Key Kitchen Areas That Need Reorganising (and how to organise them)

Find out about the main kitchen areas that require reorganising so that you can make the most of this important space day to day.

So, you’ve put all your extra kitchen stuff into self-storage, you’ve decluttered, you’ve done all of the ‘things’ that you’re supposed to do to create a stunning heart-of-the-home space, and yet, there is some dysfunction still occurring. It is still not quite as organised as it could be.

This happens because when trying to keep your home organised, you can often focus so much on how things look, and on removing obvious clutter and furniture, that you forget to go a little bit deeper with the space. To help you dig a little deeper and gain even more organisation in your kitchen, here are key kitchen areas that need reorganising (and how to organise them).

Virtual renovation and remodelling can help in visualising how the kitchen will look after making the alterations mentioned below. Because you know how the modifications will look and feel, this will help you pick which ones to adopt.

The Corner Draw

The corner cabinet is also often known as a bling corner cabinet because you can’t see into it fully. It can be so hard to organise because of how awkward it is. The chances are, that cabinet remains a bit chaotic and needs reorganising. To reorganise it:

Try not to overfill it, so that you don’t have to stack things too much
Consider adding a rotating plate or similar item into the cupboard so that you can access your things a little easier
Tubs and baskets can work well in this cabinet so you can pull out a tub that is relevant to what you need at any one time
Place protectors down on the bottom of the cabinet as these kinds of storage spaces are incredibly hard to clean

The Spice Area

Spices and herbs are fantastic additions to the kitchen, helping even the most tasteless of foods become an exciting culinary delight. However, the spice and herb area is one of the most common areas of chaos and disorganisation, because you are cooking, you go in and grab your stuff, you chuck it back and after a while, it becomes a bit of a jumble sale for spices. To organise spices:

Consider placing them in themed tubs such as - Italian, Indian, baking and miscellaneous
Transfer spices to labelled glass jars that are organised vertically, so you can easily pick what you need
Buy a display spice rack if you have ample counter space and spend a lot of time cooking

The Cutlery Drawer

The cutlery drawer gets messy for the same reason the spice area does - it’s a busy area that you are always using to put items in or out maybe several times a day. The first thing you must do to organise this space is to declutter the drawer. Do you deeply feel the lyric from Alanis Morisette ‘You’ve got 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife’? If so, it’s not because anything is ironic, it is because you need to declutter. You’ll want to cut down on all the cutlery you have, remove gadgets you never use, and take out odds and ends like pens and keys that need to go to a different place in the home. Lastly, use a drawer organiser that works well for the way you use your cutlery.

The Freezer

The freezer has a really odd habit of becoming a bit of a dead end for a lot of food. With time being short, it is normal to shove in new food in the freezer and forget about what lies beneath all the new stuff. Before long there are ice buildups, frozen peas and herbs loosely covering the bottom of the drawers, and multiple items that are beyond a date where you’d feel comfortable eating them.

It may be that you have to defrost your freezer if the ice buildup is really bad. If that is that case you will need to empty the freezer out fully and start from scratch.

Otherwise, it is a case of taking everything out, laying it out and removing anything with freezer burn, anything dried up, with an unknown date or anything you have had stored for a long time and you have no plans to eat it. You will want to clean up the freezer drawers during this space so that you aren’t using up room with freezer debris.

Then, refill the freezer with the items that need using up first at the top, and items with a longer date at the bottom. Anything going into the freezer should follow the same order. It may take a bit longer when you unpack your shopping, but it prevents food wastage. Anything you make and freeze needs to be labelled properly with a date and details of the contents, so that you don’t forget about it and then have no idea what is available to eat.

The Space Under The Kitchen Sink

The space under the kitchen sink is often full of helpful cleaning items, bin bags, sponges and more. However, it can also be very messy and packed full of items that do not need to be there. To make it more usable, remove any cleaning products and items you purchased and never use. Things like a cleaning spray that ended up having a smell you hate, or a scourer that’s a bit too harsh for your pots and pans. If you can, try to give away these items locally or to friends and family to avoid wastage.

With the items that are left, organise them in a way that works for the way you use that space. If you are always having to rummage around for bags, maybe it is time to add a bin bag roller, or simply have them at the front of the space. If you’re always reaching for a multi-surface spray, perhaps they should be in the higher drawer so they are easily reachable. As with the corner cabinet suggestion we mentioned above, a rotating plate and baskets you can pull out are very handy additions to this kind of storage space.

Are You Ready To Organise Your Kitchen Even More?

The areas above can be reorganised so that you can make the most of your kitchen space. By going that bit deeper with these really common problem areas, you get a much better functionality in the heart of the home, so it really is worth doing.

Author Bio: Rahul Agarwal is the Co-founder & Chief Business Officer at Styldod, where he has taught a computer to do interior design! Styldod provides the most hassle-free & inexpensive virtual staging solutions for real estate agents so they can sell their listings faster, and for higher prices. Rahul was also a co-founder of Mebelkart. He pushes the boundaries with his innovative entrepreneurial stints and is also a sound startup investor & advisor.