10 Ways to Simplify Any Kitchen

Whether you cook every single night or survive on takeout, the kitchen is a center of activity in your home. And when you're trying to manage adult ADHD symptoms, the stuffed cabinets, dirty dishes, and piles of mail can get overwhelming, fast. Follow these 10 easy kitchen organizing tips to make your kitchen more streamlined, less cluttered, and more inviting — for everyone in your home.

This seems like a no-brainer, but many people don’t think about storing kitchen tools close to where they’ll use them. This means pots and pans next to the stove, towels next to the sink, coffee cups in the cabinet above the coffee pot. The things you use most should be the easiest to get — it will make your kitchen experience a lot more intuitive!

If your cabinets always feel like they’re overflowing, it may be because you’re not using the space as efficiently as you could be. Try adding a tension rod to give yourself more vertical space, or add hooks to the inside of the cabinet door to hang oven mitts, pot lids, or anything else you can think of.

[Free Download: 22 Clutter-Busting Strategies for Adults with ADHD]

Instead of spreading your food prep around the whole kitchen, set up designated areas where you’ll chop, mix, and serve. You’ll cut down on preparation and cleaning time, and if each chef stays in one place, you’ll be able to have your child or spouse help without bumping into each other unnecessarily.

If you’re serious about cooking, you probably have a lot of spices stuffed away in a drawer or cabinet — which can be frustrating and difficult to make sense of. Organizing your spices (and keeping them organized) is a great way to declutter your kitchen and simplify your cooking. You have tons of options, whether it’s a magnetic wall panel, a spinning spice rack, or a miniature shelf. Make sure your spices are clearly labeled — so you don’t accidentally put salt in your coffee!

Keep an eye out for places you can add storage. Gap between your fridge and the wall? A thin roll-out pantry can squeeze in there, adding tons of space for spices or non-perishable foods. If you’re handy, you can turn that fake drawer under your sink into a small tip-out tray. Get creative!

Single-task items (ice cream makers, avocado knives, As Seen on TV gadgets) can be the enemy when you’re trying to simplify your kitchen. They take up space, and in a lot of cases, are almost never used. Go through your drawers and pull out all these single-task items and really ask yourself: “When was the last time I used this?” If the answer is more than six months ago, chuck it.

[The Ultimate Room-by-Room Organization Guide]

Easier said than done, right? But cleanliness makes any space feel more welcoming and less cluttered. If you can’t bring yourself to clean the whole kitchen every night, just do one thing — like wipe down the stove or clean out the sink.

If all your things — mail, car keys, etc. — tend to end up in a giant pile on your kitchen counter, things are bound to get lost — and you’re bound to get frustrated. Conquer counter clutter by making sure everything has a home. Try using a small bowl for your car keys, and some square baskets to separate out the junk from the regular mail. You’ll know where to start looking when you need something — and save yourself some time and frustration in the process.

Set aside some time on the weekend to sort through all your Tupperware or other food storage containers. Everything should have a matching lid — if it doesn’t, put it out with the recycling. If you have more than five of the same size, get rid of the spares — and stack all the corresponding pieces together for easy storage.

If you save every grocery bag you ever get — paper or plastic — gather them up and take them back to the store for recycling. If you use them for trash bags or recycling, keep only a couple — you’ll get more from the store by the time you need them, and you’ll clear up some space under your sink in the meantime.

[Perfect Is Pointless: 16 Organization Rules You Can Follow]