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The kitchen is the highest trafficked area of the house and can quickly become an unorganized mess if you don’t have a system in place to keep it clean and organized. And when you are pursuing a healthy diet and lifestyle, you need a space that sets you up for success.
It is difficult to stay on track with meal prepping and planning if your kitchen space is not supporting your goals. A clean and organized kitchen will help with food prepping and preparing for your healthy week ahead. Check out these following 10 tips to a clean and organized kitchen.
1. Keep it Bright
A bright kitchen always looks cleaner. I am fortunate to have big windows in my kitchen with lots of light. However, if you have a darker kitchen with less windows, you can add lightness and brightness to the room in other ways.
Add more lighting if possible. Perhaps purchase bigger lights to hang over your island. Glass pendants, like the ones in the above picture, let out a lot of light with a clean look.
If new lighting fixtures are not in your budget, you can add brightness by simply adding a small table lamp. These gold cordless table lamps are very stylish and do not take up much space, adding light and style to the kitchen.
Other ways to add brightness and airiness to your space is to incorporate white accent objects, such as white canisters, candles, and vases with greenery.
2. Declutter the Area
Some kitchens double or even triple as several spaces – office, kids’ play area, drop off space. It sounds simple, but the kitchen should be a place that only caters to successful cooking and baking in a calm, stress free, and organized way.
So begin by taking everything out of the kitchen that does not belong and find other areas in your house to place them. If you have a small space and need your kitchen to double function, dedicate a drawer or small area for other uses and define the area that is just a cooking space.
Go through drawers and cupboards and donate items you never use. This will leave space for the items you do use and will help you find them quicker.
3. Make Separate Zones
Part of the decluttering process is to create zones in your kitchen, such as a cooking zone, coffee/tea zone, and kids’ craft zone (if necessary).
Your cooking zone should be on a counter near the stove. You should be able to easily grab cooking utensils, pots/pans, and cutting boards without running all over the kitchen searching.
Yes, some of your bigger appliances may be stored elsewhere, but you can retrieve those in advance. When you are actually cooking, your kitchen tools should be easily accessible.
In the example below, I have dedicated an area of the kitchen to coffee and tea. When we want a drink, the mugs, tea and coffee options are readily available.
4. Clean While You Go
A clean kitchen is paramount for food safety. Keep a sink full of hot soapy water nearby, so you can quickly wash up messes and clean dishes as you cook.
Have a cloth nearby so you can wipe your hands often and wash your hands with soap and water after handling meat.
A spray bottle with 1 litre of water to 1 tsp of bleach will help sanitize your cutting boards and cooking area before and after food prep, especially when working with meat.
5. Take Care of Smells
Everyone wants their kitchens to smell nice, so ensure you take out your trash and recycling regularly. Scented garbage bags can help. Throw lemons in your garburator from time to time to keep the garburator smelling fresh.
Light a scented candle and keep fresh cut flowers nearby to make the room smell nice. Of course the best way to make your kitchen smell nice and fresh, is to cook a delicious meal or bake scrumptious cakes, pies, and muffins, like these yummy Gluten-free Strawberry Protein Muffins.
5. Use Storage Solutions
No matter the size of your pantry, bins, baskets, glass containers, and labels are your friends. Storage solutions make things organized, and add more space as they get rid of bulky packaging. The storage solutions don’t need to be expensive. You can go to the Dollar Store and buy baskets, bins, and plastic and glass containers. Get creative!
One storage solution is to keep utensils nearby in your cooking zone. This white canister or marble canister are stylish pieces to place on the counter and can be filled with spoons, spatulas, and other utensils you use often.
Spices
Organized spices are very helpful. Not only can you find your spices quickly when cooking or baking, but you don’t end up buying the same spice several times because it was hidden at the back of the cupboard. (Guilty) You can get fancy labelled jars or simply write on a jar with a felt pen like the example below.
Do not store spices or oils directly adjacent to the stove or oven as the heat ruins the aromatic properties of the spices and can make oils rancid. Most oils should be stored in a dark cool place or the fridge. If your oil is on the counter, use a pretty dark oil dispenser to protect it from sunlight.
Labels
You can write directly on your glass jars or elevate your jar organization by buying cute little spice jar preprinted labels.
Food storage containers like the ones below are perfect for the fridge or pantry and they are stackable so are great space savers. If you have any form of OCD, you’re going to love redoing your pantry with these containers and labels.
Drawer Organizers
You can purchase all kinds of organizers to fit any drawer.
If you have larger drawers, the expandable ones work very well.
Glass Jars
Glass jars can hold a lot of items, such as pastas, dried beans, flour, and other baking supplies. As mentioned earlier, this makes much more space in the cupboard by getting rid of packaging.
6. Use Trays for Loose Items
Trays help to make things look tidier and more organized versus having loose items all over the counter. Group a bunch of commonly used items together like salt, pepper, napkins, and cutting boards. I keep my vitamins in the tray so I don’t forget to take them.
You can place a couple trays in different zone areas. For example one tray in the coffee/tea zone with mugs, napkins, and coffee pods, or one in the kids’ zone with crayons, markers, paper, etc.
7. Use a Cordless Hand Vacuum
There are often a lot of spills in the kitchen, so having a vacuum nearby comes in handy. Most people store their larger vacuums in closets that may not be close to the kitchen, so a mini one in the kitchen that can be charged up and ready to go is super convenient.
8. Use Clear Containers in Fridge
The fridge clean-up can be daunting, but it should be done at least biweekly. Take everything out of the fridge and wash all the drawers and shelves with hot soapy water. Then make a plan of where items go in the fridge and try to be consistent, so things stay organized.
Example, one shelf for leftovers or food to be cooked, one shelf for breads and eggs, one shelf for cut and prepped food, etc.
When you put items back in the fridge, check expiry dates and toss old items. Throw away old produce. One tip for making avocados and lemons last longer, is to store them in water.
Another tip to an organized fridge is to only use clear containers. This way you can see everything in the fridge and things are more likely to get cooked and eaten up.
Now that you are in clean and organized fridge mode, food prep can be your next step. It’s always nice to have veggies cut up and ready to eat, fruit washed and ready to grab, quinoa or brown rice ready for salads or warmed up with meals. These are the first steps to food prepping and having success with your healthy lifestyle.
9. Make it Pretty
You should enjoy being in your kitchen. Cooking should be a pleasure rather than a chore. If you are mindful in your kitchen of what you are cooking and eating, and the nutrients you are adding to your body, you will have much more success with your health goals.
Light some candles while you cook, keep fresh cut flowers on your counter, play some music, end enjoy yourself.
10. Make a Weekly Cleaning List
If you are tackling some big items, like cleaning out the fridge, oven, or pantry, this might take time. It may be helpful to keep a running list of things to get done each week. Having a list will keep you on top of things and it is satisfying to tick things off once done.
Conclusion
Pursuing a healthy lifestyle and planning and prepping your weekly menu takes time and effort and will run so much smoother with a clean and organized kitchen. So put these tips to work and get busy. You will enjoy your efforts when you open your clean fridge and you can find everything you need in your kitchen.
