Creating Zones in the Kitchen
Have you heard the saying, “a place for everything, and everything in its place”? If you have ever had a meal on the go but got stuck looking for an ingredient, or spent time looking for a particular tool – it’s time to create the right places in your kitchen. As a high-use area and the heart of your home, you can make real improvements to your time spent in the kitchen by investing some time into organisation.
Creating zones in your kitchen allows you to organise your area and maximise your efficiency. The idea is to group categories of similar objects in the same location, and then ensure those zones work well together as you use your kitchen. Plan your zones, and you’ll find your kitchen is tidier and easier to use in no time.
Here are our tips for creating zones in the kitchen.
Identify your zones
Creating zones in the kitchen is all about identifying how you use each area, and then considering how the areas interact with each other. If you spend your cooking time hunting in cupboards or walking backwards and forwards across the kitchen as you find and prepare ingredients, creating zones can help.
The most commonly used zones are:
- Consumables. This is where you keep all your food items. The consumables zone will usually include your pantry, any areas where you keep additional consumables like oil and spices, and ideally your refrigerator if it’s close by.
- Non-consumables. These are the cupboards, drawers, and shelves where you keep kitchen essentials such as cups, plates, and cutlery.
- Preparation. Where do you typically prepare food? This is your preparation zone.
- Cooking. Your oven, microwave, and any other cooking devices you have are located in this zone.
- Cleaning. Where do you keep cleaning products? Think about the location of your dishwasher (if you have one) and other items used for cleaning.
You can personalise your zones – for example, with school age kids to feed every day, a “school lunches” zone might be useful, so you can keep all those items in one distinct location. As long as you have designated areas in your kitchen for each group of items, you’ll see the benefits of your increased efficiency.
Plan your Zones
Once you have identified which zones you will use to group your kitchen items and functions, it’s time to find the space. Take stock of the space you have available, and think about how you can use each zone to hold your items.
The location of each zone is important. You are not only grouping similar items and functions – you are also considering how they interact with each other. For example, if you locate your cleaning zone next to your non-consumables, it makes unpacking your dishwasher a breeze – straight into the cupboard! Your preparation zone needs to be as close to your cooking zone as possible, so you aren’t moving chopped veggies across the kitchen to cook them. That might mean those appliances you’ve previously stored on the bench next to the stove top get cleared into your non-consumables zone to allow you space to prepare food.
Your zones aren’t necessarily a hard and fast rule, but they should give you a clear idea of where each item belongs. If you need to increase the storage capacity of a particular zone, check out our tips for maximising the storage in your kitchen.
Craft your Kitchen
Finding that you don’t have the right set-up to create the zones you want for your kitchen? It might be that your kitchen design is working against you. Kit Kitchens can help – we offer high quality, affordable kitchens that are crafted to suit your space and needs. Plan your kitchen with each zone in mind, and ensure that you always have the space you need to store things where you want them. Get in touch with us to find out how you can create your kitchen to suit your lifestyle.
Creating Zones in the Kitchen
Organisation and efficiency help to make your kitchen a more enjoyable space. Identify where your activities and items take place. Map out how you use those zones together, and locate them as closely as possible. You’ll find your kitchen is more organised, and it’s easier to cook and clean. Organising your kitchen is an investment of time and energy that will make your kitchen a better place to be. Spend some time planning now to save time and energy later on – your future self will thank you!
