Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
In the Zone
While helping a client last week, I went to put something into a kitchen cabinet, and things fell on me. They weren’t heavy (thank goodness) and nothing broke. Being able to open cabinets and cupboards without stuff falling out seems like a pretty low bar, but for some people it remains a challenge. The problem is that I can help them instill order, but if they go to the store and buy too much and jam it in where ever it fits, chaos returns.
It’s a particular problem in the kitchen, but it can also occur in linen closets—or anyplace where there is a fairly regular in-and-out flow of stuff. The solution is easy: Step one is to create zones.
In my client’s kitchen, the reason that things fell on me were that there were too many things in the cabinet and they weren’t organized: bags of chips and pasta had been shoved on top of cans. People look at cabinets and think in terms of volume, as though the cabinets were grocery bags to be filled to maximum capacity.
But that’s not how I see it.
I think your cabinets should be a display, exhibiting all of your stock for your culinary convenience: the can zone, the snack zone, the pasta zone, boxes all facing the same direction. When you put like with like, you make better use of your space. Use a riser for your cans and a basket to coral bags of snacks. If you really want to get into it, label the shelves in your cabinet: Pasta & Grains, Snacks, Canned Goods. The first time I ever saw a P-Touch label maker was at the restaurant where I was waiting tables. The manager used it to label the storage areas in the kitchen and bus station: bread, ketchup, oil & vinegar, salt & pepper. I loved it. In a busy restaurant, everyone knew where anything was stashed, and could easily see how much was on hand. You can zone a section for your vases, your serving platters—even your garbage bags, just like we did in the restaurant. If goes in your kitchen, it should have a well-considered home.
So how do you keep history from repeating itself the next time you go to the grocery store? The magic word is Inventory. I’ll talk about how to make a list, and how to stick to the list, next week. For now, go label your cabinets!