How to Organize Your Kitchen According to Marie Kondo

Following the advice of organization guru Marie Kondo, we've compiled some tips to help you organize your kitchen. Want to find out how?

Do you want to learn how to organize your kitchen according to Marie Kondo?

Lately, the Japanese organization guru has gained fame by starring in Tidying Up on Netflix. In eight episodes, the expert offers a series of tips for families with children through her “Konmari” method.

However, Kondo has an interesting philosophy that she’s tried to transmit through her books such as The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up and her television program:

Applying this to spaces such as your kitchen, she proposes some strategies to help you achieve order. Discover what they are below!

Organize your kitchen according to Marie Kondo

Are you one of those people who has to empty the whole kitchen cupboard just to take out a pot? Do you accumulate sticky food storage containers with no lid? Is cleaning the kitchen an odyssey for you because of so much junk?

If so, then you’ll want to know how to organize your kitchen according to Marie Kondo. Here are the keys.

Minimalism: The main rule to organize the kitchen, according to Marie Kondo

The first recommendation to follow Marie Kondo’s style when organizing your kitchen is to opt for a minimalist style. Although some prefer pots and ladles hanging in plain sight, in this case, the idea is to free up as much space as possible to achieve a more serene environment.

In her book Spark Joy, Kindo suggests avoiding putting elements on the kitchen counters, around the sink, or near heating. In short, the key is to free up the kitchen work surfaces as much as possible.

Take inventory

To apply minimalism in the kitchen,  you need to take an inventory of all the utensils you have. Sometimes, not knowing how to optimize the space causes you to distribute different objects around the shelves of the kitchen, the dining room, or auxiliary furniture.

By bringing them all together in one place, you can determine what you use and what you can do without. Once this is done, go on to the next step.

Discard

After taking inventory of the entire kitchen, it’s possible to identify useful objects and those that have no use or are deteriorated. At this point, it’s time to apply one of Marie Kondo’s main recommendations for organizing the kitchen: “Discard.”

As explained in the following work published by the European University in 2019, one of the main pillars of the “Konmari” method is to keep only what makes you happy. Therefore, if an object no longer serves a purpose or is deteriorated, it’s best to get rid of it.

Then, after taking out all the utensils in the inventory, you should keep only that which is indispensable. Also, you can take advantage of this time to thoroughly clean the kitchen furniture and cabinets.

Clearing your workspace to organize your kitchen

Returning to the recommendations of the first point, it’s important to make special mention of the need to completely clear your countertops. This is one of the areas of the kitchen where you do most of your food preparation; Therefore, it often ends up splattered with oil or food residues.

Considering this, having cans, food containers, pots, or any other utensils in sight can lead to more dirt and mess in the kitchen. On the other hand, when countertops are clear, cleaning is easy and takes just a few minutes.

Dividing objects by category

If you apply Marie Kondo’s rules to organize your kitchen, it’s important to keep in mind that you should divide all of your objects by category. That’s to say, you have to designate an exclusive space for cutlery, another for pots, a different one for the pans, etc.

Food storage and conservation to organize your kitchen

The way you store and preserve food has to do with the organization that your kitchen reflects. In this sense, Kondo makes several recommendations:

• First, organize food and spices in airtight containers that, if possible, are in plain sight.
• Then, put boxes in the pantry to store and sort the food in a more orderly way. That way, you’ll always know where to find them.
• Buy containers for vegetables, preferably made of glass so that you can see their contents.

In conclusion

Organizing your kitchen according to Marie Kondo is a way to promote mental well-being and a sense of happiness. In fact, although some people overlook it, harmony in every space in the house is related to mood and emotions. In this case, a cleaner and more orderly kitchen will be more satisfying to work in.

So what are you waiting for? Use these tips to organize your kitchen today!