Let’s face it, an unorganized kitchen looks cluttered and gives the outsiders jitters about possible hygiene conditions. And with kitchen designs becoming more open and integrated with the socializing areas of the home, especially in smaller apartments, you need to be more careful about how your kitchen appears.

It is the most hard-working part of a home and deserves due respect. After all, you wouldn’t want to be caught looking tawdry when there is a visitor, and neither should your kitchen! Keeping modern kitchens tidy and neat isn’t such a tough job; all it needs is creating proper storage areas. You first need to divide your kitchen into three important areas, the prep area, the cooking area, and the washing area. Once that is done, it’s easier to know where to stow and store the matching types of articles. This way, the efficiency of your kitchen improves, while having all the necessary tools within easy reach. Such smart kitchens make cooking and cleaning-up fun and less of a chore.

Here are some simple and easy steps to de-clutter the kitchen and make cooking meals easier:

• Empty out all your cabinets and have a look-see at all the stuff you’ve been hoarding time to throw out some of the unnecessary stuff!
• Make piles of all the items on your kitchen floor; cooking items in one corner, plastic containers in another, glassware separate, rarely-used serving pieces separate, etc.
• Now comes the hard part,  putting them back in! Cooking pots and pans should be close to your cooking area, a spice drawer under your cooking range, utensils near your prep area as well as the essential potatoes/onions/garlic baskets opt to store these in a stylish standing basket for more space. Glassware and daily-use dishes should be in racks next to the washing area. Create a coffee/tea station with all essentials including mugs, coffee-maker, and water filter kept together. This saves a lot of unnecessary walking.
• Use clear plastic containers to store smaller items like packs of snacks, condiments or ready-to-use gravy mixes. Labeling containers is a great idea.
• Store all containers with their lids together so you don’t spend unnecessary time rummaging around.
• Use Lazy Susans whenever possible to stack different categories of edibles together; this way there is less chance of something expired sitting in your kitchen.

Your personal work-style will determine how and where you store your stuff; the goal should be to make cooking work smoothly and efficiently without creating clutter!