Simplifying Your Kitchen

Does it seem like your clutter is overtaking your life? I've been there- in fact, I still am sometimes! This is the first post in my Simplifying Home series, a part of the Keep It Simple series. I will take you through a different room or section of your house each week, sharing some ideas on how to simplify the space so you can enjoy it more.
The kitchen is one of the spots in our home that gets the most use, and the most notice from other people. The kitchen is the heart of the home- and one of the least appealing places to clean. Dirty dishes, spills, garbage bags, and stuck on gunk in your pots and pans… this does not exactly scream having a good time. Unfortunately, the way your kitchen goes is often how the rest of the house follows, and no-one ever promised that cleaning up was fun. Even more importantly, the kitchen is the one spot you are always bringing more stuff into- you have to eat, right? Here are some of my tips to simplify your kitchen.

1. Make an inventory list. This sounds ridiculous- but sometimes more work does make for less work. More work now means less work later. Take an inventory of your fridge, freezer, and pantry areas. This is a great help when meal planning, and writing a shopping list. Also, this can help if you have trouble using up foods before they go bad. Write in things as soon as you bring them home, and then you can fit in the perishables into your meal plan.
2. As far as cleaning- follow the Flylady system of shining you sink. Keep up on dishes throughout the day, and clean the sink area before you go to bed- fully! Make sure all the pots are cleaned, and wipe out your sink. This will vastly improve your mornings. Trust me, I know this personally.
3. This sounds too basic: make sure there's a spot for everything. All of your pots, baking dishes, and utensils are so much easier to find when they're always put back in the same place. Also, make sure you don't have too many repeats: no-one needs three wooden spoons or sets of measuring cups!
4. Don't keep too many odd ingredients around. If you don't use one thing more than a few times a year, consider not having it around.

I hope these tips can help make your kitchen a simpler place. Check out a connecting post at Authentic Homemade on Simplifying Your Home Cookbook. And come back next week for another Simplifying Home post with cleaning tips.

I am happy to share this at Works For Me Wednesday.