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What to Do When Your Kitchen Cabinets Are Always a Mess!

28 March 2017

Timmothy Mitchelle

If your kitchen cabinets are always a disorganised, cluttered mess, this might be more stressful to you than you realize. Having to hunt around for certain food items or tools when you're already in a rush to get out the door or to get dinner on the table can be very irritating. Note a few tips for what to do if your kitchen cabinets are always a mess, and be sure your family follows along with your new plan for keeping the kitchen space neat and organized.

First, purge

Start by removing every item from your kitchen cabinets and purging ones that are unnecessary. Toss out all food items that are past their expiry date, even canned goods. Get a box in which you'll add dishes, drink ware, kitchen tools and gadgets and everything else you know you don't need; clean them up and then donate them, or if they're in very bad shape, simply toss them in the rubbish. Once you've purged your unnecessary items, you can start getting the cabinets organized.

Get rarely used items out of the way

One reason your cabinets may feel cluttered is that you have items you rarely use in the front, where they're in the way. Put holiday dishes on the top shelf, and keep your everyday plates and drink ware on the bottom shelf. For pantry items, keep the peanut butter, protein powder, and other items you use every day in front, while the cans of beans and soup you only have every week or so should be in the back. This will keep you from having to move items around to get to your everyday things, keeping the cabinets from getting messy again.

Add organizing accessories

A cabinetmaker can install organising accessories in your cabinets, including shelves for holding smaller cans so you don't need to stack them on each other, or bins that attach to the inside of the doors for holding envelopes, spices, and other such small items. Roll-out shelving with slots can also make it easier to properly store pots and pans and their lids, so you don't simply toss all those pieces in one cabinet and let them get disorganized.

Clean every week or before shopping

When you're ready to do your grocery shopping, you may go through your cupboards and cabinets to take inventory of what you need. Use this opportunity to toss out expired foods, or make a plan of how you'll use food you already have. Don't bring in any new groceries until you do this, so you keep your cabinets and cupboards organized and free of mess!

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