Organizing Your Home: Kitchen

A simple meal is all you had in mind. Four simple ingredients. But it took more time to find a can of tomato paste than it did to make the entire meal.

Nothing saves you time and effort more than having an organized kitchen. This becomes especially true when you have limited vision. Knowing where things are means searching less. With some new tips and techniques, you’ll be able to create a system that works best for you. And even if you already have a good system, there may be some new tips here for you to consider.

One of the first things you can do is keep a small flashlight in a handy place to use when trying to find something in a dark cabinet. Or, install battery operated touch light in an area you always need some extra light, like a pantry.

To create better contrast in your pantry, line the back wall with construction or wrapping paper. Or, you can paint the walls white with a matte finish to create better contrast.

Make a habit of putting things back in their place as soon as you’ve used them to make them easier to find each time. And put the things you use the most at the front of the shelves or cabinets.

Try to group similar foods together, like keeping canned fruits on one side of a shelf and canned veggies on the other side. You can also make reusable large print labels on index cards and attach them to the cans with rubber bands. Then, once an item is used, the card serves as your shopping list.

When it comes to spices, think about arranging them in alphabetical order from left to right and front to back. Or, group them by types of cooking, like storing garlic powder, oregano and basil together for cooking Italian dishes then nutmeg and cinnamon together for sweets.

Whenever you have more than one of the same items, put the newest one in the back so the oldest one is used first. And to avoid using unsafe food, discard items if the date has passed or it hasn’t been used after 12 months. And since expiration dates can be difficult to read, ask a family member or friend to read expiration dates for you and create a list of items and dates in large print, audio or braille.

There are also low vision devices and apps you can use for this. You can use boxes or bins to keep food items separated. You can also cut cardboard from empty cereal boxes to use as dividers. Or, use contrasting colored tape to divide shelves into sections.

And it’s a good idea to create large print, audio, or labels that you can feel to help identify food items. Check out our workshops on labeling for more specific ideas. Of course, you’ll want to keep pet food and cleaning supplies in a separate area of your cabinets, away from your food.

Now, let’s talk kitchen drawers. Similar to cabinets and pantry shelves, put frequently used items in the front of the drawers. And putting contrasting colored shelf liner into drawers will make items easier to see.

Even your “junk drawer” can stay organized by using drawer dividers, trays, shallow bins, and boxes to separate utensils and organize items. And for tips on storing knives, check out our other workshops on knife skills and kitchen safety.

These same tips work well in the refrigerator and freezer. For instance, put sandwich fixings like meat, cheese and your favorite condiments together on a shelf or in a storage bin. Or, use separate shelves for breakfast, lunch, dinner foods and leftovers.

Try arranging items like jelly, soy sauce, and hot sauce by size or grouping bottles of salad dressing together. You get the idea. Labeling is important here as well so use contrasting labels or raised marks you can feel. For easy reference, keep a list of what's in the freezer in large print, audio, or braille.

Now, make sure to talk to your family about the system you’ve created. Show them how and why they can help you by following your system. But, if they’re not good at that, just store items you use most often in a plastic bin or claim a separate shelf as “yours.” This lets you keep better track of things in an area you control. And it goes without saying that keeping counters clear of clutter will make it easier to find things, with an added bonus of having more space to work.

As always, contact a learning expert if you have questions or your own tips to share.