How to Optimize your Kitchen in a Smart Way

You might have the best kitchen, but if your storage unit or pantry is in disorder most of the time, then optimising it first would be a wise thing to do. Here are a few simple steps to the perfectly organised pantry that some just dream of and a kitchen inspiration for others. 

1. Revisit your cabinets and make a list of everything you have: Re-arranging your kitchen storage takes a lot of time and effort hence going step by step is an ideal thing to do. Start by taking up each cabinet at a time and check whether it is in disorder. If you think it needs re-arranging then go through each item thoroughly and make a list of the items. Group similar items and arrange them accordingly. If you’re not sure how to arrange then we have some simple tips below for grouping items. As a rule of thumb, discard items that are not used frequently, especially things you’ve forgotten you even have. If you’re unsure whether you should retain something, keep it aside until the very end and then decide if you still need it. And of course, this is obviously the best time to clean everything in there. 

2. Group like items: Going by the Gestalt laws of similarity, when objects look similar to one another people often perceive them as a group or pattern. Likewise following the same method when it comes to kitchen optimisation is a wise thing to do. Once you’ve emptied your cabinets and drawers, assort items based on their zones or group for easy accessibility.You can group things based on purpose, usage or food. Shopping malls or supermarkets are best examples of how they store similar items. Below is a table that will give you the simplest way to group items in your kitchen.

Food Storage	Cookware	Tableware	Bakeware	Beverage	Appliances
Spices	Pans and pots	Serving Dishes	Baking Moulds & Trays	Kettles	Mixer Grinders
Oil & vinegar	Pressure Cookers	Dinner Sets	Baking soda & essence	Juicers	Microwave Ovens
Pickles, jam & sauces	Tawas, Kadai & Woks	Glasses	Bread & Loaf Tins	Coffee & tea makers	Toaster
Sugar, salt, pepper	Knives & Choppers	Cutlery	Baking Dishes	Coffee Mugs & Tea Cups	Barbeque Grills
Vegetables	Chopping Boards	Lunch Boxes	Baking Tools	Jugs & Pitchers	Roti Makers
Cereals & pulses	Graters, slicers & Peelers	Spoons, forks, chopsticks,	Whiskers & beaters	Flasks & Casseroles, Containers & Bottles	Sandwich Makers
Canned food	Colanders & Strainers	Fruits	Baking Pans & Bowls	Bar & Glassware	Rice Cookers & Steamers
Grains	Spatulas, Tongs		Baking Tools	Cocktail Shakers & Bottle Openers
Flour, rice, pasta	Cookbook		Cake Stands  Cupcake & Muffin Pans	Wine Accessory Sets

Arrange your food items and appliances efficiently.
Topmost	Top	Below the Counter-top	Mid way	Bottom
Cookbooks	Canned food	Spoons, forks, knives	Flour, rice	Pots and pans
Occasional dishes	Sauces, pickles, jams, Mayonnaise.	Stainers and colanders	Vegetables	Electrical appliances
Holiday dishes	Dishware	Graters & Peelers	Pastas, noodles, soup	Pet food
Stocked items of coffee, tea, napkins.	Glasses	Chopping Boards		Cleaning Supplies
Snack items	Spices	Coffee and tea items	Baking items	Large utensils
Tupperwares	Sugar, salt, pepper	Napkins & gloves	Pulses
Empty plastic bins or unused vessels	Oils and vinegars		Cereals, oatmeal

3. Organize items based on proximity: Closer to the area of your activity the better. Keep dishes, glasses, and silverware close to the dishwasher for a quick and easy put away. Group cooking items and baking items together and keep these located close to the stove. Store cutlery in a drawer near the stove, where you can reach whenever you need them. Keep larger kitchen appliances located in the cabinets on either side of the stove and most of the cookbooks stored in the cabinet overhead. Keep the dustbin located below the worktop so that the waste can easily go in to the pullout trash can and serve an easy clean up. This way you can work towards top depending on frequency of use with everyday dishes on an easy-to-reach lower shelf and special-occasion pieces up above.

4. Group by accessibility: Out of sight is out of mind when it comes to food storage. Make sure you keep all items that you use most or daily at the forefront for easy access and those that you use rarely on a higher shelf. Store spices, salt, pepper, sugar, canned items, dry fruits and vegetables, spoons, spatula, knives in a pull out drawer so that you can access them frequently. Keep common universal ingredients and food that you regularly (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) close to the stove. Keep the lesser important or infrequently used items like trays, special occasion food items, special occasion dishes, holiday dishes, dish washing and napkin stock on top. This way you are optimizing all of the space while still keeping your items easily accessible. 

