FOOD AND COOKING EQUIPMENT

In most homes, the kitchen is Storage Central. With wall-to-wall cupboards, drawers and a growing trend for mahoosive fridge-freezers, there should be plenty of space to keep everything we need. So why do many of us end up with cluttered worktops or items piled on top of our cabinets?

 

We’re exposed to so many multi-buy bargains on food, not to mention time-saving kitchen gadgets, that it’s easy to give in to our inner hoarder, and overstock our cupboards and drawers. But don’t lose heart: decluttering the kitchen is fun.

“BAD COOKS – AND THE UTTER LACK OF REASON IN THE KITCHEN – HAVE DELAYED HUMAN DEVELOPMENT LONGEST AND IMPAIRED IT MOST.”

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

GETTING STARTED

As with any area of the house, decluttering is essential to achieving a calm and ordered space, but before you seize that dusty yogurt maker, take some time to think about your kitchen layout. What works – and, more importantly, what doesn’t work – at the moment? A few minutes spent assessing this now could lead to a time-saving brainwave.

Are there any areas where clutter currently builds up? What type of clutter is it? Who is putting it there? (How will you punish the offender?!) And where can you store this stuff instead?

Is workspace an issue? Do you have any rarely used appliances taking up valuable room? Have you space for an island or trolley that could expand your work area?

Do you find yourself forever trailing from one side of the kitchen to the other? Would storing things in different cupboards make a difference?

“HOW CAN YOU GOVERN A COUNTRY WHICH HAS TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX VARIETIES OF CHEESE?”

CHARLES DE GAULLE

STREAMLINING YOUR SUPPLIES

Perhaps stockpiling food is a primal instinct, but these days we really don’t need to stuff our freezers with enough pizza to keep us going until the next successful mammoth hunt. Here are some tips on how to slim down your food hoard.

 

1  Go through your store cupboards. Discard anything that’s out of date.

2  Restack your cupboards by placing items that are closer to their use-by date at the front (alphabetising your tins is optional).

3  Do a stocktake of your fridge and freezer. Discard anything that you don’t remember buying, can’t identify or will never eat.

4  Put back your remaining fridge and freezer supplies. (Use a large plastic container to keep smaller items together.)

5  Plan your week’s meals in advance and shop online to guard against impulse purchases.

GADGETS

It’s too tempting, isn’t it? I mean it’s a waffle maker, and every morning you can have fresh waffles! (They’ll be great with the fresh orange juice from that juicer you never use.) And if you buy it now, you’ll get the banana slicer free!

 

If you’re not careful, appliances can take over your kitchen and, before you know it, you’ll find yourself with an army of chrome occupying your worktop and barely enough space left over to butter a postage stamp.

Assess your appliances. Make space on your worktop for the items that you use weekly; put anything you use less often in an easy-to-access spot out of sight, and get rid of your ill-chosen and irrational purchases. If you really fancy a posh breakfast, visit a restaurant and let them store (and clean) the waffle iron.

MAXING YOUR STORAGE

If you’ve got money to splurge, adapting your kitchen to include the latest storage solutions will maximise your space. Pull-out corner cupboard racks are an old favourite, but did you know that you can have drawers fitted behind the kick plates under your kitchen units, for example? You don’t need to spend big, though. Look for any areas of wasted space and see if you can squeeze some sneaky storage into them.

Can you fit a magazine rack inside a cupboard and use it for storing chopping boards or baking sheets vertically?

Would a hanging rack or rail free up some cupboard space if you used it for pots and pans?

Could you hang whisks, etc. on the inside of a cupboard door?

Remember to store things near to where you use them.

CLUTTER OFFENDERS #5

Novelty mugs

It might be chipped and stained, but you’ve still got that Star Wars mug you were given for your tenth birthday… and the hilarious speaking mug that lost its comedy value before you threw the wrapping paper out (and lost its voice a couple of weeks later). Why, oh why, do we hold on to this sort of tat? Take a look at your mug collection and then apply the following calculation:

Number of mugs ÷ Number of people in your household = ?

Is your answer more than three? WHY?! (And, no, you’re NEVER going to have that many visitors all at once.)

 

If you find it too painful to choose between ‘The Boss’ and ‘Keep Calm and Drink Coffee’, just get a friend in to help. Like a farmer who has to slaughter their favourite pig, using a third party to do the deed can be the easiest approach.

KEEPING IT CLEAR

In the kitchen, more than anywhere else, you need ‘A System’.

If you live with others, divide up the chores and make sure that everyone knows what they have to do – and make sure they do it.

Draw up a list of Kitchen Rules. Pin it somewhere prominent, make it your screensaver, tattoo it on everyone’s hands or sneak it into your partner’s lunch box (thoughtful touches like this keep a relationship alive).

Police your streamlined kitchen and adopt a zero-tolerance policy to clutter offenders. (And that includes you!)

Put things away as soon as you have finished with them!

No, really… PUT THINGS AWAY AS SOON AS YOU HAVE FINISHED WITH THEM!