How you organize kitchen appliances depends on what type of cook you are. If you're a raw food nut, your blender will be front-and-center. Vegans will have their pressure cooker ready-to-use at all times and meat-eaters have their slow cooker and indoor grills on hand. No matter what type of cook you are, there are 4 steps in the process:
- Group by use.
- Pare down appliances.
- Cut cabinet clutter.
- Up keep.
Pare down to multi-use kitchen appliances
Photo / Crate and Barrel
If you have limited kitchen storage space, it’s important to allocate it wisely by owning appliances hat have multiple uses. Scrutinize your appliances to make sure their uses are robust and not one-note.
Examples:
- Buy a high-quality blender that can blend and act as a food processor.
- Do you really need a panini press when you already have a waffle iron?
- A stock pot can produce a batch of perfectly cooked rice. There is really no need for a rice cooker unless you use it daily.
TIP: A good rule of thumb is to own very few items with only one-use (unless of course, you use it frequently).
Cut cabinet clutter
Anderson Ross / Getty Images
Now that you’ve pared down it’s importantly to make your cabinets as organized and easy-to-navigate as possible.
Tips:
- Take the time to wrap the cord around an appliance before storing in your cabinet. This cuts clutter and looks more organized.
- Buy a step-stool to store appliances on higher shelves.
- Bookmark appliance manuals online or save them in Google Docs--there’s no need to keep more unnecessary paper clutter around.
- Store pesky, smaller-parts (think of all those food processor attachments!) in zip loc bags and label them accordingly.
- Take a Saturday morning and follow the 5 Steps to Organize Kitchen Cabinets. Cleaning, clearing and organizing your cabinets will give you a huge energy boost, promise.
Store kitchen appliances by use
Photo / Cuisinart
Use this handy guide to organizing and storing your appliances:
Three Rules of Thumb:
- Frequently used appliances go on your counter top, or the lowest shelves in your cabinet.
- Rarely used appliances are stored at the top of your kitchen cabinet.
- Never used items need to be re-assessed and donated or sold. Find a place to donate in our Where to Donate Guide.
Maintain and Upgrade
Photo / KitchenAid Artisan Red Stand Mixer from Crate and Barrel
The more often you organize your kitchen appliances, the less time it will take each season. Try to go through your cabinets at least twice a year.
Neat-Freak Upgrades? For you organizational nerds, here are some upgrades:
- Label each shelf (“dishes,” “wine glasses,” “food processor”).
- Keep an inventory list taped to the cabinet door.
