Organizing Your Home: Kitchen Pt. 4

By Author: Samuel Murray
Total Articles: 13
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By now, the surface areas of your kitchen are clean. Just a few more steps and you're done in this room!

11. We're gonna get down and dirty here: under your sink! Most people keep cleaning supplies under there; some keep garbage cans, and still others, appliances. No matter what's under your sink, tackle it! If it's cleaning supplies, look and see what you've used and never used and what's just dried out and old. Pitch what you don't use, won't use, or is old. Organize your cabinet in the way that's best suited to you—what you use the most up front, what's less-frequently used in back. If you don't have a dishwasher, remember to leave room for your empty dishpan to collect dirty dishes.

12. Next is your dish cabinet(s). However many of them you have, you probably don't use everything in them. Be brutally honest here: if you haven't used it recently, you probably don't need it. And I'm certain that if you offered it to someone else who was just starting out, they *could* use it. Consider looking up a Freecycle group in your area (http://www.freecycle.org) ...
... and joining. It's free and keeps things that still have life in them (but no use in your home) going around. Pare down to 8-12 place settings with your dishes; serving dishes are necessary, but no one needs 7 serving dishes that are the same size. If you're cramped for space, consider how much more relaxed you'll be when you open your cabinets and can actually FIND what you're looking for! Organize your shelves in the way that best suits your family needs—it doesn't have to be perfect, just useful.

13. Hit your spice cabinet next. I recently went through my spice cabinet and was shocked at how much I had (duplicates!) and didn't use—and I'm a born-organized person! Pitch what you don't use or is out of date. Consolidate in to smaller bottles, if possible. Use lazy-susans if applicable to your cabinet space.

14. Finally, go through your appliance/baking cabinet. If you don't bake cheesecakes, why keep the springform pan? Do you have 12 cookie sheets? Three or four is as many as one family needs—even if you have two ovens, each only has 2 shelves. One sheet is on one oven shelf, so 4 would max out your ovens. Do you have broken appliances? Pitch ‘em! Put what you use in front, and things used less-often towards the back, but still in reach.

Whoo hoo! Now your cabinets are organized! And by now, your entire kitchen should look as if it's had a mini-makeover! Congratulations!
About the Author This article courtesy of http://www.kitchen-remodeling-shopper.com