Effective organisation and maintaining order are skills to be mastered, especially in the kitchen. A well-thought-out system facilitates faster workflows, enhances the joy of cooking, and ultimately saves time when tidying up. Here are some practical tips for bringing structure to your kitchen.
The kitchen is a space that particularly benefits from thorough organisation. Here, we cook, prepare, and store — often in a limited area. If the kitchen sinks into chaos, it’s not just a strain on your nerves; the endless search for specific food items and rummaging for kitchen tools can be a significant waste of time. Time that would be better spent enjoying meals with loved ones. A well-organised kitchen can indeed save quite a bit of time. With our tips and a little effort, supplies, spices, and dishes can find their proper place, ensuring long-term storage solutions and order in your kitchen.
Assess and Declutter Kitchen Contents Before you can truly start sorting and organising, decluttering is the first step. If you want a clear overview of the status quo in the kitchen, you need to empty cabinets and drawers on a large scale. What do you own, what supplies have you accumulated, which food items have expired? Broken kitchen tools can go, and duplicates or unnecessary items can be donated or given away, with old food being disposed of. Once thoroughly cleaned, you can then rearrange your kitchen cabinets, drawers, and fridge.
Order Is Paramount: Perfect Organisation in the Kitchen Having essential kitchen utensils within easy reach is crucial. But how? The most important rule in kitchen organisation is to sort items by frequency of use. Meaning, everything you use daily should be easily accessible. Cutlery, dishes, pots and pans, glasses, dish rack and cups used for daily meals must be at the front of the shelf and readily available. Depending on your routine, daily-use appliances should also occupy front-row positions. Tools and devices that are seldom used can move to the back or the very top. These might include the fondue pot, waffle iron, or special occasion silverware.
The same principle applies to food and supplies: sort them by frequency of use and also by expiration date. If you store many canned goods or always have several litres of milk, place the items that will expire soonest at the front. Pay attention to this when adding newly purchased products to your supplies. This way, you ensure that items are used before they must be thrown out, reducing food waste.
For dry foods like pasta, rice, lentils, or nuts, we recommend transparent containers or decorative jars instead of various opened packages — this way, you can see the contents at a glance and store your items in an airtight, flavour-preserving manner. You can do the same with spices. Uniform containers also provide a cleaner look and more clarity in the cabinet. Things that catch the eye, are easily reachable, and nicely arranged are simply used more often. For even better organisation, you can label the boxes and jars, for instance, with a labelling device, attractive stickers, or a permanent marker.
Organising Drawers and Kitchen Cabinets To have everything for daily use at hand and to store the rest of the household items smartly in drawers and kitchen cabinets, there are so-called organising aids. These small helpers are designed to save space as well as aid in maintaining clarity and ease of handling in the kitchen. Various kitchen manufacturers have tackled the topic of “organising the kitchen” and offer functional and stylish drawer inserts, pull-out trays, or flexible storage systems for their kitchens.
Becoming more adaptable involves organising aids and life hacks that can be integrated into any kitchen:
- Cabinet organisers and drawer dividers for all sizes and depths
- Spice carousels or rotating trays for spices and oils
- Cookware organisers
- Pan stands and pot lid holders
- Extendable drawer inserts
- Rotating pull-outs for corner cabinets
- Plate racks or stands for various plate sizes
- Baking sheet holders or recessed shelves at baking sheet height
- Large vase or attractive container for cooking spoons, spatulas, etc.
- Magnetic strips for knives
Fundamental Rule: Everything Has Its Place Another important principle in organising the kitchen is that everything gets its designated, permanent place. Meaning, knives belong in the knife block, rubber bands in the (organised) junk drawer, and cleaning supplies under the sink — and that’s where they should be returned immediately after use. Reusable bags, plastic bags, etc., can be nested or placed in a bag collector for a permanent spot. Applying and consistently following this principle saves time spent on tedious tidying and rewards you with more free time for life’s pleasures.
Establish and Maintain Zones The final touch in kitchen organisation is creating thematic zones. A few examples: spices and oils are stored near the cooker because they need to be quickly at hand while cooking; cooking utensils and cutting knives are close to the work surface; tea and coffee ideally are near the kettle and coffee machine. In the so-called wet zone, i.e., near the sink and dishwasher, the bin should also be located, as food remnants are disposed of here. Cleaning agents belong in a cabinet near the sink — preferably on a drip tray to protect the cabinet floor from moisture.
This way, each zone in the kitchen has its specific purpose, simplifying workflows and saving valuable time that might otherwise be wasted running back and forth. Once these zones are set, maintaining them is critical. Otherwise, the kitchen will quickly revert to chaos.
To sum up, the organisation is not rocket science, but it requires a little discipline and consistency. However, the effort pays off: with an organised kitchen, you save time, reduce stress, and can devote more time to the joy of cooking and eating together. With our practical tips and the right aids, you’ll soon have everything in its place — for more order in your kitchen and your head!