5. Arrange in terms of weight: You can keep light weighted items on the top drawers and heavy items at the bottom.  Of course, you don’t have to worry if you have a Nolte kitchen because; the cabinets and drawers are designed in such a way that they can withstand weight upto 180 kgs. 

6. At a glimpse organisation: It is essential to have all items at a glimpse as it will make you easier to function and have access to things in a jiffy. It is advisable to put all items- spices, sugar, salt, flour, pulses, grains and the like in a see through container or glass jars to give you  a quick visual of how much of any one item is left so that you can stock up on a timely basis instead of checking for the ingredient in the eleventh hour. Likewise, having dishes or ingredients in view makes it easy for guests, friends, family members who wish to cook, to help out with food prep and find dishes to serve themselves. 

7. Labeling your items: If you can’t see what you’re storing and end up buying the same item when it’s already in your cabinet, then you’re having an unorganised storage of items. The best practice to stay organised is to group items based on their similarity and label the items in your storage units. This is convenient to anyone who stays in the house and helps them find what they are looking for and know where things go when they are put away. Label each compartment or drawer to make it easy to put things where they belong.

8. Use matching containers: You can use bins and baskets in cabinets to save space and also for a uniform look. You can organise based on colour or look, so that you can recall while looking for an item. 

9. Use vertical storage: The large capacity pull out vertical cabinet provides lot of space for bottles crates, wine bottles, food items, spoons, and cups. No space is wasted with tall pullouts and drawers and shelves of varying sizes which allow for a variety of food storage needs.

10. Divided Drawers also aid in organisation: Save time looking for cooking utensils with a well-organised drawer. Drawer organizers keep cutlery neatly separated, so you never have to rummage around for what you need.

11. Organising pots and pans: Keep pots and pans in order in a deep drawer under a cook top. Store pots on the lower level and lids above.Instead of piling pots in the back of the cabinet, store them in shallow pull out drawers within your reach.

12. Corner Cabinet Solution: Get the most out of corner cabinets that is designed without a centre pole to maximize your storage capacity.The drawers run diagonally into the corner, which makes them deeper than most and therefore lets them pack a bigger storage punch. Besides, the corner cabinets are functional as well as ideal for stacking utensils or gadgets that are large in size and let you store these items without having the look of a de-cluttered kitchen.

13. Make your Island a storage niche: If you have an island with storage cabinets then you just got yourself a bonus space to store your items. Large islands are the ideal space for storing coffee and tea items, pet feeding items, cooking utensils, dishes and the like. Your island can house bottles of wine in a functional design without distracting from the kitchen's overall look. An island acts as a means of concealing your storage from your guests and family and makes it look functional and stylish.

14. Store Containers and Lids Together: Discard containers without lids, and store the remaining containers either with the lids on them, or store the lids in another larger container so they all stay together. Do the same with the lids for your pots and pans. A large clear plastic box will keep them nicely together and on their sides. 

15. Avoid storing any food items on the floor or lower cabinets: Food items located on the floor space makes it much harder to clean the floor and as well as you need to bend down every time for food prep. Besides, you can store pet food and cleaning supplies. 

16. Follow last in, old out rule: This means that you use up the food item which is opened first. And you keep the latest or last shopped item at the back. This prevents old items sitting on the shelf for a long time and only to notice that the item is expired and to be thrown it to the waste. This is especially important for canned food, boxed food or perishable food like flour, sauces, pickles and spices. Therefore, this method makes sure you always use up the older food first and approach to the new ones when the old ones are out of stock. 

17. Printable chart of pantry items: Every week, go into your pantry and do a check of the item quantity you have. This can be made simpler, if you draw a chart of 5 columns with the headings Name of food items, Storage or expiry date, Packaging (opened or unopened), Quantity (kgs/gms) and the last one for Due (when you like to purchase new). This list will give you an estimation of time or days your items or stock will last, when you need to keep another same item ready and prevents you from searching for an item at the last moment.  Save all trouble by printing this handy chart and pinning it on your board or refrigerator or wall. 

18. Make sure you follow 80/20 rule in the kitchen: Fewer items on the counter-tops and all food and equipment items tucked in your cabinets and drawers. 

Once you follow the above steps and keep your kitchen de-cluttered, you’ll have a clear counter-top as well as a neat and beautiful looking kitchen.