STEP ONE, ORGANIZE YOUR KITCHEN

Happy new year!  Thank you for showing up here at Kitchens for Living where my new year's resolution is to continue to bring you the latest in products, trends and  kitchen related (mostly) tidbits as they cross  my path as a professional kitchen designer.  Whether you are planning a new kitchen, thinking about planning a new kitchen (someday) or just want to make the one you have better you're in the right place.  I am here to help as little or as much as you want!





Do you feel like these babies? Quite often we come to the conclusion that we need help when we realize how powerless and out of control our lives have become.  Well, guess what?  This happens in the kitchen too.  Do you want to have more time, less stress?  Organizing what you have in your kitchen is definitely a step in the right direction.  Here's how you can start.


DOWNSIZE


One of the number one trends for 2011 is downsizing in all aspects.  This includes not only your waistline but your schedule, your closet and yes, your kitchen.  Gone are the "McMansion" days.  Today we are learning about living smaller with quality instead of quantity.  The smaller the space the more each element counts and the more organization matters.  The Intuitive Kitchen philosophy agrees with 19th century creative William Morris who said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

The Not So Big Life by Sarah Susanka

One of my favorite books about downsizing, prioritizing and organizing your life is Susan Susanka's The Not so Big Life.  She uses the metaphor of a house and its architecture and interior to show us a different way of looking at how we live.  She's actually written a whole series on this theme but this is the one I know.


SITUATE WHAT YOU HAVE


Now that you're down to the nitty gritty, the point is to store it so we can see it.  This is necessary for the items we use on a daily basis.  There is also what I call remote storage, or the hard to reach or up high areas which are ideal for storing seasonal items.  The biggest organizational day to day kitchen challenges are pots and pans, especially the lids, (according to my clients), spices, tupperware and cutlery.  Today we'll start with  solutions for pots and pans.


POTS & PANS


First of all don't Google "POT STORAGE". I did. It serves me right.






Seriously, you can easily get into a fight with your kitchen cabinets over pots.  I like to store mine in a deep drawer.  I keep the flat pans under the range but I love tray dividers or vertical partitions for storing cookie sheets, pizza pans, cutting boards and serving platters.  This type of cabinet can be located over a wall oven or better yet it's the best solution for a small base cabinet.

Wasted space becomes practical and beautiful pot & pan storage

If you thought the space over your windows was wasted, think again.  An over-the window-hanging-pot-rack can be convenient adding visual interest at the same time.

A Blind Corner Base sees the light with a LeMans storage system by Hafele USA used for pots!

Now a word about those lids.  They do make door racks to hold them but my favorite solution is this nifty chrome rack that fits in an upper cabinet or in a deep drawer.  It's great for the lids or other items and you can get one at  organize-it.com for $9.99

Lid storage and more from organize-it.com

So now you have some idea how to stash your pot pots for easy access.  Next post we'll organize your herb spices and cutlery.  ALSO COMING UP IS A GIVEAWAY! Yes Kitchens for Living is going to give one lucky winner some kitchen love!!  (I'm not really a pot head.  It was just funny so I had to run with it.)