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Organize kitchen by throwing out utensils, pans without lids
By Deborah Churchman
The Christian Science Monitor
“Centering your kitchen is just put
ting things where they’re first used,”
says Deniece Schofield, author of
“Escape From the Kitchen” (Writer’s
Digest Books, 1986) That means the
colander and potatoes go by the sink, the
glasses go by the refrigerator and
364 of your 370 empty margarine tubs go
into the trash.
“First you have to go through ev
erything in the kitchen and streamlne.
We’ve thrown out up to 15 trash bags
worth in the kitchens we’ve done,” says
Alice Fulton, co-author with Pauline
Hatch of “It’s Here... Somewhere”
(Writer’s Digest Books, 1985). “You
find four spatulas with broken handles,
five rusty potato peelers, pans with
out lids, lids without pans, endless things
you don’t need and never use,” she
continues.
Schofield advocates culling through
one area at a time, discarding the obvi
ous and dividing everything else into
A’s (vital —use every day), B’s (impor
tant use at least once a week), and
C’s (use seasonally, like the turkey ros
ter or cookie cutters). The C’s can be
stored on hard-to-reach shelves, in the
pantry, or down the hall; everything
else should be put in the appropriate
center.
The three organizers has different
ideas on what constitutes a center, and
they also emphasize that deciding
what goes where is a very personal
choice. “Architects design for beau
ty, not function,” Schofield believes, “so
a lot of what you’re doing is making
the best of a bad design. And every
kitchen, no matter how organized, is
going to have a little inconvenience.”
“We’re loosey-goosey about where
things should go, depending on what’s
most convenient for the family a
big family might want the tableware
near the dishwasher, to make it easy
to put away,” says Fulton, “and a fam
ily with young children might want
the plates to a low shelf, so the kids can
set the table.
“But we’re really strict about qual
ity,” she emphasizes. “We’ve done in
depth research and discovered that a
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new spatula will cost you $1.69. Throw
out the three you have with the melt
ed handles and get one good one,” she
advises.
Regardless of what you call the
centers, all kitchens have a spot for
cleanup, for mixing and baking, for
cooking, and for storage. Large kitchens
can take on more centers for the
microwave (with paper towels hanging
nearby and the special dishes on the
shelf below), for serving (with the nap
kins, salt and pepper, sugar bowl,
honey pot, good glasses, and nice table
ware within easy reach), for quick
breakfasts (with bowls, cereal, spoons,
toaster, and jam pots next to the re
frigerator), and even, says Hatch, for
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popcorn.
“That’s one of our most popular
centers we put the popcorn, the pop
per, the seasonings, and a big bcwl to
gether where the kids can get it.”
Large kitchens also might need du
plicates, Schofield says: “A paring knife
near the sink and also in the mixing
center, a set of measuring spoons with
the flour and also by the stove,” she
says.
Most of us look at such problems
with something bordering in envy. For
those whose kitchens are little more
than narrow closets, “the centers will
have to be more creative,” Schofield
concedes. “If you don’t have shelves and
drawers, think about ways to hang it
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up or put it on the floor—a rolling cart
you can stick in the comer, an old
chest of drawers, a set of narrow shelves
against the wall, something stuck be
tween the refrigerator and the wall.”
Authors Hatch and Fulton advise
those with small kitchens to cut back to
the barest basics one pot, one pan,
etc. and clean them continually rather
than struggle over putting extras
away each day.
Here are some of their ideas on how
to set up the basic centers:
Cleanup center
Situated around the sink, the center
includes a severely pared down list of
cleaning supplies (one or two cleans
ers, plus something to wash the dishes),
sponge and brush in a bucket or dish
pan. You’ll need a shelf, drawer, or
hooks to hang cleaning rags and tea
towels (“Buy new ones, or bleach the
old,” says Fulton), and you may want
to put the paper towels here.
This is also the place to put the root
vegetables (in a dishpan under the sink
or a basket hanging nearby, perhaps)
and the tools you need to process them
potato peeler, paring knife, colander.
Hatch recommends that you put four or
five of your not-best glasses near the
sink for quick slurps of water; all other
glasses go next to the refrigerator.
Some families store their tableware
near the sink to facilitate putting it
away.
Mixing center
Ideally situated between the sink
and the stove, the mixing center needs a
storage area for “all the foods you
have to do something to before you can
eat it flour, commeal, oatmeal,”
says Schofield. She bought a dozen or so
freezer containers of various sizes so
she can keep a small quantity of the
foods she eats every week here and
put the rest in the pantry.
Fulton and Hatch divide their
spices and put the ones for baking in this
area cinnamon and nutmeg go
here, dill and oregano go near the stove,
the area also contains the equipment
used for mixing and baking mixing
bowls, beaters wooden spoons and
whisks, measuring spoons and cups,
cake pans, cookie sheets, and muffin
tins.
“ You can stand in one place and do
everything,” says Hatch. “It encourages
your children to cook, because it
makes it so easy.”
Cooking center
Situated around the stove, this cen
ter includes all the cooking equipment
pots and pans, spatulas and spoons,
meat fork and thermometer, knives,
cooking spices, sauce packets, bouil
lon, and hot drinks, the organizes don’t
like the idea of hanging pans in plain
sight, “because in a kitchen there’s lots
of splattered grease and dust and it
starts to grow caterpillar fuzz,” says
Schofield.
If space is limited, spices can be di
vided into most-used, least-used piles,
with the most used labeled and stuck
into the nearer drawer. Or they can be
organized alphabetically and stored
in wall racks, under-counter racks, or on
lazy Susan in the cupboard.
“Homemakers are horrified when
they clean out their spices,” says Fulton,
Some are decades old.
Storage center
Get this as close as you can to the
refrigerator, and get your trash bag
ready when you clean it out. “People
just can’t stop saving Cool Whip contain
ers and bread bags,” Schofield says
with a sigh. She advocates placing these
things in a container; that way, when
the container is full, you know you have
to throw the rest away. “Ask your
self, if my refrigerator were full of Cool
Whip containers, how many would it
actually hold?”
This center needs a drawer, shelf,
or hanging space for foil, plastic wrap,
and plastic bags.
If your kitchen has a phone, you’ll
need an area for information phone
books, paper, pen and pencils, statio
nery, envelopes, stamps, calendar, lists
form soccer teams and volunteer
groups, etc. This can be anything from a
desk with its own file drawer to a
cardboard box and a magnetic caddy
stuck to the refrigerator.
Once you’ve meshed your belong
ings into centers, says Mrs. Schofield, it
my take a while to get used to it.
“You may experience a little frustration
for a week or two until you feel com
fortable,” she writes.
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