Small Changes That Will Make Your Kitchen Easier to Use

If you love cooking but feel overwhelmed by clutter, these easy kitchen organization tips will completely change the way your space works-no renovation required.

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love to cook. I mean, I LOVE it. It's a chance to wind down and get creative, and at the end, there's something to eat. It doesn't get any better than that. 

The thing is, though, cooking in a cramped and/or cluttered space is anything but fun, and the only chance you get to be creative is when you're trying to figure out how to get to the muffin tin without bowls and cups falling on your head because the cupboards are overflowing with stuff. For far too many people, cooking is a chore simply because of their kitchen. 

And it goes something like this: move the fruit bowl to chop the onion. Then, crouch down and dig through pots and pans to get to the one you need. In the process, you knock over several lids and saucers. You get back up, and your kid has knocked down the fruit bowl you moved because it was in their way, and you can't even blame them because you left it at the edge of the counter. It's a nightmare, isn't it? Let me show you how to fix this mess without a renovation.

Simple Changes That Make Cleaning and Cooking Much Easier

Here are some things that I'm sure will make a huge difference in your kitchen.

Don't Let Your Counters Do All the Work

Repeat after me: counters ARE NOT storage. They just aren't.

That doesn't mean you can't keep your stand mixer in the corner, but don't keep half the kitchen on them because every time you need to cook, you'll have to work around all of that. 

Ask me how I know. 

Clutter is stressful no matter where it is, but in a kitchen, it's an even bigger problem. If your counters are cluttered, you have no space for preparing food, and you can't enjoy cooking.

So, ask yourself what you truly need every single day. If you need the toaster and the coffee machine every morning, it makes sense to leave them out. 

But everything else goes in the cabinets and drawers.

Keep the Things You Use Every Day Close

This kind of ties in with my previous advice. Aside from appliances, you should keep pretty much everything you need at arm's reach.

I've got a great example for this:

I noticed I used to walk to the other side of the kitchen all the time just for olive oil. That's not that big of a deal, but it broke my focus every single time, and there were a million other tiny things just like this.

So I switched things up and created 2 zones: the cooking zone and the prep zone. 

The cooking zone is around the stove, and the prep zone is on the counter, where I've also placed the utensils I use the most, as well as the salt and the spice rack. 

Now everything is close by.

Think About What You Put in the Cabinets

Is every cabinet a catch-all? Because it shouldn't be. 

If it belongs in the kitchen, then it can live in the cabinet. If not, then out it goes. There's no reason why you should stuff your cabinets with things you don't use or things you never use. I had a phase where I loved making homemade bread, so I had a bread machine in the kitchen. That bread machine stayed there until way after my phase was over, and it was just taking up space.

My rule is, if I use it every week, it stays in the kitchen, and storage takes care of the rest. 

There are some great portable self storage units you can get, and I'd recommend looking into them ASAP.

Drawers Get Messy Surprisingly Fast

Drawers are sneaky. 

It's so easy to toss things in them, but they get messy super quickly, and you don't notice it because they stay closed for most of the time. The problem isn't that you have too much stuff, but that you have no system.

Go to your local Dollar Tree and pick up drawer dividers. They're cheap, easy to get, and they make all the difference. 

Once you have them, separate everything by function.

Have One Spot That Always Stays Clear

If you try to keep your entire kitchen immaculate 24/7, you'll put too much pressure on yourself, and you still won't keep your kitchen squeaky clean at all times. 

It's simply NOT sustainable. 

So instead of doing that, pick a spot that's always clean. For me, that's the section between the stove and the sink, and I leave NOTHING there. No email, no keys, no appliance I used that morning. 

That one spot is clear, and every time I need to cook, I know I have a prep space to count on.

Conclusion

If you have the time, the money, and most importantly, the willpower to renovate your kitchen, go ahead. Good for you. But most people won't want to do that, which is why I figured these little pieces of advice are worth sharing.

You'll be surprised at how much less stressed you are after a couple of these changes, so pick one thing, see how well it works, and then go from there. 

Because I promise you, it'll work.