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Household: User-Friendly Kitchen




Source of Recipe


Paula Deen


Recipe Introduction


A lot of traffic flows through this important room -- parents, kids, grandparents, neighbors, guests, and caretakers -- so making it user-friendly for everyone is essential. The following strategies will help you organize your kitchen for maximum efficiency.
* * *

• Schedule a block of time to get daily chores done.
If you don't have a few free hours on the horizon, grab small blocks of "free" time here and there. You'll be surprised how much you can accomplish in five, ten, or fifteen minutes.


• Throw away and give away as much as possible.
Be ruthless with things like dilapidated aluminum pans, grocery sacks, and those plastic take-out containers that seem to multiply like rabbits in your cabinets.


• Store items close to the place they are used most often.
Instead of thinking, "Where can I store this?" ask yourself, "Where do I use this?" Strive for one-motion storage.


• Allocate your most accessible space to the things you use most often.
Shelves between eye and waist level are prime storage areas in your kitchen. So don't store your crêpe pan, which you use infrequently, in front of your saucepans, which you use daily.


• Make finding as easy as storing.
Use only clear-glass or plastic containers for storing food in your pantry or refrigerator so you can always keep an eye on what you're saving.


• Give every item in the kitchen a home.
When considering buying something new, be it a set of new dishes or a pasta maker, decide where you'll keep it before you bring it home.


• Create work centers.
Think of your kitchen in terms of the tasks you perform there (chopping, baking, lunch making, etc.), and arrange the workstations accordingly.



Use Organizing Tools to Maximize Space in Cabinets and Drawers:

• Use plastic bins or sliding wire baskets to store items in the dead space under your sink.

• Hang a towel rack on the inside of the cabinet door under your sink for storing dishrags and gloves.

• Hang an organizer inside a cabinet or pantry door for aluminum foil, plastic wrap and bags.

• Use silverware organizers - not only for your eating and serving utensils - but also for organizing a junk drawer.

• Use stair-step spice racks to help you see at a glance what you have on hand.

• Use vertical dividers in a lower cabinet close to the oven to store cookie sheets.

• Attach small brochure racks (available at office supply stores) to the inside of cabinet doors for sauces and mixes in small packages.