How to organize a kitchen

Having a tidy and well-organized kitchen is essential to cooking properly. Professional chefs always work maintaining the hygiene of their workplace at all times, since, otherwise, dirt could harm the food and, therefore, waste the hours of work invested, as well as food.

Although we are not expert chefs, nor do we work in a restaurant, we spend long hours in the kitchen in order to enjoy the art of cooking, to relax while we do it and, of course, to eat tasty dishes. Therefore, a diaphanous and properly organized environment will always facilitate this task and make us feel even more comfortable. Thus, if you are renovating your kitchen and need some ideas to inspire you, in this article we will explain how to organize a kitchen to make it more practical, keep reading!

Parts of a kitchen

If we are renovating a complete kitchen, the first thing we must take into account in order to buy everything you need is the different parts of a kitchen. Thus, a basic kitchen usually contains:

• A cooking zone.
• A cleaning area.
• A storage area.

These areas must be perfectly defined and strategically distributed, according to our way of cooking. To do this, we must bear in mind that, in these areas, we usually include:

• Storage systems.
• Ceramic stoves, plates or worktops.
• Sink and/or dishwasher.
• Kitchenware (cutlery, plates, pots, pans…).

Of course, not all kitchens include the aforementioned parts, since there are those who prefer not to have an oven, for example, or to do without the dishwasher. The important thing is to adapt to our needs and budget to build the perfect kitchen for us.

Now, if we cannot completely reform the kitchen, we can always decorate it to make it more beautiful and encourage us to cook in it. Here are some simple and inexpensive ideas.

Ideas to decorate a kitchen

Decorating a kitchen does not have to be an expensive task, there are many ways to achieve a pleasant and functional space without spending a lot of money or effort. If we do not like the furniture, we have the option of painting it to our liking, the result will be totally different from the current one and, therefore, it will seem that we have reformed the kitchen without having spent the money that a work of such magnitude implies.

On the other hand, we can decorate the kitchen with wallpaper, since this is another way to change the aesthetics of the space without spending too much. Today there are many kitchen wallpapers that exist, such as those provided by Papules de los 70, with different textures and patterns for all tastes. We simply have to choose the paper that fits the new style that we want to give to the kitchen and put it on following the manufacturer’s instructions.

If the walls are high or we have empty walls, placing shelves is an economical way to take advantage of space, decorate the kitchen and, in turn, have more storage space. As decorative elements, we can place a plant on these shelves, containers that fit the new style, etc. Likewise, we can decorate the walls with pictures or vinyl.

It’s all a matter of imagination and dedication. A kitchen that suits our taste will make us want to spend time in it, promote relaxation and make cooking much more enjoyable.  However, decoration and aesthetics are not everything, since knowing how to organize the drawers and the pantry is another of the keys to success. Also, if our kitchen is already decorated and ready to be used, so we just need to know how to organize it, then we share a series of ideas to organize the kitchen.

Optimize the space to organize your kitchen

Currently there is a whole variety of storage systems that allow us to optimize space much better. In addition, these same systems help us to have a more organized kitchen, which translates into greater ease when cooking. In this way, instead of placing spoons, knives and forks in the same drawer, all together, we can choose to acquire a separator that allows us to place the cutlery by type and even size. Thus, organizing the kitchen drawers is one of the tasks that we must do if we want to have a well-ordered kitchen. To do this, in addition to using separators when necessary, we must think about the different utensils we have to distribute them by frequency of use.

Given that to cook we will need knives, spatulas, rods, wooden spoons, etc., it is advisable that we have all these utensils as close as possible. Thus, we can place them in one of the drawers closest to the cooking area and even select the ones that we use the most in our day to day to put them in a container that we will put on the work table.

