Another trick she uses is to freeze loose items – fruit for snacking on for example – flat on a tray (she likes the shallow iDesign trays and tops them with reusable parchment) before decanting the food into labelled bags and adding it to the filing system. To be barbecue-ready, she suggests flat-freezing burgers in this way or even butterflying a chicken and freezing it flat in a freezer bag: “It will take up so much less space and defrost so much faster.”
The organisational element is key, she points out, as is keeping it tidy: “The important thing is having the structure in place. Because the drawers are labelled [she uses vinyl labels from The Label Lady], and because the system is there, it’s really quick for me to have a reset.”
Rethink your drawers and cupboards
We all have that one kitchen cupboard that we are fearful to open, or a drawer of doom where a stuck spatula is preventing it ever closing properly. Professional organiser Jenn Jordan (@orjenise) says that this problem arises because many of us unpack kitchens in a hurry, perhaps on the day we move into a house, and then never consider moving anything around again.
The result is that our kitchens are often not functioning as well as they could. She says she always advises her clients to spend 5–10 minutes looking at their kitchens and considering what does and does not work. “You want your kitchen to flow really well. You want your tea near your kettle. You don’t want to be doing a tour of the kitchen every time you make a cup of tea. It sounds really obvious, but so many people don’t do that.”
She encourages clients to think about “premium space” in the same way that supermarket brands pay to be at eye level. “You want your premium shelves to be stuff you are using all the time.” So plates and mugs go on the premium spots. Spiralizers (she hates these as they have multiple parts and are often barely used) get relegated to the corner cupboard that is awkward to get into. And don’t store plates at floor level: “Over the course of years, it’s an unnecessary pain that you don’t need.”
A final tip? “Don’t over-containerise. It can lead to more clutter.” Although it’s tempting to get basket and storage bin-happy, she says we should only use tubs where we need to, for spices for example. “I only put a container in if it is going to wrangle everything together and make it make sense.”
Where possible, create more space
If you’ve already decluttered your kitchen but find you are still lacking space, certified KonMari consultant Sue Spencer has a quick win. Spend just five minutes simply moving the cupboard shelves around, or using shelf risers (basically moveable shelves) to divide taller cupboards, and you’ll be surprised by how much more you can fit in with your “bespoke” shelf positioning. “I quite often go into homes and find there is a lot of void, dead space above things in shelves,” she explains. “You’ll have one layer of mugs and then a massive gap and then a shelf.”