Case Study: Cluttered Kitchen

My client has a good sized kitchen by NYC standards but decided it was time to seek the help of a NYC professional organizer to create a more logical plan for better organizing his kitchen.  This task had an additional level of complexity as there’s very limited storage in the bathroom so items that would typically be stored in a linen closet or medicine cabinet have filled up the entire pantry cabinet in the kitchen. The most-often-used kitchen objects and toiletries were kept out on the counter, leaving little work area and giving a general sense of disorganization and clutter.

Drawers were somewhat haphazardly filled with tools and maintenance items. This client enjoys entertaining and has a large collection of wine glasses, but wasn’t able to store all of them because shelf space was not used efficiently. Our objective was to apply some professional organizing strategies to declutter and organize this NYC kitchen so that items could be found when needed and counter space was available for food preparation and entertaining.

Before

• Counter was cluttered with small kitchen appliances and supplies as well as toiletry items such as medicines, vitamins and skin care products
• Pantry closet was overflowing with health and pharmacy items
• Tools and other household maintenance items were scattered throughout the room
• New wine glasses were sitting on the counter because there wasn’t sufficient space for them in the glass cabinet

After

• Counter was completely cleared of extraneous items, leaving just a few essentials, such as the coffee maker and knife set
• Designated a couple of shelves in an under the counter cabinet for coffee supplies
• Established an area for shoe polishing supplies in one cabinet
• Sorted the contents of the pantry eliminating expired personal products and medications
• Grouped items by category in the pantry and placed most-frequently-used items at eye level, with others stored above and below
• Identified one drawer for tools and home maintenance items (hand tools, measuring tape, nails)
• Reorganized the glass cabinet making room on the shelves to incorporate the new glasses

Client Reaction
“I love my new and improved kitchen!  I’m still finishing up the last little bits of kitchen organizing and am amazed that we got so much accomplished in 3 hours.  Stephanie was really helpful in getting me on the right track. I’m hoping to have her come back soon to help me tackle one or two of my closets.”