I have found it can be a challenge to maintain healthy, simple meal preparation while also keeping your workspace neat. Our modern life puts tremendous stress on the home, so it’s no surprise that interest in home organization is trending up. Kitchen organization and proper food storage can make a difference, but are not always easy to implement.
When I found Wiebke Liu and the wonderful team at Blisshaus, I realized that their approach could be an excellent solution for me. Their mission is to make sustainable living irresistibly beautiful by showing how “green meets gorgeous” in every kitchen. Drawing on the Stylish and Sustainable Tips, Wiebke took an interest in my tiny, New York City kitchen, personally curated my kitchen plan, and coached me through the steps!
Here are the top five tips from my experience so far:
1. Store food in glass – it looks great and keeps things fresh.
Storing food in glass will extend the shelf life of pantry items such as dried beans, rice, and pasta. When you get home from shopping, toss the original packaging and put the food into the glass jars. I started with reused jam jars and recently upgraded to hermetically sealed jars.
2. Take inventory and stock the pantry, even phantom items.
Make room for your full inventory in your pantry during your organizing phase, even if you don’t currently have that food item. This sets you up for success – shelves cannot be cluttered with roaming items. Even better is the time savings later making grocery lists; restocking is simplified.
3. Put like-with-like.
Create kitchen zones for “Core Pantry” or “Baking Pantry” or “Snack Pantry” or any zone that makes sense for your kitchen. By putting like-with-like you save time later when assembling meals and baked goods. Consolidating related items together makes your activity a “lift and shift” to the counter and your only focus is on preparation.
4. Create a 30-Day challenge with orphaned items.
Dedicate an open box or container in which to put odds and ends, such as mismatched forks, old bags of seasoning or rice. Then create a 30-day challenge to use them all up. At the end of the month either compost, give away or recycle whatever remains.
5. Be accountable on Zoom.
Organizing can be tedious, so switch it up and make it fun! I found opening “live” zoom sessions and inviting friends & family to join was great for improving accountability. Imagine my surprise when I invited Wiebke Liu (the founder of Blisshaus) and she joined!