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Kitchen Organizing Tips

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Kitchen Organizing Tips. To get the most out of this busy room, start by considering all the activities your family does there, and organizing the space to make room for those activities.

Seems obvious, doesn't it?

But most often we just put things away in the closest place that we can find at the time, without giving it a second thought.

So - think about it.

What are your garnishing tools doing in the top drawer on the cooking island?

How often do you use those things?

Kitchen organizing tips.

Shouldn't they be at the back of the bottom drawer with the cake decorating tips?

And where is the paring knife you use every day?

Consider organizing this busy room into 7 activity centers to ensure time there is well spent.

1. A coming-home center.

As we come in the door each afternoon, we bring with us kid stuff, grown-up stuff, even pet stuff - but without a specially created place to stash all this stuff, even the tidiest of homes gets disorganized - fast.

Control coming-home chaos by creating a coming home center for your family.

2. A communications center.

Was there an orthodontist appointment today? An extra hockey practice placed on your computer calendar that somehow you forgot to view today?

Minimize miscommunication regarding each family member's schedules and commitments by creating a family communication center that put everyone's daily commitments front and center.

3. A cooking center.

Getting dinner ready each night is time-consuming enough - why add to it by having your cooking and baking items in different cabinets and cupboards?

Get it all together by creating areas in your kitchen for each type of cooking and baking you regularly do.

4. A food storage center.

Few things are more frustrating than buying the ketchup you thought you needed at the grocery store, only to discover, upon bringing it home, that you already have two unopened bottles.

Organizing like foods in the same area cuts down on unneeded bottles of ketchup (unnecessary expenses) and simply makes life run smoother.

5. A pet-feeding center.

Makes sense to feed the pet in the same place the family chows down, right?

But pet bowls (not to mention the less-than-fragrant canned foods we put inside) can be less-than appetizing for two-legged residents.

Here's how to create a place for pets without displacing the family's appetite.

6. A recycling center.

Sure, the trash has a stash place. But what about the items to be recycled?

Create a place for recyclables in your kitchen to ensure you do your part for the environment.

7. A study hall.

Kids need to study after school; we need to get dinner started.

These two goals don't have to compete for your attention if you organize your kitchen in a way that allows both to occur simultaneously.


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About the Author

Tara Aronson is a native Californian. Having grown up in San Diego, she studied journalism and Spanish to pursue a career in newspaper writing. Tara, whose three children - Chris, Lyndsay, and Payne - are the light of her life, now lives and writes in Los Angeles. She also regularly appears on television news programs throughout the U.S.