Organize Your Kitchen Like a Pro!

I have an old kitchen, and by old, I mean that it hasn’t been updated EVER and was built in 1920. So, I have a really cool old fashioned ice box built into my cabinets with a place for ice and ventilation to allow the cold air to move through and keep my food fresh. I have zero built-in appliances. That’s right, I’m the cobbler with no shoes for my children- as an interior designer I do not have a dishwasher built into my kitchen!

While I do have a kitchen designed and am very ready for my remodel, there are other things that have a higher priority for me (shocking, right?). So, in order to live with what I have, I did something that I do for my clients when I design a NEW kitchen space. I zoned it. Now, I’m going to teach you how to zone your kitchen as well!

First, we start by creating the five key zones in every kitchen: PREPARATION, COOKING, CONSUMABLES, NON-CONSUMABLES, and CLEANING. I chose one area and began there- cooking. The area I chose for cooking was the area in the immediate vicinity of my stove because, well… it’s near the stove! Empty all the cabinets immediately surrounding the stove, and get all your cooking utensils, cookware, spices, canned foods, and any other foods that will immediately go from their container to your stove. These are the items that should be placed in these cabinets. I had a tall pantry, an upper cabinet and a lower cabinet. In my tall pantry, I put the eggs (fresh from chickens- not the kind that need refrigeration!) and the cookbooks. In the upper cabinet, I stored spices, canned foods, and pasta.

Next, let’s move to the clean-up area. Now, you can do this in any order you like. This is the order I moved in my kitchen. I started at my stove and moved in a clockwise manner. Clean up should be centered around your sink. This is where you’ll want dish towels, sponges, garbage bags, soaps, etc.

Next, I have the non-consumables. I have placed my Tupperware in the ice box (well?! I’m not putting my refrigeration in there!) with my china on the top shelves and aluminum foil, saran-wrap, etc. on the bottom shelf. In an adjacent cabinet I have all my regularly used plates, bowls, and glasses. Below that, I have cutlery and small electrical appliances. I like to keep this zone near the clean-up zone to make it easier to dry the dishes and put them away or pull them from the dishwasher and set them right in the shelf where they belong.

The preparation zone should be where you have the most continuous counter space. Store your mixing bowls, flour, sugar, and other baking goods in this area so they are all at your fingertips when it comes time to bake. I am very fortunate in that I have a lower counter with a large lower cabinet where I placed the bowls, cutting boards, and mixing devices. Up above, I have the flour and other baking ingredients.

Now, we have the consumables. Your refrigerator should be in this zone as it includes all your food items. My refrigerator is awkwardly located in the corner of the kitchen, right next to the stove, so I chose the area immediately across from the refrigerator immediately adjacent to my preparation area. In the upper cabinet, bottom shelf I have my bread and peanut butter for those daily pb&j’s my kids love so much. Above that, I have the quick snack foods- fruit leather, rice cakes, crackers, etc. The top shelf is saved for my treats that I keep tucked out of the kids’ sight… chocolate and other candies! All my consumables fit just fine in the upper cabinet, so I used the lower cabinet here to place the kids’ plastic cups and bowls. It’s a nice, low location so they can grab and get their own water after school or a bowl to fill with fruit.

Now, hopefully if you’re living with a kitchen that you are not quite ready to remodel, this can help you live with it a bit longer!

To learn about Rachel Waldron’s interior design services, contact her at 206.249.9860 or rachel@waldrondesigns.com