The kitchen is one of the most important places in your home, if not the most important. For this reason, you should unpack and organize your new kitchen before tackling any of the other rooms in your new home. To help you through this process, we’ve gathered some bits of advice that will make unpacking and organizing your new kitchen easy as pie.
Begin with an assessment
First, consider the major areas in your kitchen such as the stove, sink, fridge, and main counter where your food prep will take place. Then, take a look at your stock list to see what items you’ll be working with the most. Most of the time this list includes pots, pans, knives, cutting boards, silverware, dishes, towels, spices, and more. Those are the items you should unpack first so when it comes time for a meal in between arranging your home, you’re good to go.
Locate all of your kitchen boxes
If you’ve read our blog articles on packing, then you know to label each box. Locate all of the boxes that have your kitchen items and bring them into the new kitchen. If you can’t quite remember what you packed in each one that’s no biggie. Start opening the boxes, sort through them, and take note of what you need to sort and organize. It’s important to do this first instead of opening one box at a time because you’ll be able to tackle an area of the kitchen in one go. Make sense?
Unpack all of your kitchen stuff
Your sink and your stove are the two most used places in your kitchen. Since the sink is first, take a look at the cupboard and drawer space that surrounds it. Note how much storage space you have, what areas are closest to the sink, and at what height they are. Start locating the essential items that you use everyday and place them in the accessible storage spaces. Do this by descending order. For example, cutlery will be used daily, so put it in the drawer to the right of the sink (if you’re right-handed). Put dishtowels and cloths in the drawer below that, and perhaps your recipe books in the third drawer down.
Now that you’ve got your drawers full, use the same method for your cupboard space. Put everyday items such as plates, cups, bowls, and glasses on shelves that are eye level. You use glasses more than plates, so put them in the eye level cupboard closest to the sink. The pieces you use less often can be placed behind everyday items or on higher shelves. If you have a rack or cupboards above the stove, put your pots and pans here for convenience. Make sure to include the lids too.
As far as the cleaning supplies and toxic substances, keep the toxic stuff in higher areas. Young children don’t need access to these items, so they’re best kept high up. Things like soaps, detergents, and other cleaning agents can be stored below the sink.
Do you want some help throughout the moving process? White Glove Movers is here for you. We’re a locally owned company based out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and we enjoy helping homeowners throughout the moving process. Give us a call today to discuss your upcoming move.