Setting up a Functional Kitchen

Published April 17th, 2015 by Just Add Sprinkles

New Kitchen, Now What?

This week my husband and I officially bought our first home, making us home owners! (Well actually, I guess more like home loaners…) We are so excited!!!

The day we have waited for has arrived, but what now? I have the house, heaven knows I have more than enough stuff, but where does one start? Fortunately in my 25 years of life I have become quite pro at the whole packing, moving, unpacking thing. With at least 11 moves under my belt, I have learned my priority starting points. One is the bedroom. It is where we start and end our day. I don’t know about you, but boxes, and stuff out of place overwhelms me. I can deal with other parts of the house as long as the bedroom is done. The second (often completed before the bedroom, because let’s face it, I get excited) is … you guessed it—the kitchen.

When packing the kitchen, I take great care to pack and label all the glasses together, plates together, etc., so it makes for an easy unload/unpack. Then my husband does the last minute stuff and everything just kind of gets thrown in and randomly labeled. I have become okay with it because then there is a surprise in every box! I took such great care to be organized when I packed it all up, I want to unpack it the same way so that not only do I have a stocked kitchen, I have a functional kitchen. So, how do I tackle it? First, I decide where to put things so that they are convenient, like dishes by the dish washer, pots and pans by the stove, spices where I do my cooking…you get the point. Next, I decide what things to “display” to look cute and disguise everything else. I unpack 1 box at a time, and depending on how long the items have been stored in the box, I might rewash everything.

In my new kitchen I am having a dilemma. I don’t know where to put what. I lucked out and got a kitchen that is all newly remodeled. Some of the cabinets have glass doors on them to display some of my favorite things in. What do I put where? If you’re in the same boat as me, or just want to revamp your kitchen cabinets, let’s do this together.

Setting up the kitchen:

First, let’s locate our dishwasher (or where you will be washing and drying the dishes). This is our starting point. There is nothing more inconvenient then having to walk the plates all the way across the kitchen to put them away. Sometimes this is necessary, so for tricks to deal with dysfunctional kitchens read my post about making your kitchen work for you. Now back to setting up the kitchen…

Cups, glasses and bowls – typically on the top rack of the dishwasher. In my case I know I want my glassware in one of the glass cabinets because those look prettier than my plastic cups. I recommend choosing a cabinet near the dishwasher, so that you unload into the cabinet and not onto the counter creating more work for yourself.

Dinner and salad plates – We can do the same thing with the bottom rack items too, put them in a cupboard near the dishwasher.

Silverware – Find the closest drawer to the dishwasher for easier, quicker unloading. Because all of our dishes are close to the dish washing area, setting the table for family dinner will be fast and easy too, as all of the items we need are in the same area of the kitchen.

Cooking utensils – Spatulas, wooden spoons etc. should go close to the stove where we will be using them. Check out my spice up your kitchen post for ways to save on drawer and cabinet space by displaying some of these items.

Pots and pans and other miscellaneous items–These should be stored like-items together, and can go anywhere in the kitchen you can find room.

Once the unpacking is done we can turn our attention to more fun things! Somewhere in this kitchen I need to find the perfect spot to start my indoor herb garden! I could use some help-I don’t know where to put it, what style I want or which herbs I want to grow. Looks like I will be looking at our Kitchola Pinterest board for some ideas!

I hope that helps! It is so fun to set up a new kitchen but it can be overwhelming too! Remember, anything can be moved if you find it would be better stored some place. Experiment! Here’s to many family dinners prepared in your “new” kitchen!