Kick the Clutter to the Curb With These Tips For Organizing the Most Used Room in the House

The kitchen might be the heart of the home, but it's also one of the easiest places for clutter to congregate - and one of the hardest to organize.

The kitchen is the most used room in the house. You use it for so many different activities - you go there to eat, the kids go there to do homework, you entertain in there and so much more.

Disorganization in the kitchen is anything but good for you. A lot of times when we go to the kitchen, we're hungry or we're stressed. If you can find what you need quickly and easily, it just increases your wellbeing.

Put in a few hours or a day or two of your time to get kitchen clutter under control. The more time you invest up front the less time you'll spend searching for things in the days and week ahead. Here, is how to handle the biggest problem areas in any kitchen.

The pantry

Whether its remnants of half-eaten bags of cereal, spices, canned goods or the kids' treats, the pantry or food cupboard is often a problem area in the kitchen. If you're constantly buying a new box of spaghetti or more cans of soup every week because you can't find the old stuff, you're wasting both your time and your money.

Buy square, clear plastic containers for food like sugar, cereal, flour and pasta. If the containers are clear, you can see what's inside and you're not opening a new box every time. And choose square containers as opposed to round ones, because square edges align and waste less space.

Try a tiered platform in your pantry so you can see those items that are tucked in behind. Buttigieg recommends having a look around the next time you're at the grocery store to see how they organize items like canned goods and dry foods. Store items in your pantry in the same categories, and place new items toward the back so you use up older items before they go bad.

The refrigerator

Much like in the pantry, put the freshest food toward the back of your fridge so you'll use up what's already there before the expiry date. Before you head out to the grocery store, have a quick look in the fridge and toss whatever is expired. That way, you have plenty of room for the fresh food when it arrives.

The same holds true for your freezer, she adds. Try using sturdy plastic bins to hold smaller items like frozen spices together in one spot.

Mismatched dishes

You probably have a uniform set of dishes, side plates and bowls, but what about all those coffee mugs? You likely have many different mismatched mugs gathered over the years, whether they're souvenirs from trips, leftovers from the office or well-meaning gifts. But when those items are mismatched, they don't always fit well into your cabinets.

Start by going through your mismatched dishes and mugs and donating all the ones you don't want to a local charity. Just because you got it for free doesn't mean you need to keep it. If you have a certain style of mug or dish you like, buy a set of those and get rid of all the others. You can also buy shelf racks that allow you to gain some extra shelf space for all those mugs.

Children's dishes

You might have a lovely set of china, but if you've got kids, odds are you've also got an assortment of plastic cups, plates, cutlery and various other mismatched dishes collected over the years. Often, that assortment is hard to organize.

Put children's dishes, cups and cutlery in separate baskets and placing them in an area that's easily accessible to children. If kids have easy access to them, you're encouraging independence. When they want a drink of water, they don't have to call mom or dad.

Plus, putting them all in plastic bins helps kids take part in cleanup as well. If you put all the cups in one container, all the plates in another, etc., it's easy for kids to put things away.

Alison Dunn is Editor of Primacy Life, a Canadian-based health, wellness and fitness website. Primacy Life is published weekly and covers important topics affecting Canadians everywhere. Visit http://www.Primacy.ca today.