Errol and I get an lot of newsletters in our email inboxes, and sometimes we’re so busy that it’s difficult to keep up with reading all of them — even if they’re packed with great information. One of the e-newsletters I routinely receive is from Isabella “Izzy” Libmann, owner of IzzyFit Personal Training in Evanston (for those of you not in Chicago, Evanston is a suburb about twelve miles north of downtown Chicago). One of Izzy’s articles in her recent e-newsletter was a guest post by professional organizer Cindy Levitt about how to organize your kitchen for optimal health and wellness.
Now, this was something I thought I knew about, but after reading the article, I realized how simple some of her suggestions were. According to Cindy, not only does organizing your kitchen space make things less cluttered and easier to find, but it actually creates a more nourishing space to prepare meals and support your health and wellness goals. We loved the article so much we thought we’d devote a bit of space in this week’s blog to some of Cindy’s suggestions, as well as others that we’ve found:
Get Rid of Some, and Sort All: According to Cindy, this is the first step of kitchen organization. In order to make it as simple of a space to live in as possible, you’re going to have to get rid of some stuff, and the way you do that is by cleaning each individual drawer, cabinet, and shelf and take an honest look at what’s inside. She actually advises setting a timer to keep you on track and to make sure you don’t “zig zag” around (by this, she means putting things away that don’t belong in the kitchen — save all of those little trips for later). As you’re cleaning, take a good, hard look at all of your stuff. Do you really need 50 Tupperware containers that are all the same size and half are stained red from spaghetti sauce? Probably not — time to throw some of those away. Same with the waffle iron you bought five years ago with the intention of making homemade Belgian Waffles for your family every night. If you haven’t used it in a year, donate it to someone who will. This “edit and sort” step obviously goes for your food as well. Throw away all of the expired food and the food that you no longer use.
Determine Where Things Go: Now that you’ve cleaned out what you don’t need, it’s time to figure out where the stuff you’re keeping is going to go. Store like-minded things together, like pots & pans, baking dishes, food storage containers, etc. Also, keep the items you use most often within easy reach, and the items you use less on a higher shelf or, like Levitt says, out of the kitchen altogether. And, if you only use the KitchenAid stand mixer twice a year, there’s a good chance it doesn’t need to be on your kitchen counter taking up space.
Make Sure It Stays Organized: Of course, we’ve all been there. It’s one thing to clean and organize your kitchen, but it’s another thing entirely to keep it clean and organized. The biggest roadblock to a organized, stress-free kitchen is to keep your kitchen counters clear. Again, the KitchenAid mixer example we used above bears repeating. A kitchen counter free of every appliance you own is not only less cluttered, but it will be a lot easier to keep clean. In terms of food items, remember to rotate your food after you come back from the grocery store. Put your new items in back of the pantry, and rotate the old items forward. This goes for things like vegetables or yogurt in your fridge, too. Also, make sure that those healthy snacks that you purchase are easy to see and reach.
As we were researching this post, we also came across this article from SELF Magazine about how to organize your kitchen. The article deals mainly with what’s inside your fridge, but we thought it was full of some great ideas, too!
Happy kitchen cleaning! We’d love to hear if any of Cindy Levitt’s tips worked for you!
Two Peas in a Pod: Growing Well Together 