Tips for an organized kitchen

Few places in the home are as prone to disorganization as the kitchen, and clutter can be particularly irritating when it gets in the way of a fun cooking session. A clean kitchen is nice when you're making food and a necessity when it's time to sell a home. A sterling home inspection and aggressive asking price might not be enough to counteract the negative impression created by a messy kitchen area. To minimize distraction when you're cooking and make your home more appealing to visitors, apply a cohesive organizational strategy to this space. Keep all the pots, pans, dishes and utensils in line with the following tips:

Look up

An amazing amount of space goes unused in every room of your home, but you probably never realize it. The space between your head and the ceiling can provide a valuable storage area, and the kitchen provides a great opportunity to utilize this space that you would otherwise waste. Hanging pot racks are available from a variety of retailers and can fit into almost any home's aesthetic style. While it's possible to install these items yourself, it might be worth contacting a professional who can help you mount the rack properly. Otherwise, you might end up with an unstable rack that could fall out of the ceiling. 

Use the whole cabinet

Many people use only a small portion of their actual cabinet space. That's because it's quite difficult to reach all the way into a cabinet. As a result, homeowners commonly fill the back of cabinets with a cluttered mess of forgotten items. Solve this issue by investing in plastic bins that fit inside the cabinet area. These bins can act as makeshift drawers. Because you can slide the bin in and out, you'll be able to fill it completely and maximize your use of the cabinet space. You can also dedicate each bin to a specific storage purpose and label them as such. 

Clear off the counters

Whenever possible, avoid storing items on your kitchen's countertops. This looks messy and cuts down on the amount of available space for food preparation. You can clear off counter space with the ceiling-mounted pot rack, and you'll also free up some room by using your walls for storage. Magnetized knife racks and pegboards that accept hooks allow you to store thinner items against the wall, where they are out of the way, but you can still access them easily. 

Use the fridge for more than food

Obviously, you should dedicate the inside of your refrigerator to perishable foods, but the outside is a blank magnetic canvas. Instead of tossing all your spices into a cabinet and hoping for the best, consider sorting them into magnetized canisters. Instructables​ noted you can attached these canisters to the sides of your refrigerator, which will keep them in reach when you're cooking. Additionally, this method frees up cabinet space for larger items, like that toaster or mixer that would otherwise clog up your counter. 

Go digital 

The world is increasingly computer-focused, and your old paper recipe box introduces the potential for clutter. It's actually quite easy to consolidate those old recipes into a single digital file. Today's cameras are powerful enough to keep a recipe readable, so spend an afternoon photographing the instructions for each of your favorite meals. Label these files appropriately and upload them to the cloud. Now, you can throw out your old recipe collection and access your handwritten scraps of paper from any computing device. This will clean up your kitchen and make it possible to bring instructions for a dish to any house you visit.