Tips to organize your kitchen cabinets

Do you sometimes feel like you have everything you need stocked in your kitchen ... if only you could find it? It's a common problem. The more gadets, appliances, heirlooms and supplies you collect, the more difficult it becomes to store any of your kitchen things. Try these tips to help get your cabinets in order.

Gather some flat-bottomed rectangular baskets or small wooden or cardboard boxes — shoe boxes are usually ideal. Line up the containers on the shelves and reserve each for a different kind of food — one for sugar, syrup and other sweet stuff, one for baking-related items like flour and baking soda, and so on. If you use boxes, you can paint them to blend with your kitchen's colour scheme. Whether you spiff them up or not, label the containers with their contents so you don't confuse the sugar with the salt.

Arrange your spices in a low-sided, unlidded box by type of cuisine, and whenever you're cooking Italian food (or Mexican, German, French, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern), the appropriate spices will be together in one place. Cumin, oregano, cilantro, and red pepper? Sounds like Mexican. Tarragon, parsley, sorrel, bay? French. Label each box according to its nationality and have your spice hunting kept to a minimum.

When you nest non-stick saucepans and pots one inside another, you're almost sure to scratch the delicate coating. To keep non-stick cookware scratch-free, simply tuck a newspaper sheet or paper towels into each pot and nest them without worrying.

Rummaging through a cluttered cabinet full of pots and pans can be an exercise in frustration. Just mount an ordinary towel rack or two on the back of the cabinet door and slide the lids between rack and door. The knobs on the lids will keep them from falling through.

Ever find yourself faced with the perfect storage container but its lid has disappeared? Keep all the lids organized — and together — by storing them inside the largest empty kitchen storage bin you have.

When stacking fine china in the cabinet, keep dinner plates scratch free by alternating them with paper plates. For salad plates and saucers, use coffee filters for the same purpose. China teacups are best stored right-side up. If your cabinet won't accommodate all the cups, create an extra tier of cabinet space by setting a coated wire rack inside.

If your cabinet space is cramped (and whose isn't?) repackage dried food products. Original food containers are often only two-thirds (or even half) full — and as the food diminishes, the size of the box doesn't. Gain precious room by transferring most of your dry food to see-through plastic containers (and then label and date them!). Flat rectangular containers work best, since they're stackable and ideal for storing tea bags, dried beans, rice, pasta and cereal. It also helps to discourage mice.

When organizing your kitchen cabinets with the aid of baskets or boxes, keep a special one for candy. Either place the goodies bin on a low shelf that the kids can reach or on a high shelf where it's out of reach!

No more time wasted looking for things in the kitchen; these helpful hints will keep you organized and stress-free!