The Lazy Person’s Guide to Organizing Your Kitchen

Contrary to popular belief, the primary purpose of a kitchen is not to store takeout. In an ideal world, your kitchen would be set up in such a way that it would inspire even the laziest/exhausted/can’t-be-bothered-to-chop-a-vegetable cook to..you know, cook! So without further ado, here are my tips to setting you up for success, and by success I mean being inspired to cook in your kitchen. These are tips that don’t require a trip to the container store, so much as they require a little reworking of the space.

When it comes to kitchen organization, flow is key. Without flow, you won’t be inspired to cook in your kitchen, no matter how big it might be! For instance, if chopping an onion requires you to rifle through your kitchen drawer for a proper knife, and then pull out a heavy cutting board from the deep recesses of your cabinets, you’ll be less likely to chop said onion. 

In order to inspire actual cooking in the kitchen, it’s essential to organize it through low-lift activities. Want to streamline prep? Keep a few cutting boards stacked against the backsplash closest to where you use them. What about cooking? Place a Lazy Susan near the stove, and fill it with your most frequently used spices, oils and vinegars. (Keep remaining spices in a slim drawer close by, or on a pantry shelf along with oils and vinegars.) 

For easy access, keep a utensil crock by your stove filled with your most-frequently used kitchen tools (e.g. whisks, wooden spoons, pasta strainers, and tongs to name a few). Just make sure not to overstuff it; not all of your six whisks need to live here! Place your less frequently used kitchen tools in a drawer close by. 

Dread unloading the dishwasher? Keep the silverware drawer, glassware and plates cabinets as close to it as possible to minimize movement. Find yourself reaching on your tiptoes for dried pasta and rice? Simply place them at eye level in the pantry. This goes for all your most-frequently used pantry items, too. (If your pantry is especially cramped, simply add a Lazy Susan to each shelf so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.)

In this vein, less frequently used items like baking ingredients should be placed on higher shelves. Group like items in the same category and you’ll have a much easier time reaching for what you need. Ideally, snacks, cereal and oats, canned goods and dried pastas and rice should each have their own shelf. 

Finally, you don’t need to keep all your appliances out on your kitchen countertops. If you use your juicer once a month, consider placing it in an upper cabinet. Lower cabinets should be reserved for pots, pans and skillets. It’s as simple as that. When you have systems in place that are low-lift with high-yields, cooking will become less of a chore and more of an enjoyable activity.