Professional Organizer Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland Scott Roewer’s organizing blog DeClutterYou

As a professional organizer, I’ve been in a few hundred homes, and one thing I’ve discovered is the kitchen is an easy place for clutter to pile up.  Does your kitchen have clutter? If you’re like most Americans, it does!  Keep reading, below are three steps to organizing your kitchen.

You know the kitchen clutter I’m talking about – the plastic grocery store bags that multiply overnight, the mismatched plastic ware, the bread machine you ‘should’ use, or the ‘obligation’ purchase you made at that last Pampered Chef party. The clutter sometimes lands on the kitchen counter but often the disorganization lurks behind the cabinet doors or in the deep, dark pantry.  Because it’s out of site, out of mind, the it easy to forget about the clutter. But, the time will come when you need to find something specific and you’ll have to dig.

You may be on your hands and knees digging in the back of the cabinet, or you’re dropping cans of soup on your toe as you forage past the Mickey Mouse shaped waffle maker, the Ginsu Knives, and the battery powered flour sifter. Either way, it’s frustrating! I’ve seen counter clutter so deep that it has caused personal injury!  Save the digging for the garden this summer and organize your kitchen.

Use my ’3-P’ kitchen organizing method to start process – Pull, Purge, Place.

Pull – Start in one area of your kitchen and pull all the items from the cabinets. When was the last time you wiped down those shelves?  While you are working, clean the shelves! As you place items on the counter, group the similar items together.  You may need a small folding table or your dining room table to have a larger working space.

Purge – Now that you are able to see all of your dishes, plastic ware, kitchen gadgets, pots and pans, etc., it’s time to purge! Kitchen clutter is usually not about having enough storage space. It’s commonly about too much stuff. With that in mind, keep the items you use most often. Beware of multiple items. How many potholders, spatulas, and frying pans can you use at once? If you’ve not used an item in the last year, do you really need it?  Do you have two items that are different but serve a similar purpose? NOTE – Things not to save include; take out containers, plastic ware missing it’s bottom or top, plastic stadium cups, rusty pans – you get the idea.  Give your surplus items to a student moving into their first apartment, have a garage sale, or donate the items to charity.

Place – When placing the items back in the cabinets, designate a home. For example: coffee maker near the sink with the mugs close by, glasses by the dishwasher, pots by the stove, knives in the food prep area, and so forth.  Your kitchen items should be stored in the area they are used.  Resist the urge to pile everything back into the drawers.  Use drawer organizers to divide utensils in the drawers.  The goal is to be able to open a drawer and see everything inside.

My ’3-P’ method is a good self-help method for organizing your kitchen.  You may need to add accessories to your counter top, drawer glide outs or shelves to maximize your kitchen.  If you have a specific kitchen clutter problem, leave us a comment below, we’ll be happy to help.

Happy cooking, from my kitchen to yours – LOL.  (OK – I laugh because I only prepare food, I don’t cook!)

“Residential Resolutions”
This year, make that list of attainable goals apply to your home.

‘Residential Resolutions’ was the title of an article featuring tips for getting organized in the new year.  Getting organized is a popular resolution, but many people don’t know where to start or how to stay organized.  The resolution to be clutter free and more productive is right up there with losing weight, spending more time with family and friends, to quit smoking, or to get control of your debt.  What I often hear is people don’t know how to get started with living an organized life. These organizing tips will help.

In this article, I offer a four week plan to get January started as the month to get organized!

Week One – It’s all about post holiday recovery.

Week Two – Attack your kitchen and beyond.

Week Three – Learning about cleaning ‘maid’ easy.  Yes, that’s cleaning made easy.

Week Four – Organizing your extremities, where I talk about an organized wardrobe, your organized car, and successful meal planning.

To read the details of this four week plan, check out the article on Rubbermaid’s website.