Welcome To The Shakin 'N Bakin Blog!

Welcome to my blog! I love to cook and bake for my family. I hope you enjoy the recipes, foodie reviews, foodie giveaways and cooking tips posted on my blog.

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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Kitchen Storage & Organization Ideas!

When it comes to kitchen storage space we could all use more! Being organized in the kitchen saves you precious time and money which allows you more time to do "other" things. I have put together a list of ideas to help you get better organized in the kitchen.

#1. Storing Spices Put fresh spices in airtight bottles with labels indicating what they are and their expiration date. Store both fresh and store bought spices in a cool, dry and dark place to keep them fresher, longer.

#2. Wine Storage Wine should be stored in a cool, dry and dark place. Store your wine on its side so that the cork stays wet. You can buy wine racks just for this purpose. I prefer the wall mountable style which I have inside my pantry closet.

#3. Recipe Storage Can't find your favorite recipe card? If so, then its time to get organized! There are many different ways to organize them depending on your needs. A. Computer Software programs will help you store & organize all of your favorite recipes either on your hard drive or on a disk. B. Specially made recipe albums which are similar to photograph albums. C. You can also make your very own Recipe Scrapbook! Check out your favorite scrapbooking store for food themed supplies. D. The old fashioned recipe card box. These can be stored easily on a shelf or in your cabinet.

#4. Bowl Lid Storage To keep all of your bowl lids organized, install a horizontal plate rack inside a large kitchen cabinet or on a wall. Your lids will slide in and out just like a plate. They will be easily available and organized saving you valuable space and time in the kitchen!

#5. Freezer Organization Buy air tight and liquid tight plastic containers that are modular in design which allows for more stackability which saves on freezer space. Label all containers with the name of the contents and the expiration date. Money Saving Strategy: Buy high quality plastic products that are made for freezer use that can be reused. Stay away for cheap disposable products. Using containers that are specifically made for freezer use will save you money over time and keep your food safe from odors and freezer burn.

#6. Bag and Wrap Organization Get those long and bulky boxes out of your kitchen drawers where they take up too much valuable space. You can purchase vertical slider box holders that attach to the inside of your cabinet doors. Each slider box will hold one box of wrap or bags. Depending on your cabinet door size, you should be able to attach 3-5 box holders.

#7. Coffee Mugs and Tea Cup Storage Most coffee mugs and tea cups don't stack so you loose a lot of cabinet space. The best way to store them is by installing cup hooks under your cabinets or inside the cabinet wall if you have large and tall kitchen cabinets. A great way to use up "head space" in cabinets.

#8. Knife Storage There are two safe ways to store and organize all of your kitchen knives. Choose the one that best suits your kitchen and your cooking habits. A. Wooden knife storage blocks can be wall mounted or mounted underneath a kitchen cabinet. B. Wall mountable magnetic knife holder. Your knives stay put via a magnetized holder. Keep all knives out of the reach of children. Storing knives loosely in a kitchen drawer is dangerous for both children and adults.

#9. Take-out Restaurant Menu's The best way to store all of your favorite Take-out restaurant menu's is in a photo-style album or a 3-ring binder. We keep ours alphabetized and in a 3-ring binder that is kept in our pantry closet on a shelf with our cookbooks.

#10. Misc. Kitchen Paper Storage The best way to store all of that miscellaneous kitchen paper is to purchase a compact cork memo board. You can store all of your receipts, memo pads, shopping lists, coupons and other things on the cork memo board. Make sure you add a calendar!

#11. Small Kitchen Gadget Storage & Organization Attach a heavy duty long magnetic strip to the inside of one of your kitchen cabinet doors. This is a great way to store: cake testers, bottle openers, metal skewers, kitchen shears/scissors, meat thermometers, etc. Anything that is metal can stick to the magnetic strip saving you valuable drawer space!

#12. Pantry Organization Store all of your dry goods in airtight modular stackable containers and all of your liquids in liquid-tight and airtight containers. Label all of your containers with food contents and expiration dates. Attach plastic or rubber coated wire racks to the inside of the pantry door to store spices, condiments, oils, salad dressings, etc. Attach 1-2 plastic wall mountable bins to the inside of your pantry wall to store and organize all of your seasoning packets, beverage mix packets, dip and marinade packets etc. You can also buy one of those hanging plastic clear window shoe storage organizers and wall mount it in your pantry closet to hold your packets and bulky kitchen gadgets to save on storage space.

#13. Kitchen Trash Organization Buy yourself a triple compartment plastic garbage can. You can separate your wet garbage from dry garbage, glass from plastic, recyclable paper products from non-recyclables easily. Purchase one that is "lidded" to keep odors to a minimum. Heavy duty plastic models are easy to clean with an outdoor garden hose.

#14. Misc. Kitchen Drawer Storage Line one of your kitchen drawers with little clear plastic bins to organize and store all of your small kitchen essentials such as: mini chip clips, clothes pins, rubber bands, container labels, corncob holders, toothpicks, twistie-ties, small measuring spoons, scoops and other miscellaneous small items.

#15. Above Sink Organization/Storage Purchase a dual wall mountable soap dispenser like the kind you see in the bathroom that are normally used for hair shampoo and conditioners. These are great mounted above the kitchen sink with hand washing antibacterial soap and hand lotion!

#16. Store Shopping List Organization Go through all of your kitchen cabinets, pantry, refrigerator, freezer, laundry room etc. Make a list of all products that your household uses regularly. Type up copies and print out several. Attach one to the front of your refrigerator or kitchen memo board. As you start running low on products on your shopping list, check them off. Then when you are ready to head out to do your grocery shopping your shopping list will primarily be done!

We all like to get in and out of our kitchens! Get organized for the New Year!

2 comments:

Chris said...

Awesome organization tips Shelly!
Thanks for sharing~

Laura said...

Great ideas, Shelly! I like how most of the tips not only help a person get organized but also allow maximum use of a space - such as hanging coffee mugs in the extra headspace room of cabinets.