7 Ways to declutter your kitchen

The kitchen is often the heart of the family home: it's where homework is done and bills are paid, and where we gather together to eat and catch up about anything and everything. However, this whirlwind of activity—and indeed, the hectic nature of everyday life—can sometimes lead to organisational chaos.

If your kitchen is cluttered, it can be hard to know where to start in the mission to clean it up. Don't fret: here are seven quick and easy ways to clear your cupboards, countertops and conscience.

The kitchen is a great place for opening letters, reading newspapers, and doing homework. The problem is the newspapers, magazines, letters, notebooks, books, and other things that pile up on the table and countertops. Those things need a place to be stashed in your kitchen but out of the way.

There’s an easy answer—get a magazine rack. Some people keep them in their living rooms or bathrooms, but you can have yours on your kitchen floor or a countertop; you could even mount a rack to your wall, freeing up even more space. How you organise your things is up to you: you could have a single rack that keeps everything together, or you could have several to categorise your loose papers.

Put the three or four condiments you use virtually every day—mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, or whatever—in a prominent, easily accessible part of your fridge, like in a door shelf. Then, keep the rest of your condiments together in their own home—in a contained space so they can’t scatter. Ideally, designate a refrigerator door shelf as a condiment-only zone.

If space is tight, use a boxy, lidless plastic container as a condiment corral. You’ll always know exactly where your condiments are, and access to them will be as easy as pulling out the plastic container.

If you frequently have to throw away packaged food because it’s passed its expiration date, start using the LIFO (Last In, First Out) method of pantry stocking. Always put your newest purchases on the back of the shelf or on the bottom of a stack.

That way, you and your family members will always use up the oldest (and easiest to grab) food first.

If there’s a lot of space wasted between shelves, try this trick from the workshop: attach mason-type jars to the underside of the shelves.

Bin bags are easily lost—especially those that come in a roll—forcing you to wander around the house looking for a fresh bag every time you put the bins out. To end this little annoyance, take some or all of the bin bags off the roll and put them loose in the bottom of the bin. That way, every time you take out the rubbish, there’s a fresh bag lying there ready for service.

Start by putting your most-used pots and pans on racks. These are simple wooden or metal bars with hooks that attach to your kitchen ceiling or wall. The holes on your pot or pan handles fit the hooks. Just like that, you’ve cleared out a good chunk of clutter from your cabinet and positioned your pots and pans for easy access.

You can also get mixing bowls that nest—so three or four bowls only take up the space of one—and donate, sell or throw away those items that you don’t use.