Three steps to an organized kitchen

The kitchen is the hub of the home, the place where family and friends congregate more than anywhere else. But because of the heavy traffic in the kitchen, it easily gets cluttered and becomes disorganized.

Think about how we often enter the kitchen: from the garage, at the end of the day. So, it's easy to dump briefcases and grocery bags and mail on the island or counter … or floor. The kitchen as point-of-entry is one of the biggest contributors to disorganization, according to professional organizer Regina Leeds, author of “Rightsize … Right Now!: The 8-Week Plan to Organize, Declutter, and Make Any Move Stress-Free” (Da Capo, 2015).

An organized kitchen offers many benefits, efficiency being one of the biggest-impact ones, Leeds says. Think having your cooking tools in the appropriate accessible spot, or just having your ingredients stored in the right spot. How many times have you not been able to find an herb and then re-bought it?

More importantly, though, kitchen organization will improve kitchen safety, says Molly McCabe, a kitchen designer and owner of A Kitchen That Works in Bainbridge Island, Washington. A disorganized kitchen can lead to an unsafe kitchen.

For example, if the countertop near the oven is cluttered and has no space, you need to walk several steps to put down hot items, which is not safe.

Follow these three simple steps to make your kitchen organized, efficient and safe:

1. Pinpoint the high-use areas

The first step to an organized kitchen is to do a personal assessment. What kind of person are you, and how do you use your kitchen? Are you a baker? Do you use the microwave much more than a stove? Do you need a huge pantry to feed a large family?

Kitchen organization starts from examining your kitchen style and tweaking the layout and arrangement based on that. For example, in a coffee lover's house, a coffee machine is a daily-use item that is reasonable to have accessible on the countertop. But if you don't drink coffee or use your toaster daily, there's no need to have those appliances out, Leeds says.

2. Discard no-use items

The next step is to say goodbye to all the items you don't use, whether they're old, broken or you just don't have a use for them.

Because people don't want to be wasteful, they keep broken items with a promise that one day they'll fix it, Leeds says. In reality though, broken and old appliances end their life in the corner of a kitchen cabinet wasting precious space, which is how homeowners come to find two nonworking food processors in their home.

The key is to realize space is as important as time and money. Don't let the old and broken items take up prime real estate in your kitchen storage.

To decide what to discard, check these advices. If you use them, they're worth keeping. If you have multiples, keep only the one that works best, says Leeds.

For items still in good condition that you simply do not need anymore, Leeds suggests donating to your favorite charity, trying to give them away or selling online.

3. Rearrange for an efficient kitchen

Before diving into rearranging the kitchen, also get rid of items that do not belong in a kitchen: mail, school papers and bills are among things appropriately filed away in a home office — not the kitchen.

A simple way to do kitchen reorganization is by categorization, according to Leeds. She suggests thinking of your kitchens in terms of zones, such as prep, cooking/baking and storage. Keep related items close to save time and steps. For example, mixing bowls and measuring spoons for your homemade cake should be placed together in the baking zone, not mingling with unrelated utensils in a drawer.

Another rule is to sort items according to how often you use them. If you use a turkey roaster annually on Thanksgiving Day, keep it in the garage, basement or in the dead space above the refrigerator, not in main kitchen storage space.

In addition, think more about ergonomic arrangement. For example, McCabe suggests putting dishes in lower drawers, not the upper cupboards, so that they're more easily accessible for children who maybe be helping out in the kitchen as part of their chores. This also helps them get involved in the organization process.

Here are some more go-to storage solutions for clutter-prone items:

Dishes

Keep holiday china in storage, not in the kitchen cupboards. The corner shelf is good for storing everyday dishes, Leeds suggests.

Tupperware

The key is to match lids and bottoms periodically, Leeds says. Keep the lids and bottoms separate but as close as possible, if you have the space, but if not, stack the bottoms and put the lids on top of that.

Spices

Do not buy your herbs and spices in bulk size unless you plan to use it within six months. Use a spice rack in the drawer or hang under the cabinet so it's accessible when you prep. Keep spices away from the range, however, because heat can reduce their efficacy.

Pots and pans

The best is to keep lids on the pots and pans. If you don't have enough space, try hanging them or keeping lids corralled using lid organizer or lid holder, Leeds suggests.

Cookbooks/recipes

Keep only your favorite, most-used cookbooks on the countertop, Leeds says. Or you can take advantage of digital device such as tablet PC or smartphone by scanning loose recipes.