For many of us, 2017 was a doozy, but we here at Brit + Co are ready to hit refresh in 2018! Follow our Hit Refresh series through February for new ideas, hacks, and skills that will help you achieve (and maintain!) those New Year’s resolutions.
We’re two months into 2018 and there’s at least one resolution were still sticking to — organization. If you tuned into our closet reorg last month, you know that our decluttering project was a huge success, so we’re applying the same get-clean mentality to the kitchen. Our skilled Junior Designer, Rebecca Fong, was happy let us take over her cooking space for the afternoon to try our hand at a few small techniques to get things tidy.
Besides being a talented designer and creative at heart, this girl has made it her New Year’s mission to be more present in the kitchen. Since she shares her place with two roomies, kitchen space is limited, and finding a good solution for organizing all her cookware was essential. Take a look below to see how a few small steps helped her out.
Brit + Co: What was the biggest problem area for you? Why?
Rebecca Fong: The biggest problem area for me is my kitchen. I live with two other people, and the kitchen is the only space where we store shared items all together. We all have different methods for organizing, as well as multiples of the same items. Since we don’t have great methods for organizing, things can get lost or become difficult to access.
B+C: Have you tried to organize this area in the past? How did that go?
RF: I have tried to organize these areas in the past, but nothing seems to stick. I have tried to rearrange the pots and pans into more manageable piles, but they always end up getting messy after a few weeks. In the past, I have used large Ziploc bags to organize my baking supplies and keep them fresh. It worked decently and it was nice to be able to see the contents of the bags. However, things would still get lost in the shuffle, and the bags weren’t structured enough for me to clearly see how much I had of [different] things.
B+C: How did your New Year’s resolutions come into play in this exercise?
RF: One of my New Year’s resolutions is to cook more and eat better in general. Having an organized kitchen makes cooking seem more appealing, saves me time, and makes it easier to be more aware of what ingredients I have in my cupboards.
B+C: Was the labeling organization method helpful? Was it difficult at first?
RF: The labeling method was pretty helpful! It was pretty easy and helped me to eliminate a lot of half-used bags of things that I would probably never use again. Instead of having four half-full bags of chocolate chips, I now have one airtight, labeled container. Yay!
B+C: What were some pros and cons of this method?
RF: There are so many pros! My kitchen feels so much more organized, [and] I feel so much more aware of what ingredients I have and what cooking tools are at my disposal. I honestly don’t think there are any cons.
B+C: Would you try this in other areas of your home?
RF: One hundred percent yes! I want to go through my closet and organize things with clear bins!
B+C: Would you recommend this organization method?
RF: I would recommend! I feel so much more confident about whipping up last-minute meals and not wasting nearly as much food now!
B+C: What advice would you give to people trying this method?
RF: I would say do your research. And don’t be afraid to go to The Container Store multiple times in one week!
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Photography: Brittany Griffin
Models/Organizers: Rebecca Fong
