It’s almost summertime, and you’ve probably done your spring deep clean of your kitchen. Make your summer a little simpler by organizing a few areas of your kitchen, too. Then you’ll be ready for all the fun home cooking and outdoor grilling summer brings!

Organize Your Appliances

Even if you cleaned inside and outside your cabinets, did you take the time to organize your appliances? Do you really use that egg poacher? Rice cooker? Do you need both a slow cooker and an Instant Pot? 

Appliances take up the most space in your kitchen, and sometimes they get lost in cabinets until you realize you’re out of space. Lessen your clutter by getting rid of the appliances you know you don’t use. You might also consider buying one appliance that does multiple jobs, like a blender that works as a food processor. 

Then choose appliances that you want to keep out on your counter. If you actually use your blender every morning for a smoothie, you can save time by leaving it out.

For the appliances you use occasionally, consider storing them at the top of cabinets – out of the way, but available if you need them. Or you can keep them in your basement if you only pull them out once a year.

Find Manuals Online

Manuals take up too much space and look too cluttered in your kitchen. Find the manual online and save the PDF in a folder on your computer. Then you’ll have it if you need it, but they’re not floating around your kitchen.

Pull out the Cookbooks

Do you have cookbooks hidden in a cabinet or stacked on your countertop? First, find a place to keep them clean when not in use, then resolve to start cooking through them one by one. Start mixing up the menu by picking a new recipe each week from one of your books. Before you look for a recipe online, check one of these books first! 

If you realize none of the recipes seem delicious, it’s time to donate the book. 

Buy Flowers Each Week

Put the finishing touch on your kitchen with fresh flowers every week. Whether you’re picking them from your garden or the grocery store florist, they’ll brighten your space and set you in a good mood for the day.

Renovating & Storage

If you’ve decided to renovate your kitchen, choose your cabinets carefully. The cabinet door overlay can significantly impact your storage capabilities (especially if you need a place to store those appliances!)

Choose full or frameless cabinets for the best storage

When you’re working with a kitchen designer, they will give you the best advice on cabinets to meet your lifestyle needs. But during your planning process, you will want to avoid traditional cabinet door overlays for storage reasons. With a piece of framing between the two cabinet doors, you won’t be able to put large appliances in your cabinets, or you’ll have difficulty storing your pots and pans. If the cabinets and doors are exceptionally wide, your installer may require a framing support in the center.

Generally, full overlay or frameless cabinets will open the widest for the best storage solutions. If you’re looking for more visual depth to your cabinet doors, choose paneling details to bring that more traditional look instead of spacing them with framing.

Mix of Drawers and Cabinets

While base cabinet drawers make great use of space – you won’t lose items in the back of the cabinet, you don’t need to bend over as far, and inserts keep things in place – shelved cabinets work well for small appliances on shallow roll-out drawers. The mix also makes the room more interesting visually.

If you’re ready to organize a beautiful new kitchen, Garden State Soapstone offers high-quality natural stone to make your dream kitchen a reality. Stop by our showroom today to start planning.