We’re All Fighting For Space in Our Kitchens

Whether you are in a cramped “kitchen” in New York City, or have acres of marble counters, if our kitchens aren’t organized to be useful, we won’t use them. We have gadgets on our counters, *that* drawer that holds every item you don’t know where else to put, and items we only use once per year that require a step ladder and tricky choreography to take out.

Organizing a kitchen can be time consuming, but it pays off in the end because you’ll use it way more often. If you have an organized, accessible kitchen and you know where every item is, you’ll cook more often, and clean-up will be a breeze.

Let’s talk about how to start approaching the organization of your kitchen. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to organization, because we all have different spaces, and different needs. But there are some basics to help you spend more time in the kitchen to prepare meals that don’t always depend on the microwave.

First divide everything you have in the kitchen, mentally or physically if you have the space, into three piles:

1. Used often

2. Used once or twice every six months

3. Never used/used once every few years

These three categories will help you visualize what you really need and how accessible it should be. Items on the first category should be readily available by placing them in an easy-to-get-to place, that is not cluttered or crowded, so you can see it right away. Think pots and pans, knives, utensils, bowls, etc.

Items in the second category can be tucked away where you don’t necessarily see it every day, but you can easily get to it if you need it. If you need to write the location of these items down, in order to not forget where they are, do it! In the past, I have saved and “organized” things so well, that I have forgotten where they are and end up not using them at all,

Learn from my experience and make a list - you can even laminate it and stick it on the side of your fridge for easy reference.

Items in the third category - never used or rarely used - should be closely looked at and reevaluated. Don’t be afraid to let go of items you have never used and bought in the spur of the moment, because you bought something while half asleep while watching an infomercial late at night. I know you thought you would Slap-Chop coleslaw every day, but it didn’t work out that way. I get it. Look for a place to donate it, or gift it to someone you know may use it.

If the items on category three have been used once or maybe twice in years, then evaluate your needs and habits. You don’t need tons of equipment and gadgets to cook 99% of the meals you will actually prepare on a daily basis. We are a consumer culture based on ease and speed, and that’s what they sell us on a regular basis. But the basics of cooking haven’t changed, and gadgets are only as useful as often as we use them.

Reinvent your kitchen during these days of quarantine, so you can use it often to prepare delicious meals for yourself and/or your family, with less mess and less stress.