In most homes the kitchen is often the room that sees the most activity. Everything from children’s craft projects to mail to miscellaneous household items often wind up someplace in the kitchen. Having a clutter free organized kitchen means frequent cleaning but it also means you won’t lose that bill and your children will be able to find those science projects when they need them.

The best way to reduce the amount of time you spend cleaning the kitchen is to come up with an organization system that works for you and your family. Here are our tips:

• To begin you first must mentally prepare yourself for the task ahead. Look around your kitchen and take an inventory or what belongs in the kitchen, what can be put away, and what you longer need.
• Clean and Organize your Cabinets: After you have taken inventory begin planning the best place to store items. We suggest placing items by frequency of use and near where you use them. For example keep pots, pans, and other cooking utensils near the stove, and keep dishes and silverware near the dishwasher or dinning area.
• Clean and Organize your Pantry: After taking inventory take everything out of the pantry, clean and place back in categories and by frequency of usage. For example use one shelf for dry goods, another for canned goods, etc. You may also want to consider using baskets for smaller items like gravy mixes, which will make them easier to find and avoid spillage from opened packets.
• Use a Spice Rack: Using a wall-mounted or counter top spice rack can save a cabinet space and help to keep your spices organized. Alphabetize your spices and store your spice rack near the stove.
• Clean your Counter Tops: Remove any items you don’t use on a regular basis from your counter tops. Keep items you use frequently and want to store on the counter tops in pretty containers such as glass jars. This will give you more room for cooking and improve the overall atmosphere of your kitchen. It’s amazing how much more relaxing the atmosphere in your kitchen will feel by simply removing the clutter from your counter tops.
• Organize your Junk Drawer – We wish you wouldn’t have one, but we understand that sometimes having a junk drawer is necessary. However, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be organized. Place small baskets or other small containers in the drawer to store items like batteries, clips and any other interesting things your kitchen collects.
• Create a Message Station: Let’s face it since the kitchen is one of the most frequently used rooms in most houses it  also often becomes a message area. So, set up a specific place for the telephone, messages, keys, mail, etc.
• Clean and organize your Fridge: This is something that should be done every time you go grocery shopping. Remove items that are past their expiration date, bad, empty, etc and wipe your fridge down. Bacteria in fridges accumulates quickly so cleaning your fridge once a week is necessary.
• Finally, one last tip. If your household includes children especially young children try arrange your cabinets, pantry, etc with them in mind. Keep items they use frequently on lower shelves and items you don’t want them to get into higher up.

Further Reading:
For more information on professional organizing services and kitchen organization tips visit:
In Order To Succeed
Kitchen Organizing Tips
10 Simple Kitchen Organizing Tips
Ten Next To Great Kitchen Organizing Tips
Organizing Your Kitchen