Organization! Ahh… one of my favorite words. Do you guys have any idea how much I LOVE to organize? LOL. I’d do it in my sleep if I could. Some could consider my OCD organizational skills slightly ridiculous and downright crazy. I get it, I really do. But for me, it’s a lifestyle. I couldn’t live without major order and organization in my life. Yes, that means poor Anton and our yorkies have to deal with me organizing them too.

Ok, so now you know something a little crazy about me. But hopefully this craziness can help you guys when it comes to your own organization at home and more specifically, in the kitchen. You don’t have to be as “looney” as me but I’m telling you, when it comes to your kitchen, organization does more for you than merely arranging your pantry. Here are a few reasons we should all organize our kitchens, and FAST!

1. For your sanity. Living in a mess can be difficult and well, quite frankly, it can drive a person like me crazy. If you can never find what you’re looking for, if you’re always in a rush in and out of the kitchen wishing you had an hour, a day, a week to organize it. Heck it can even produce anxiety just thinking about the mess you have to go home to. I think it’s a gift to give yourself when you can spend some time or even hire a professional to organize your kitchen. After all, you spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and prepping food, eating food and even conversing with family and guests.
2. Save money & time! When your kitchen is organized you can find everything easily! This means you’re not wasting precious nano seconds of your busy day trying to find the tomatoes or sea salt. You’re also not likely to double up on purchases because you cannot find things. Ever done that before when you can’t find the paper plates so you go to the store and buy some, returning to the house to find out you already had them and now have way too many to fit onto the pantry shelf? I have. Ugh and it’s so annoying. There’s nothing I like less than wasting my time and my money.
3. Save more space. Our refrigerator is not huge but we can certainly eat a lot of fresh veggies and fruits so it’s easy to feel overwhelmed each time I come home from the grocery store. Organization is the only way I can fit everything into the fridge and pantry… and actually still find what I’m looking for days later.
4. Kitchen cleanliness can motivate you to eat healthy. I find that when my kitchen is clean and organized, I eat much healthier. There must be some sort of scientific correlation here LOL. Seriously, I feel so good about knowing where everything is. I enjoy prepping my healthy food, washing it right away and making several healthy salads for the week. If my fridge was less organized I’d have no desire to do any of this prepping nor would I be able to bring home as many fresh vegetables to store in my vegetable bins. My salad bowls would never fit on the shelves! Disaster and disorder cause more disaster and disorder if you ask me. Cleanliness just makes you feel so good. How could you not want to eat healthy in such an organized kitchen?
5. Decrease your stress levels. In chaos we get stressed, it’s a proven fact. So if our messy kitchen stresses us out, our digestion will be negatively affected. Remember my We Care blog on the 7 steps to healthy living? Well, not eating stressed out is one of them. We need to feel calm and relaxed when we eat so that our body will properly digest its food.

SO… have I inspired you to get up and start tidying up your kitchens yet? I hope so. It’s super easy I swear!

I like to start by cleaning out the fridge when we are almost out of food. This way, there’s less to take out and move around while I’m wiping down vegetable bins and glass shelves. Next, I bring home a bunch of healthy ingredients from the grocery store and do all of my advance prep work! Quinoa, brown rice, grilled fish, vegan salads and healthy dressings are all things that I cook the moment I return from the store. And finally, it’s all about the placement. As you can see, my OCD silly self can’t wait to perfectly align glass containers and place two yogurts on a shelf as if they’re headed for Noah’s Ark. I have issues I admit it. But doesn’t it look so pretty? I mean seriously, it makes me feel healthy and clean just staring at the inside of our fridge. (Now it doesn’t always stay this way by the end of the week… between my three growing boys, Anton and the yorkies, I don’t have time to keep it this picture perfect, but I do my best).

When there’s a mess… clean it right away. Don’t let the messes pile up because before you know it you’ll have a parade of ants in your pantry. And speaking of pantries, why not head to yours right now and quickly dust off the shelves? Use some vinegar and lemon juice as a natural cleaning agent on shelves. It’ll leave your pantry clean and smelling super fresh.

My number one rule… if you can’t see it, it shouldn’t be there. All your food items need to be visible at all times so you don’t forget or overlook them. I hate wasting things! Remember, it’s also our job to incorporate healthy, environmentally friendly decisions into our lifestyle. Only buy what you know you can eat. Make an extra trip to the store if you accidentally run out of something too soon- it’s better for the planet to go without than to waste things. Isn’t it great that something so simple as cleaning out your kitchen can also check off your environmentally friendly box of good deeds for the week?

So I think it’s safe to say we covered EVERY ASPECT of why organizing your kitchen is a must. Trust me, the rest of the people living in your household will thank you too. 🙂

So now I want to hear about how you’re going to organize your kitchen next. Photos please!

xx Shanna