As spring is on its way and
March can have you motivated to clean and organize (here’s hoping, right?),
we’ll dedicate this month of columns to managing your home, spring cleaning
style. First up: the hub of the home,
the kitchen.
Get down and dirty to get one
of the most used areas of your home sparkling and renewed. Start inside your pantry and cabinets. Remove everything, one shelf or cabinet at a
time. You can remove more than one section at a time if you intend to do some
rearranging as you put items back (or if the really undone look won’t overwhelm you). Wipe down all the surfaces with a hot, soapy
dish cloth or antibacterial kitchen wipes.
Replace old contact paper with new versions if needed (the spongy,
easy-cut material can be better and more stay-put than the older paper
styles).
Go through all of your pantry
items and check dates, throwing out outdated, long overdue, or skipped-over
food that likely won’t get eaten. Look
into your dry goods, oils, spices, boxed meals, and canned goods in
particular. Take stock of what you have
and what you need, making a pantry restock grocery list as you go. You want to keep general use items on hand,
like staples needed to make a batch of cookies or cook spaghetti, and buy
specialty items only as planned recipes call for them. This helps you manage your space and keep
your inventory in check.
Look over your arrangement of
glasses, dishes, cookware, and bakeware.
Is your layout in your cabinets the best use of the space you have? Does it make unloading the dishwasher and
setting the table a streamlined process?
Could you better use the space you have or remove unused pieces
altogether? Let your answers to these
questions direct any action you take to make your kitchen storage space
function at the highest level. Do the
same for your drawers. Clear them out,
wipe them down, and reload them, keeping like items together in the proper
storage bins and dividers, and getting rid of stirring spoons, spatulas, etc.
that have been burned or torn and could cause little pieces of plastic or
silicone to come off in use. If you need
to revamp your stock, add some pieces to your wish list. If you have cooking or
serving pieces that are “so old” and don’t get used anymore, or you have
multiple mix-matched sets that could use some paring down, consider selling or
donating your excess to open up some storage space, leaving you with an
uncluttered, easy access look.
Finish off with your
countertops. If you leave small
appliances out that seldom get used, consider storing them away for clear,
open, easy-clean counter space. Other
options to consider are using a knife block designed to fit inside a drawer or
doing away with the container of utensils and opting for storing them in
divided drawer bins instead. Give every
surface a thorough cleaning, including over and under the microwave, toaster
oven, and every grip, handle, and pull in the room.
Tackling a kitchen spring
cleaning project can be a lot of work, but it can reap major benefits for the
chef in you. Next week: the closets!
DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star March 2nd.
