The holiday season is here, which means you might be spending a lot more time in the kitchen preparing meals for any visiting friends and family. This can indeed be stressful, but there are steps you can take to make your kitchen more efficient and comfortable as you prepare your holiday meals.
Declutter and Organize
If your kitchen feels like a cluttered mess on the best of days, you’ll definitely want to clean things up before you start cooking for your guests. This doesn’t mean you need to start getting rid of things to make more room in your kitchen, although tossing out items you won’t be using doesn’t hurt. What you really want to do is clear off counter space, get into the habit of putting things away as soon as you’re done with them, and make sure garbage is thrown out quickly.
Since you don’t want to be stuck cleaning and decluttering your kitchen on Christmas morning when you have guests arriving in a few hours, find a time to start the process when you have the kitchen to yourself and don’t have to worry about cooking anything. Go through all of your cupboards and drawers to make sure everything is where it needs to be and throw away any old food that you have in the refrigerator. Clear off the counters and decide where your primary workspace is going to be once you start your holiday cooking. Beginning with an organized kitchen is really half the battle when it comes to making food for lots of guests, so start decluttering and organizing things sooner rather than later.
Create Zones in Your Kitchen
Creating zones in your kitchen and designating them for different purposes will keep things running much more efficiently. Keep a space ready to store and prepare drinks and snacks, a place to prepare vegetables and other ingredients, and a place for your dirty dishes.
Sharpen Your Knives
Nothing makes preparing a meal more arduous than having to cut with a dull knife. Fortunately, knife sharpeners are easy to come by and even easier to use. You can find a decent knife sharpener anywhere cutlery is being sold, and the process of sharpening a knife should only take about 10 minutes at the most.
Get a Spice Rack
Every kitchen should have a spice rack. Not only does it cut down on the clutter in your kitchen, but an organized rack also makes it far easier to find any spices that you might need for a recipe. Once again, you can find a decent and affordable spice rack just about anywhere, so pick one up now before you host your next holiday party.
In truth, the best way to really make your kitchen more comfortable and efficient may be to redesign it entirely and do a full remodel, but doing that before the holiday season is in full swing is probably not an option. For now, consider these tips to make your kitchen a little easier to handle for your next holiday get-together and start working with One Source Cabinets for a full remodel at the end of the year.