Organization of cupboards

Doingmybest2bgoodhurrah

My kitchen is quite small too, so I find being organised is a real help to me. I have a cupboard for all my herbs & spices - most of these are in kilner jars. All my tinned & bottled goods are all together, as are all the baking ingredients (in tupperware). Pasta, rices, couscous, noodles are all together, again in tupperware. We don't go in for cereals much, but do keep oats & corn flakes in guess what?- tupperware tubs.

I had spinal surgery 11 years ago & even now try to keep an eye on what & how I lift, so the things I use the most are within easy reach. I never put heavy things on the lowest or highest shelves; this way I minimise bending & over-stretching (including pots & pans).

I also have a small cupboard for pet food.

I am lucky to have a good sized garage which I can access from the kitchen, so can keep multi-buy bargains there, which really helps since my kitchen is small. I also keep HM jams & marmalades in there. I dream of modern space-saving units, but cannot see me acquiring any for the foreseeable.

Is your under the stairs pantry in the kitchen? If not I'd probably think about storing things I don't use every day in there, to cut down on unnecessary to-ing & fro-ing. My Nan had a big pantry & it was fab. It had some mesh at the window to keep the creepy crawlies out in summer. My Mum also had one when we lived in an old cottage when I was about 8. Wish I had one - lucky you!!

Shysarah

Oooh I wish I had a pantry. I have very little kitchen storage one wall cupboard and one other which I use for food storage and some very narrow shelves by my worktop which I use for herbs/spices not much else fits on them.

I have a shelf in my floor cupboard which is all my baking things and then another shelf for rice/pasta/couscous etc.
Then in my other I have tins together, condiments/jams/tubs passata etc together and then at the top (which is hard to reach) coffee, dried soups and er er I am not sure tbh but other stuff too.

I keep my veggies in the fridge or in a rack with crisps/rice cakes.

I am hoping my parents will put the a new kitchen in next year as this bungalow is their retirement home and the kitchen is the same one which has been here since the bungalow was built 38 years ago.. Still works .. I wonder if the next one will last that long!

kitschkitty

We have a large double wall cupboard. Top shelf is all dried goods, then baskets with packets savory, packets sweet,
Bottom shelf is seasonings, condiments in jars, other jars and miscellaneous.

Floor cupboard below is sauces like ketchup, & vinegar, and tins.

Spices in spice rack, veg in fridge or on worktop, spuds in a cupboard in the lounge lol.
Fruit in the fruit bowl either on top of the fridge or on the dining table.
Eggs on top of the fridge.
Bread bin on worktop.
Baskets on top of cupboards for biscuits, cereal, spare tea, coffee, anything bulky & dry!

Like some other posters I like everything in order, so our tins go, fish, veg, soup, other, fruit.

rosieben

I have my herbs and spices in ikea Mackis drawers, they're high enough to take a spice jar or refill box; I didn't need them in the 'office' any more and was about to offer them on freecycle when I had the idea

ebayqueen_2

WEEZE210 wrote: »

I have finished! YEAH! Its only took all day. Decided to do the two freezers and the fridge. I can't believe how many packs of mince I've got and sausages, loads. I'm definately going to try and be more organized with my shopping. I think I'm going to give this meal planning a go, but where do I start? It's difficult when the kids are quite fussy.

hi there
Well done for sorting your freezers etc. Have you ever considered getting rid of one of them. I had a large chest freezer for about 10 years and we are a family of 5 .. 3 kids bigger than me now!
About 18 months ago I replaced it with one only half the size and I find that I can handle this amount very well. Before I found things lurking at the bottom that I completely forgot about.
I do find it challenging especially when I see lots of reduced meat. I now buy and when I am packing items to freeze I lay them flat, so rather than a circular big bag of chicken fillets I have lots of flat bags with 2/3 in each. This saves so much space!!!
I even freeze leftover soup, stew, spag bol. etc like this as the existing frezzer bags that are frozen solid are flat so the liquid freezes into flat block :o hope I am making sense.
I do have a large larder where my freezer stays too. I dont utilise this the best I can and could do with high shelving or larger rarely used items.
Hope this helps:)

Kaz2904

I have decided that I am going to tackle my kitchen cupboards tomorrow. I have an 800mm wall unit, a 500mm wall unit, 400mm wall unit, 600mm cupboard above oven housing, the bottom shelf of a 500mm unit is used for pasta and cat food and veggies are put in the fridge or the bottom of another cupboard.
All of my baking stuff is above the oven and also in the narrow cupboard (takes up 1 shelf). The above oven cupboard has no shelf in it so also houses cereals.
The 500mm cupboard is used for dry cooking like spices and stuff, gravies, and hot drinks.
The 800mm cupboard is really badly utilised. It has barely anything in it but is actually jam packed.

I would love someone to help me get this organised tomorrow, care to share your hints and tips.

Photos would be great

BitterAndTwisted

One woman's tidy and logical storage is another woman's useless, can't-find-anything, horrible muddle. Every time I'm in my sister's kitchen I have an overwhelming urge to reorganise it. Why have normal every-day items on a shelf that you can't reach easily?

Put the things that you use most at the front of shelves that are easiest to access. There's nothing more maddening (to me) than scrabbling about on my hands and knees trying to lure something out of the furthest reaches of the back of a floor-cupboard. Makes no sense if you use it regularly

Linda32

Generally speaking I have things I use most at the front.

Coffee and sugar is lined up across the back as I only fill the canisters on the work top every now and again.

Salt, pepper, mustard etc lined up along the back so I can put things in front, and they are not all grouped together.

Baking things in a cupboard.

Tins in another etc.

I would pull everything out then put back in the order that you use them. The least towards the back.

Kaz2904

I find my cupboards are worse than useless, I can't even fit a packet of spaghetti (the short stuff) in there from front to back or standing up so I've had to go out and get a spaghetti jar to keep on the work surface. Otherwise, every time I opened the cupboards, it would rain spaghetti.

I'm happyish with the main cupboards. Tbh, it's the 800mm wall unit which does my head in. It's so untidy and badly managed.
I think I will have to dig it all out and make a list of what's in there. At least that way I can put it all back in and will know where stuff is when I have put it all away.
This is all in preparation for an order from approved foods you realise, which I read about on here. So I'm holding you all responsible for this
Shall just finish my coffee and then go and get on with it. (Yes, I'm procrastinating really )

VfM4meplse

Kaz2904 wrote: »

I find my cupboards are worse than useless, I can't even fit a packet of spaghetti (the short stuff) in there from front to back or standing up so I've had to go out and get a spaghetti jar to keep on the work surface. Otherwise, every time I opened the cupboards, it would rain spaghetti.

Maybe you've just got too much stuff and should concentrate on running it down?