Guest Blog Post By: Jordan River

For many people, the kitchen is the heart of the home. It's the place where magical memories are made, where sweet treats are baked, tasty dishes are prepared, and the whole family comes together to eat and drink and share good times together.

However, it’s also a room that can easily become cluttered and messy with all the different utensils, appliances, and gadgets that people tend to pick up over the years. So, if you’re looking to get your kitchen in order, here are some super reorganization tips to try out.

Plan with Purpose in Mind

Before you get started on your big kitchen reorganization, it helps to have a plan of action. By planning things out with clear purposes and objectives, you should find it a lot easier to clean up your kitchen and transform it into the space you desire.

Try to divide the kitchen into “zones”. You could have a “baking zone”, for example, where you store all your baking essentials, and another zone for breakfast, with bowls and cereals. Compartmentalizing your kitchen in this way is a good first step to total organization.

Add a Tea and Coffee Station

coffee and tea station — Ketut Subiyanto

How many times do you head into the kitchen each day to make yourself a hot cup of joe or a soothing pot of tea? Most people enjoy these kinds of drinks several times a day, so it makes sense to have a dedicated area for preparing them.

Why not designate a part of your kitchen as the tea and coffee making space? You can keep all of your coffee beans and powders, as well as tea bags and leaves, mugs, spoons, and handy trays for transporting cups of coffee for family or friends in other rooms.

Go Creative with Pantry Organization

It's so handy to have a pantry. They're great spaces for storing all of those long-life food items and random kitchen utensils you might like to use throughout the year, from favorite cookie cutters to waffle makers, but many people fail to make the most of their pantry space.

Make your pantry count by using innovative storage solutions like over-door shelving, hidden drawers, boxes, and bags. This will allow you to use every last bit of the space for storage purposes.

Use Containers for Cereal and Small Items

Most homes have a few boxes of cereal and other snacks hanging around in the kitchen or pantry. Lots of people like to eat these treats, but it can be messy to have all those old boxes on your shelves, and cereal quickly goes stale if its left in the open air too long.

To help your cereal last longer and make the kitchen look neater, consider investing in some simple glass or plastic containers. You can pour the cereal in and out of them with ease and they look a lot classier on your kitchen shelves.

Invest in a Hanging Pot Rack

Pots and pans are other essential items in every kitchen, and you might have quite a few pots of all different sizes that you use for cooking up everything from pasta to rice to grandma's famous tomato sauce.

Unfortunately, pots take up a whole lot of cabinet space. If you’re looking for a more efficient way to store yours, consider a hanging rack. This lets you simply hang your pots up and grab them when you need them, and it can give your kitchen a little bit of old country charm, too.

Use Natural Light to Your Advantage

Light can have a huge impact on the look and feel of any room in the house, especially the kitchen. A light and airy kitchen feels welcoming and spacious, while a dark or dimly lit one can feel uninviting and bland.

Choose window treatments that help your kitchen benefit from lots of natural light. Even if you have small windows, some light blinds or shades can help to draw in the light in a chic and stylish way.

Make Your Kitchen Windowsill Work for You

It's easy to overlook certain elements of our kitchen, like the windowsill. You might even forget that the sill is there, never using it for anything. However, there are ways you can dress up and utilize windowsills.

You could add some decorative elements to the sill, for example, like potted plants or souvenirs from days gone by. This can be a pleasant way to make your kitchen feel more homely. Or you could even use the sill as storage for more useful items, like cookbooks or herbs.

Add a Functional Backsplash

Your kitchen probably already has a backsplash, which helps to protect the walls against splashes and sprays of the things you cook. However, your backsplash could be doing much more for you, and it can even be used for storage!

You can drill some holes into the backsplash and install a rail or rack to use for hanging pots and pans. Or, if you prefer to keep the backsplash in one piece, simply stick on some command hooks and hang items directly from those.

Use the Tops of Kitchen Cabinets

When you think about kitchen storage tips, you probably focus on kitchen cabinets. After all, they're the best place for storing everything from food to kitchen gadgets and small appliances. However, there’s one part of your kitchen cabinets you might be ignoring: the tops.

You probably put plenty of items inside the cabinets, but you might leave the tops completely empty. That’s a lot of storage space going to waste. Instead of leaving it bare, consider placing items on top of your cabinets, like appliances that you don’t use too often.

Don't Forget About a Fold-Down Table

If your kitchen is pretty small or an unusual shape, like an L-shape kitchen, you might not think you've got enough space for a table. But that's not necessarily true! A fold-down table might be just what you need to turn your kitchen into a kitchen/dining room without the need for a total renovation or major investment.

Fold-down or fold-away tables can be installed on walls or underneath a window, for example. When you want to use the table, you simply fold it out, and when you're done with dinner, you can fold it back against the wall to save space.

Use Kitchen Accessories as Decorations

Another fun idea to both make your kitchen more inviting while also making the most of the space you have is to utilize kitchen accessories and utensils as decorative items. This means that you won't be wasting space with items that have no functional purpose, while still being able to dress up your kitchen space.

Pots and pans hung on the walls can make the kitchen look more welcoming and warmer, and even colorful cutlery or designer appliances can improve the space. There are lots of ways to play around with this idea, and you can use your own favorite accessories however you like.

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I write about small space design and decorating, sustainable furniture options, positive self care and a variety of do-it-yourself home décor.

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Steal the Best Ideas from This Epic Kitchen Reorganization. — Courtney Smith

Jordan River is an experienced baker with a background in event management. She went into marketing and customer care, working with JB Cookie Cutters to educate and share her experience. She’s had her fair share of kitchen and cooking tools and knows exactly what works best and why.

Before she started writing, Jordan got a degree in marketing and communications. She is a mom of two, so when not writing, she loves cooking and testing new recipes, improvising in the kitchen, and creating unique things that turn into family events.

The opinions and views expressed in any guest blog post do not necessarily reflect those of Michael Helwig Interiors or its Principal, Michael Helwig. Michael Helwig Interiors, and Michael Helwig, do not have any affiliations with any products or services mentioned in the article or linked to therein. Guest Authors may have affiliations to products mentioned or linked to in their author bios.

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