It’s time. It’s getting warmer and we are slowly getting back from Covid isolation to soon being able to host guests again. Simple fact: your kitchen is one of the most used rooms in your home by now. Starting to simplify and reorganise the heart of the home is one of the best decisions you could ever make! Why? Because a tidy, clutter-free kitchen does make you happier. Can you trust me on this one?

Who confesses they have had some, if not all, of the following thoughts when trying to figure out the best way to organise their kitchen?

* My kitchen is way too small, it’s an impossible task to get organised and fit everything in.
* I can’t find anything, I just throw things in wherever I find a gap.
* I have no clue what is hidden in the cupboards, behind the stuff I use most frequently.
* It’s such an ordeal to clean my kitchen, my counters are full of stuff that has no home.
* I don’t know what we have when I go grocery shopping, and I frequently end up with multiple identical items.
* I never bake (anymore), it’s so difficult to get my baking items out of different cupboards.

Well, who doesn’t have a dream about a designer kitchen with space for everything you can dream of and more. We’re not here to smash those dreams, let’s just make the absolute best out of what we have right now until that dream kitchen comes along. All you need is 3 things: a good playlist, some undisturbed time and a big dose of commitment. We will declutter, we will let go of the excess, we will simplify and we will reorganise. Are you with me?

#1 Back to basics

A kitchen with less stuff will look cleaner, more inspirational and more satisfyingly calm. If you wish to get a properly organised kitchen, once and for all, with space for all you really want and need in there, have a think about the following:

Look through your appliances and gadgets.
Chances are you’re not even close to using all you have.

Life is to be enjoyed, use only your favourite tableware.
Let go of dishes you don’t use or dislike.

Keep only quality cookware.
You know you will only use those few favourites anyway.

Store things with ease of access in mind.
If your xx items are hard to reach you will not take them out. Ever.
My Happy home

#2 Clear countertops

The countertops are for holding your essentials only. And besides, the clearer the counters the easier they are to clean! Display only frequently used appliances (unless they fit in a cupboard) and things you enjoy looking at, like a favourite cutting board or a bowl of fruit. Or fresh flowers. Whatever makes everyday life a little easier and a little bit more happy for you. And if you’re one of those piling up mail and papers on the kitchen counters, we need to talk ;) Let’s designate a mail area, rather than cluttering up your zen looking kitchen!

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#3 Pantry – decanting and seeing exactly what you have

It took me years to see the point of decanting. Decanting by the way means taking food out of its’ original packaging and placing it in another container. I always thought it’s a waste of time and then you lose the information on the package. Little did I know what a big impact it was about to have on me. When I finally ditched the plastic packages and the visual clutter, I couldn’t stop looking at my gorgeous glass jars! And it made me so happy to see what I had so I automatically used more and some of the items in totally new ways. And since it’s so easy to see the contents of a jar or a bottle, as soon as the level reaches low you can put it on your shopping list. And remember, there’s no need to go out and buy a lot of new jars, just repurpose any glass jars you already have at home and your pantry will look like an attractive zero waste grocery store.

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#4 Cupboard and drawer organisation

If you have lots of big drawers in your kitchen, consider yourself lucky! They’re the best kitchen storage solution you can have. But most of us aren’t blessed with huge drawers all around so let’s look at a few tips for shelves:

• * Store items by category
• * Use dividers for cutlery and utensils
• * Heavy items further down and lighter items higher up
• * Pay attention to materials and frequency of use
• * If you have high shelves you might want to put in a little extra shelf unit to use as a double shelf.

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#5 Contain likes with likes

Storing similar items together in a container will be a game changer. Make a breakfast bin (with amazing berry goodies from Pure Nordic), a snack bin, a coffee/tea bin, a baking bin..all you need for your everyday moments. Simply take out the bin, make your breakfast and back with the bin. If you place the bin low enough even smaller kids could be given the responsibility to bring out a bin of choice, just don’t place any raw eggs in that bin!

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Get creative in your kitchen, dance around to good music, have fun, enjoy good food in good company and remember :

What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.
RALPH MARSTON