Brette Sember - The Organized Kitchen: Keep Your Kitchen Clean, Organized, and Full of Good Foodand Save Time, Money, (and Your Sanity) Every Day!

Avon, Massachusetts

The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the entire house. Americans do (almost!) everything there. In many homes it is the primary gathering area. Asking one room to do so much can lead to disorganization and chaos. If youve ever experienced the frustration that comes from not being able to find what you need when you need it, this book is for you! Its a complete guide that will help you take charge of your kitchen. Not only will you learn useful tips and strategies for finally tackling the clutter and craziness that exists on your counters and behind all of your cupboard doors, youll also discover ways to organize how you do things in the kitchen. The end result? An organized kitchen that meets your needs.

In , youll learn how to take back your kitchen:

• shows you how getting your kitchen under control can benefit everyone in your family and offers some quick tips to get you going.
• takes a look at how to bring energy and harmony into your kitchen through techniques like feng shui as well as how to imbue the room with your personality.
• discusses how to manage and organize all the other (noncooking) activities that are a part of kitchen life.

In , youll learn the nitty-gritty details of gettingand keepingyour kitchen organized:

• discusses what equipment you most need in your kitchen with tips on how to organize and store it.
• delves into drawers and cupboards, and with lots of helpful suggestions and ideas, helps you purge, reorganize, and restructure how youre storing things.
• tackles the all-important pantry. Youll discover what pantry essentials you should have on hand and how to put them away so you can actually find them again when you need them.
• will help you use your fridge and freezer in the most organized and efficient way, so you can store food safely and organize it for easy use.
• is your ultimate guide to how to clean absolutely everything in your kitchen.

Finally, in , youll learn strategies that will help you stay organized while you do what your kitchen is made forcooking:

• gives solutions for finding, organizing, and using recipes.
• is the source for cooking basics, so that you can cook safely, quickly, and efficiently, while enjoying it.
• gives you a collection of staple recipes you can rely on over and over.
• teaches meal-planning techniques that will streamline the way you cook and relieve a lot of stress in your life.
• includes tips and tricks on being a smart shopperit will show you everything you need to know to be an organized grocery store shopper.
• helps you serve your food in beautiful and attractive ways, and organize all of your serving pieces.

Theres a lot to be done, so lets head into the kitchen!

The kitchen may be the heart of the home, but it is also the place that naturally attracts the most clutter and mess. The combination of such a wide variety of items that need to be stored, the high traffic, the sheer number of pots and pans and dishes in use, and the high activity involved in meal prep can make this room especially challenging to keep organized and clutter-free. But dont give up! Youll learn how to organize your kitchenand keep it organizedthroughout the book. First, though, lets look at why your kitchen is so hard to keep organized.

Your kitchen is probably the gathering spot for family meals, projects, and meetings. If youre like many people, it also has more gadgets than the local electronics store. How serious is your disorganization problem? Ask yourself these questions:

1. Is your counter always cluttered?
2. Is your fridge so full you often forget whats hiding in the back of it?
3. Do things tumble out of your cupboards when you open them?
4. Do your drawers jam because they are so full?
5. Do you buy a bottle of ketchup only to put it away and realize you already had one, but just couldnt see it?
6. Is your freezer full of unlabeled mystery items?
7. Do you supersize your grocery shopping at a discount warehouse club?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, chances are youve got kitchen creep, the pesky phenomenon that occurs when items start busting out of their designated spaces. The cabinet doors dont quite shut all the way; the freezer door needs an extra good push to cement the seal.

The kitchen is a very difficult place to keep clutter-free because its filled with all the things you need for the smooth operation and functioning of your household. The more stuff you have, the more you need an adequate storage plan. The key is organizing your kitchen so it fits your lifestyle. What works for a single person will likely be inadequate for a couple and fail miserably for a family.

We all have the fantasy of a dream kitchenone of those tricked-out numbers packed with techno-wizardry appliances and clean, clear surfaces like you see in top magazines. You know that kitchen. You love that kitchen! You want that kitchen! Need a couple more entries to add to your Reasons to Organize the Kitchen list? When you put things in order, you can save money. How many times have you come home from the supermarket only to discover you already bought three of those things (whatever they are) the last time they were on sale? Better still, by getting rid of stuff, you cut down on housework. Its trueup to 40 percent, by one study. Getting organized in the kitchen can save your sanity, save you money, and help improve the multiple uses your kitchen is called upon forand bring your kitchen closer to that kitchen of your dreams.

Keep in mind that kitchen organization is not a one-shot deal. Its a lifestyle. You need to sustain it. It isnt just a matter of getting organized, but staying (and thinking) that way. There are bound to be a few days of backsliding here and there, of course. Life gets busy. But there are two keys to avoiding a major relapse.

1. First, its necessary to employ a program of ongoing maintenance so that kitchen cleanup occurs while mess is still in the minimalnot mountainousstage.
2. Second, its important to take an inventory of your organization and storage strategies from time to time to ensure theyre still meeting your current needs and lifestyle. Todays solutions may be tomorrows problems, warns professional organizer Ariane Benefit.

Once youve completed the hard work of organizing that this book outlines, dont fall back into bad habits. Maintain the effort by always putting dishes, utensils, and pantry items back in their proper places. Shortcuts will only undermine your efforts. An investment of five minutes of daily touchups is all it takes to keep your kitchen clutter-free. Make these touchups a habit and they will soon be second nature. When tidying up, ask yourself if you really like it, use it, or need it before putting a thing back in its place.