***How to Organize a Small Kitchen

Small kitchens can prove to be a nightmare for even the most intrepid of home organizers. The lack of space, amount of possessions, and frequency of use can make the room quite a challenge. However, do not give up hope yet; there are ways to turn your kitchen into a well-oiled machine devoted to cooking , party hosting, and any other culinary adventures. It is not about buying the right product, or having the best kind of cabinet space. Instead, it is about good evaluation of what you have, what you need, and how you can put it altogether in an efficient way.

The first step is to set aside a day or two in which you can begin the organization process. Once you reach the time you have allotted for the work, get going. You may need to completely clear out all of your cabinets, drawers, pantries, and cupboards. This is when things begin to get interesting. The first thing to do is to sort the items based on type. When that process has run its course, sort each smaller group based on how often the items are used. Now it is time to begin thinking about how each item is going to fit within the various spaces you have around your kitchen. Thankfully, there are many products available to make your small kitchen seem massive.

The products that you should consider purchasing mostly depend on the types of items that you have. For example, if you have lots of pots and pans that you use frequently, you may want to consider buying a hanging rack. While these racks can be troublesome because they leave your items exposed to the potential hazards of dust, they also save tremendous amounts of space in cabinets, save you from the hassle of constantly stacking and taking apart stacks of pots and pans. Hanging these items can also contribute positively to the decoration of your kitchen.

Other storage products to consider for your kitchen range from the elaborate to the extremely mundane. The elaborate items can be anything from color-coded recycling bins to kitchen islands on wheels. These items tend to be expensive, but wildly useful. If you have the money, the options are limitless. Organizers that are more mundane are available in many shapes and sizes, and these items can often be found to fit just about any budget. Popular choices often center on small, hard to find places that are perfect for storing items such as spice containers, plastic wrap, and other items. These items are often used on a daily basis.

One of the more ingenious contraptions out there is a special drawer that holds all of your spices. Rather than simply leaving the design as a basic drawer that makes it difficult to reach all of the items packed into the space, this product actually has a hinge so the door can swing completely open, and give you easy access to all of your spices. Products such as these can do wonders to make your kitchen a more efficient area.

Once you have assessed the needs of your kitchen, it is time to put things back together again. A few important details should be kept in mind while settling into a kitchen organization scheme. The first is having the perfect fridge to sink to oven triangle. Since most of your work in the kitchen revolves around going from your fridge to get ingredients, to your sink/counter area to prepare them, and then to the stove for cooking them, you should make sure that you have a solid route to move easily from one to the other without deviating from the path. You should also take into account the kind of cooking that you are going to be doing. More specifically, the numbers of people that you are likely to cook for should be taken into account. If you host parties often, then be sure to have items designed for large numbers of people easily accessible. It is natural to fill large serving bowls with smaller items to save space.

Alternatively, maybe you end up tucking away all of your “for company only” items in all of the hard to reach places. If you host quests often, you should avoid this at all costs. The mess of getting to these items can break your system and your kitchen may become a mess again. Be sure to nip them in the bud before they become a problem.

From this point, things should be much more manageable. A small kitchen can be a blessing in many ways, but if you let things get disorganized and cluttered, it will quickly turn into a curse. Finding the right organizational style for your needs is paramount to having success when organizing your cooking space.