So your kitchen looks a mess and it's hard to find the utensils you use the most. In order for your kitchen to be functional, you will need to organize it and there are several ways to do it. It's also possible to organize the kitchen without buying extra storage containers. For example, you can install shelves on your cabinet doors for your dish towels. Another idea would be to install a bookcase in the kitchen for your cookbooks.
Kick clutter to the curb
One important part of organizing your kitchen is decluttering. Get rid of all kitchen pantry items and utensils that you no longer need and start with the cabinets first. Take out all outdated spices and boxed foods and then get rid of any canned foods that have sat in the cabinets for months. Once you do this, get the excess clutter out the refrigerator. Throw away stale and expired foods and then proceed with organizing your refrigerator.
Keep food storage containers to a minimum
It's okay to have food storage containers but too many of them cause clutter in the kitchen. Use mostly three to five food storage bins and put your most used pantry staples in them. If you use a lot of flour, sugar, rice and dried pastas, place these in your food storage containers. These containers save cabinet space and countertop space.
Place your most used utensils in an accessible part of the kitchen
You can save time in the kitchen by placing your most used utensils in an easily accessible section of the kitchen. Place the pots and pans you use frequently right above the stove by installing a hanging rack. All of your most used baking utensils can be placed in a separate cabinet from the rest of your kitchen items.
Put bins inside cabinets
Instead of tossing everything into your cabinets without organizing them, make small changes by placing colored storage bins inside the cabinets. You can put one bin in the cabinet that will be used just for canned foods while the bin on the next cabinet shelf might be used for storing packaged foods. Also label the bins.
Designate a spice section in the kitchen
It would also be helpful if you designated a section of the kitchen for spice storage. Mount a spice rack on the inside of one of your cabinet doors or you can purchase a Lazy Susan to place inside one of your cabinets for spice storage.
Consider a kitchen island
Another neat way to keep the kitchen functional is to install a kitchen island. A kitchen island can be used as a prep area, a place where everyone can eat and as extra storage space at the same time. There are diverse styles of kitchen islands so do your research before purchasing one.
Let your recipes go digital
Instead of buying dozens of cookbooks, you can use technology to organize your favorite recipes. Download some recipe organization apps to your smartphone or tablet and this will reduce the paper clutter in the kitchen. You can also place your tablet on the kitchen wall where you can browse through your recipes while in the kitchen.