Organize your Kitchen for Fall

Blog by Verona Jungling

As summer turns into fall, I find myself wanting to bring order back into my home. The carefree summer days are now turning into the days of a new routine. A routine that could use some new order. So, that makes me think of organizing. Perhaps you are thinking the same thing. If not, hopefully some of these ideas will get you thinking about joining me in my madness that is constantly trying to make order out of chaos! But, one thing is certain, if we need to organize, let’s get creative about it!

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So, you’ve probably guessed by now that I am looking into unique and useful ways to organize your home-not just your kitchen. Since our business is designing kitchens, I thought that would be a great place to start. At Elite Kitchens, we already design our kitchens with lower cabinet drawers so that everything can be easily accessed. We also have been designing an additional drawer under the sink cabinet-a great place to store your tea towels, washcloths, etc. We have lots of drawer organizers to choose from as well. Consider cutlery dividers. I have one that is two levels to store even more! We have lots of pullouts to show you to maximize space in even the smallest of kitchens. I realize that the best way to show you these ideas is with photos, so if it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s about seven thousand words’ worth of organizing ideas!

Organize lesser-used trays and bakeware in the cabinet above your fridge.

We also found the perfect place to store your large platters and cookie sheets-right above the fridge! No sense putting the liquor in that cupboard-you can’t reach what’s at the back! Only when your tall cousin comes over can you get at it! So, why not put things up there that are long and can be reached even by us shorter people? On the top shelf above the cookie sheets I keep my turkey platter and roaster that only come down once a year. Usually my tall cousin is over for dinner and can reach them for me!

Use the inside of kitchen cabinet doors for creative storage.

Where do you store your measuring cups and spoons? I found a way that keeps them handy and organized! Love this idea! Put hooks onto the inside of your upper cabinet doors and hang them there! Brilliant-I can hear you saying it as you are reading this! I have been putting things on the inside of cabinet doors for years. I have some favourite recipes and a cork board to put those take-out menus and lunch ideas on. Now I have a new use for the inside of the cupboard doors!

Organize kitchen cleaners under the kitchen sink.

Another great storage idea is under the kitchen sink. I already told you how at Elite Kitchens we recommend putting a drawer at the bottom to store kitchen linens, but there is still quite a bit of space in that cabinet and a great way to keep it organized is to put up a tension rod and hang your spray bottles there.

The Magic Corner makes use of hidden kitchen cabinet space.

There is one area in the kitchen that always seems to be a concern. The dreaded lower corner cabinet. Many attempts have been made to make this area more useable, and I wanted to introduce you to a brand new idea that uses the space more efficiently but is still very accessible. It is called the “Magic Corner” and we have one in the showroom just because it is so amazing that you might want to come and check it out in person! This clever little unit keeps your back from breaking and lets you store more than ever in this large space. Here’s a photo, but you might just want to come down to our showroom where we just installed one in the newest kitchen display!

Pull-out storage for kitchen appliances.

So where do you keep your stand mixer? How about your toaster? Why not have these accessible but not taking up precious counter space? We have a solution for that! Store them in your cupboards but don’t sweat lifting them out…they simply lift on the shelf to counter height without any effort at all with this new Heavy Duty Mixer Lift. You don’t have to lift weights to get out the mixer-but I won’t tell anyone!

The garbage pull-out helps keep kitchens clean and orderly by whisking garbage out of sight.

And don’t forget about the garbage and recycling! We have found a place for that too! It’s not ugly nor inconvenient. It’s in the cupboard!

What I like best about the pull out garbage can is that when the kids throw something into the garbage and miss, it’s right there on the floor and they can’t just shut the door and wait until mom cleans it up! You might think that your kitchen doesn’t have much storage, but Ken and the team can find you more than you can imagine!

Create a broom closet in unused space.

Don’t have a broom closet? This might be the answer for you!

Add a sorting station to your laundry room.

Just to throw out some ideas that aren’t part of the kitchen, why not put in a laundry sorting station in the laundry room? Put in separate pull out bins in the cabinets each designated “whites”, “darks”, and “colours”? That space under the stairs can be lost too. Consider putting drawers in the risers and using it to store your shoes!

We even built a space in our ensuite bathroom for our electric toothbrushes.

One last idea I want to share with you. I recently got on the band wagon of using an electric toothbrush. It’s awesome! But now I have something cluttering up my bathroom counter. Hmmm, how to solve this dilemma? I had that fantastic husband of mine cut a whole in the wall between the studs and make a cubby to keep them neat and tidy. He lined it with wood stained the same as our bathroom cabinetry and put an outlet in the top and it looks amazing! No more clutter!