. Think about the space you have available for storage, and how you want your kitchen to look and feel, does this fit in with your goals? If you don’t want things out on your worktops, you will need to be more ruthless about decluttering what you have.
Gather Your Appliances
Gather your small
appliances together by type. Set aside any
duplicates or any appliances that haven’t been used in the past year – these are
ideal items for donating. Think of it like
this, if you have any items that are rarely used, isn’t it worth donating them so
that another family could get some use out of them rather than having them take up
room in your cupboard or on your shelves.
Use Multi Use Appliances
Multi-use Appliances are brilliant in smaller kitchens. Why have five items when one can do the job? I am sure you have heard me talk about my Ninja Foodi 9 in 1 – I love it – and it has helped me to condense my appliances. I have been able to discard my halogen oven, slow cooker, pressure cooker and my steamer. What’s not to love about that?
Ok. well storing that lid did pose a bit of a problem. It was just so big and cumbersome.
Not only should your kitchen be easy to clean but it’s important to be easy to use too. This means keeping being able to easily access the things you use regularly. This is called “Valuable Real Estate”. In short, items that are less frequently used should go towards the back of cupboards, or on higher shelves – however you need to be mindful of the weight of an appliance. Don't put anything heavy up high and risk dropping it or hurting yourself when you take it out.
Things that are
used multiple times every day can be left out, but there are ways to keep them
looking neat.
The exception to the rules 😉I keep my toaster out on the worktop, even though I don’t use it every single day – but I struggle for storage in my cupboards.
How annoying are tangled cords or missing attachments? A quick and easy way to tidy cables and make your appliances look neater is to wrap up the cord with a removable cord tidy. If you don’t want to purchase one, just hide the cords. I use my Chopping boards and then I tuck my cord at the back of them. By keeping the appliance close to the plug against the wall it's easy to keep that electrical cord hidden.
Top Tip
Did you know that if you place several items on a tray, the eye only sees it as one item? This is a quick and easy way to make these regularly used items look tidier.
Keeping attachments with the appliances makes it easier to keep a space well organised. For example, if you have a blender with different parts, keep them all together in a container. Not only do you not have to spend time searching through other cupboards and drawers for them, but it’s also simple to get to straight away, so you probably won't just give up on the idea of blending something – if it’s too hard – we won’t do it – is it just me?
You can then keep it further back in the cupboard if you don’t
use it that often and it will just slide out when you want to use it – pop a
label on so you know what is in the container.
Why not go the whole hog and wrap the appliance's cord up using an
elastic band too.
Luckily, I had this spare crate left over from Organising my kitchen shelves. Anyone would have thought I had planned it that way 😉
If you are struggling with space in your kitchen you can always pop in a shelf riser or an additional shelf. I did this when I organised my dried food cupboard, have a look and see how much stuff I can get in there now 😊
I really appreciate you stopping by, and want to say thank you - because without you I wouldn't be here. Believe in Yourself, You got this, NOW Go Declutter!
