Organize Life, Inside Out
Tips, Techniques, and Resources

Organize Your Kitchen, Inside Out

Similar to home office organization, you may feel overwhelmed when thinking about how to organize your kitchen. This is because the kitchen has often become a multi-purpose room instead of a sacred space.

What’s the difference?

A sacred space has had intentions defined for the purpose of the space, while a multi-purpose room lacks definition and clarity, and as a result, lacks organization. The key is to get all of the family members together to define the intentions they want for the space (how it’s used and what is stored in it).

First you need some Inside-Out techniques and tools, such as The Brain Dump, Emotional Releasing Techniques, and The Power of Intention.

If you haven’t already learned how to Organize Life, Inside Out, click here to start.

Then come back and we’ll discuss how to organize your kitchen.

Ready?

For most families, the kitchen has three main uses:

• food storage and preparation
• storage of dishes and cooking-related appliances and utensils
• a place to socialize when eating and preparing food

Almost all other activities and objects act as distraction, avoidance, or clutter.

Have you ever entered an organized kitchen and felt immediately at home? It was most likely because there were not many distractions and it was not cluttered. This change in feeling and mental state by a change in your immediate environment is called a “state change”.

How good would it feel if you could experience a state change every time you entered YOUR kitchen? Maybe the kitchen can be more than just a place where you cook and wash dishes day in and day out. It could also be a place where you can relax, be creative, and re-connect.

Before you move on to the step-by-step guide to declutter, clean, and simplify your kitchen, take a few moments with the family to define your intentions for this space. What does the kitchen represent to each person? What would each person like to experience there? Put your intentions in the present tense as if you are already experiencing them.

Some Example Intentions for the Kitchen:

• “Our kitchen has a place for everything so I can find what I need easily.”
• “The kitchen is an organized and efficient place where everything is within reach,
  I have exactly what I need to prepare meals, and I can socialize with my friends and family.”
• “My kitchen facilitates my creativity because I know it is organized and I am free to put my energy and focus into what I am cooking instead of worrying about clutter and things left undone.”

Now write your own intentions for your kitchen and allow them to guide your actions as you move through the next steps.

The Back-to-Basics Approach to Organize Your Kitchen:

• Declutter. Learn how to get rid of the junk, clutter, the distractions, and whatever is unnecessary to accomplish your intentions.

• Clean. Learn how to deep clean your kitchen with natural cleaning products and know that you can breathe easy in your space.

• Simplify. Learn how to accomplish your intentions by only having what is important for you in your kitchen.

Next…

Use a household notebook to keep track of who’s coming and going. Consolidate your family’s information into a Family Organizer/Planner, Mom Organizer/Planner, and Grocery List Planner.

When the babysitter arrives, everything is one place!

Another great idea is to have chore and responsibility charts so everyone knows what their jobs are.