Organize kitchen cabinets

Since cabinets are usually larger than drawers, we tend to use them to store pots, pans, casseroles, bowls, food processors, and much more. To organize the kitchen properly, we can again make use of intelligent storage systems in order to optimize these spaces as much as possible. For these cabinets, we can acquire a removable system, with different departments that helps us to have these utensils well placed and without the need to stack them, a fact that could damage them. Tall cabinets without any shelves waste half of their capacity, which is why placing shelves inside kitchen cabinets is also a good option, as well as being economical.

As for the distribution, we recommend placing the kitchen utensils by frequency of use. The pots and pans that we use the most should be closer to the cupboard door, while the ones that are used the least can be left at the bottom of the cupboard. Likewise, the utensils that we are not used to using every day will have to be left in those cabinets that are farthest from the cooking or work area, so that the closest ones can pick up those objects that we do need on a daily basis.

How to organize the pantry?

Organizing the pantry is one of the most important tasks, since our efficiency when cooking depends on it. To do this, we can follow these tips:

• Organize products by type of food. Thus, place all the packages of pasta on the same shelf; put the preserves together, etc. In this way, it is much easier to find the food you need to cook.
• If your pantry is large or has several shelves, place the heaviest products, such as bottles of oil or drinks, on the lower ones, those you use less frequently on the upper ones, and those you use almost daily on the middle ones. We seek practicality and efficiency in order, which is why we advise at all times to give priority to things that are used most often.
• The foods that are closest to the expiration date, place them in frontto use them first. Those that you have recently bought or take longer to expire can be put in the background.
• Use hermetically sealed containers, especially to preserve the favorite foods of insects, such as flour, sugar, tea… Likewise, these jars are recommended for reserving all kinds of products, so they are also excellent for pasta, rice, legumes, cookies, etc. If they are not made of glass, do not forget to label them to indicate what product they keep inside.
• Pantry boxes or baskets help to store products and extract them much better in case you need something that is in the back of the cabinet. You can use them to store drinks, milk cartons and even foods such as potatoes, onions or fruit. Of course, if you want to reserve this type of product, it is important that the pantry does not have moisture.
• Since spicestend to be used a lot for cooking, we recommend placing them in the kitchen, in the same work area or close to it to keep them close at hand. Thus, if your pantry is in another space, you can always place a shelf in your kitchen that allows you to have the spices well organized, or allocate a drawer to store them.

Where to store fruits and vegetables?

You can store most fruits in the pantry as long as it is not a humid space, since it is not recommended to keep them in the refrigerator because they lose part of their properties.  Those that should be placed in the fridge are, generally, red fruits such as cherries, plums, blueberries and strawberries, as well as grapes, apricots, avocado and some varieties of tomato. Yes, the tomato is a fruit and in this other article we talk about it: “Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable? “.

On the other hand, vegetables are best kept in the refrigerator, but in less cold areas, such as drawers. Only some of them are advisable to reserve in the pantry, and those are the onions (unpeeled), the potatoes, the pumpkin, the peppers or the garlic. Of course, once these foods are cut, if we are not going to use the whole piece, we should keep the remaining piece in the fridge for better conservation.

Ideas to organize a small and simple kitchen

The truth is that all the tips that we have been sharing throughout the article are applicable to small kitchens, since to make better use of space it is essential to know how to get the most out of each of the elements that make up the kitchen. Anyway, here are 10 ideas to organize the kitchen:

1. Optimize the space by placing dividers or shelves.
2. Prefer electrical appliances integrated into the furniture to save that space.
3. Take advantage of the walls and place shelves or new cabinets.
4. Use containers to preserve food that are easy to store. The original packages or boxes tend to take up more space.
5. Distribute kitchen utensils by frequency of use. The most used closer to the work area.
6. Group foods by type of product and following the advice above.
7. Acquire extractable or extensible storage systems for the cabinets.
8. Place bars with hangers in the work area to be able to place the kitchen utensils that you use the most.
9. If you can, remove the kitchen door to prevent the wall from becoming useless.
10. Folding tables take up less space than fixed ones.