Help your kitchen help you, beginning with the cupboards

Kitchen cupboards are meant to be helpful, but they often seem to hinder. Sometimes it is because they are simply too full of items which are out of place or should even be kept elsewhere. So let's help the kitchen help you.

First, open all the cupboard doors in your kitchen. Then sit in a chair where you can see them and begin evaluating. Why is that item stored there? Why are there so many of those items? And, why aren't there enough of these tools? Why is that item in the kitchen at all? Make a mental list of what can be discarded, what is to be kept, what items need to be multiplied, and what items can be reduced in number.

Next, decide where to put what. Items in the kitchen should be stored using the A-B-C process. Items which are frequently used, "A" items, should be stored in "A" places. These are areas where there is minimal reaching either up or down. The top row of drawers, the lower shelf of your upper cupboards, and the front area of your lower cupboards are examples of "A" storage areas. Items that are used less often go in "B" places. These are drawers and shelves where you have to stretch up or hunker down to reach tools. Items which are rarely used can go in "C" places. These are the rear of shelves, the lowest or highest cupboards, and the deep corner cupboards.

Keep only essential "A" tools such as spatulas, stirring spoons, peelers, scissors, and knives in the top drawers. Most kitchens only need three knives in an "A" drawer: a large, a small, and a serrated. Store other knives and specialty tools, which are needed but used less frequently, elsewhere.

In many cases, the kitchen needs "multiples" of some tools. For instance, if you are always retrieving measuring cups or spoons from the dishwasher, you may want to keep up to three sets on hand. This will facilitate having one ready to use at all times.

In addition, you always seem to need the item at the bottom of the stack. So "unstack unlikes." As an example, have a separate stack for large plates, small plates, and cereal bowls.

On the other hand, "stack alikes." Items which are the same shape and use can be stacked, such as mixing bowls, plastic storage containers, or plastic drinking glasses.

Make use of the inside of your cupboard doors. They can become "hidden" bulletin boards. They can also be transformed into an additional storage area by storing measuring spoons and cups on them. Use a thin, crosswise board screwed to the frame behind which to tuck the handles.

The average stove only has four elements, so store your favorite four pans, unstacked, in an "A" place and put less-used pans elsewhere in your cupboards. You will find cooking much easier, with far less hassle.