15 Kitchen Organizing Hacks That Are Wasting Your Time
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Social media is a fickle thing, but it’s easy to get sucked into the endless stream of kitchen organizing hacks that promise to make cooking a breeze and storage a snap. Many of these ideas look great in a video but in the real world they’re not worth the trouble. Some hacks are too time consuming and some don’t deliver the practicality they promise.
Below, we’ll look at some of the most popular organizing ideas that, if applied to your kitchen, might be better off on your screen. At first these hacks may sound great, but in reality they can become a burden and even counterproductive.
Overstuffed Spice Racks
The idea of spice racks sounds great until you try to fit all the herbs and seasonings you own into one. Crowded racks not only make it hard to find what you’re looking for, but they also make you lose valuable counter or cabinet space. Also, if you buy a new spice, you’re going to have to move the whole rack. Instead, organize your spices by function (baking spices or savory seasonings), and store them in labeled jars in your draw until you need them.
Refrigerator Storage Bins
The trend of clear bins in the fridge seems ultra practical. However, when you actually try to live with them, you might discover that they do take up more space than they save. But they’re fixed shape, so they can make it difficult to fit larger or irregular items in the fridge, and because of this they can limit what you can fit. The truth is, it’s likely that organizing food by type and using your fridge’s adjustable shelves would be much more efficient than wrestling with bulky bins.
Decanting Everything Into Matching Containers
I have no doubt about the visual appeal of matching jars filled with cereals, grains, and snacks, but the process of transferring all of that into jars is a chore. When you buy something new you have to move it to keep the look and cleaning the jars is another step. It’s a beautiful idea, but in practice, decanting isn’t always time well spent, especially for things you use up fast.
Folding Towels in Fancy Ways
Folding towels to make them look like the cute, hotel vibe might be fun to try once, but it gets old quick. Folding towels a certain way doesn’t really do anything, and most towels end up stuffed into drawers or hanging on hooks anyway. For something that’s going to wrinkle or get tossed around, a simple fold or roll may be enough for kitchen organization.
Over-Organizing Drawers
Utensils can be neat when put in drawer dividers, organizers and trays, but too much of a good thing can make it harder to find the utensil you want. It’s not necessary for every spoon or spatula to have its own spot and it’s not fun to have to fiddle to get things back in the exact place each time. Usually, it’s more realistic to keep your drawers generally tidy than to overcomplicate their organization.
Using Labels on Everything
For family members who don’t know where everything goes, labels can be helpful. The problem with labeling every shelf, drawer, and bin is that it gets overwhelming, and you may forget to label them if things don’t fit perfectly. Instead, label a few high traffic, high need locations, such as snack bins or a cleaning supplies area, and let the rest take shape naturally.
Appliance Cords Tied or Wrapped in Clips
It may be neat to wrap appliance cords in clips, but it can be a pain in the butt in practice. So if you use the appliance daily, you will constantly be wrapping and unwrapping the cord, a pain in the neck compared to letting it rest loosely coiled. If the appliances are frequently used, a little bit of cord mess is easier than the extra work of bundling them up every time.
Dividing Every Shelf in the Pantry
Putting shelf dividers in the pantry might seem like a good way to keep everything in its place, but it can make it hard to fit larger items. The dividers on shelves packed with them become rigid, so you cannot rearrange them for different sized products. The pantry deserves flexibility, and way too many dividers can choke it down and feel pinchy.
Hanging Mugs on Hooks Under Cabinets
This hack may save cabinet space in small kitchens, but it’s not without its drawbacks. Mugs hanging from hooks can clink with each other and chip and crack. They’re also exposed to dust and grease. And if you’re not OK with washing them often, or having them take up visual space in your kitchen, then it’s probably best to store mugs in a cabinet.
Sectioning Off the Freezer
Sounds great to divide up the freezer, until you realize those rigid bins or sections take up space that could otherwise fit larger items. Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to freezers, and they love to be as flexible as possible so you can fit as much as you want, no matter the size or shape. Most people keep a variety of frozen goods, and rigid sections don’t work well for that.
Adding a Coffee Station
Designating a coffee area with mugs, creamers and syrups may be impressive, but it’s also a time consuming space hog. The coffee station may actually become just another obstacle — if it seems that you’re always moving mugs and ingredients between the kitchen and the coffee station. Often, it’s easier to keep everything in a cabinet near your coffee maker.
Cabinet Doors as Mounting Storage
A popular hack is adding storage to cabinet doors, but that’s not always possible. Doors will sag from heavy items and you can loosen the hinges by opening and closing them often with heavy items. The items stored on the doors can also get in the way of things inside the cabinet, and can be a source of frustration when you’re trying to quickly access items.
Dividing Everything in the Junk Drawer With Containers
A super organized junk drawer sounds great until you realize it’s not really practical. Most of the time, a drawer full of small compartments just limits what can fit, and you’ll spend more time squeezing items into the right slots than you’d like. A junk drawer is sometimes better when a little bit of organized chaos, so you can throw things in without having to worry about where they go.
Open Shelving
A legion of light furniture like open shelving can be gorgeous and modern and let you display your faves; dishes, glassware, etc. But the exposed surfaces become magnets for dust and cooking grime, and unless you’re an absolute cleaning machine, they’ll never get the chance to be clean. Soon you’ll be washing dishes you never use because they’ve been gathering dust. In the kitchen, open shelving can be a hassle more than it’s worth.
Stackable Containers for Every Cabinet
Dry storage or leftovers may work great with stackable containers, but they can get to be a chore to use them in every cabinet. Often these require specific sizes to stack well, and if one container is moved, the whole system can come crashing down. Specific items are great but it’s not so great when you apply it to everything.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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