Photo by: Stacy AKA Little Blue Hen
Last week I asked if you work clean. Down in the comments, Jenni mentioned something about hiding the salt from each other … which I completely understood.
Some people have “a place” that things are supposed to be: The salt and pepper are on the bottom shelf, all the way on the left; basil and oregano are on the turntable to the right; baking soda and baking powder on the second shelf from the bottom, etc.
Other people put things away in whatever is the first open spot they see. Which makes it easy for them to find next time they need it, but makes the other person think, “We must be out. I’ll buy another.”
So which one are you, the “Stop hiding the salt” nutjob with the vein throbbing on your temple every time you can’t find something, or the “Open your eyes and look, it’s right in front of you” slacker who can’t understand what the big deal is?
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22 Comments
Of course everything has its place! With all the stuff my Mum has in our kitchen, it would be absolutely chaotic otherwise.
I really would like to know if the “clean workers” and the “everything has its place-people” are the same ones. I suppose this would make sense, because it’s quite a question of tidiness, isn’t it?
So, people, if you did vote “Yes, please put it back where you got it.”, did you also vote for “work clean” last week?
You probably didn’t think of this, but there are some of us who are a mix of both. I keep some spices in very specific places, and other spices I just jam in. That applies to other things as well, like canned goods or breakfast cereal.
This constantly morphs for me, depending on the amount of pantry items, frequency of use, general mood, phases of the moon, what have you.
I’m definitely kind of anal about where things go in the kitchen. This is fine when you’re living by yourself, but when you have roommates, well…sometimes you buy an extra bottle of soy sauce because SOMEBODY didn’t read the directions that you store the soy sauce in the REFRIGERATOR after you OPEN it.
*deep breaths*
Really, it’s a stupid thing to fight over…but it does get really frustrating to have to go on a scavenger hunt every time you can’t find a spice.
Really? I’ll have to check my soy sauce. (Which is not in the fridge.) I’m usually pretty good about that, but I thought soy sauce was okay in the cupboard.
Hmm, About.com and Chow.com both say “No”. Chow.com even gives a good explanation of the general principles.
But The Kitchn confirms that Kikkoman calls for refrigeration.
Oh goodness — I refrigerate it if the bottle says so and don’t if it doesn’t. The thing I’m careful about with soy sauce is always choosing respectable brand names, ever since I read the most disgusting article in the world a few years ago about how the cheap stuff is produced. I won’t even tell you how.
i’ll fess up i’m the nutjob. i cant stand it when my “tools” arent where they are supposed to be. now my “real” tools for working outside? i keep ‘em where i use them.. that shovel is out there layin’ in the yard somewhere right beside the hammer. my hubby got fed up and spray painted everything fluorescent orange so he wouldn’t run over them while mowing.
maybe i’ll spray paint the mayo because he cant find that in the fridge. ever.
harumph.
Orange mayo. I LOL-ed.
I prefer everything where it belongs and definitely not on the counter. My husband is in a wheelchair and wants everything within reach on the counters. I have no counter space. I keep waiting for the kitchen fairy to show up, but to no avail.
Sueann, have you tried putting stuff in the cabinets under the counter?
Hardware all has its place, but ingredients/spices/etc. are willy nilly throughout the cabinets (and currently all over the counters, because I decided I’d like for them to have a place, and then haven’t finished the job.) It’s a wreck in there.
Everything has a home in my kitchen and if my spouse should happen to unload the dishwasher (Which actually does happen occasionally) and isn’t sure where something belongs, he leaves it on the counter for me to put away rather than stow it out of place where I wouldn’t think to look. As for spices etc. I have a place for savory needs and a separate place for my baking needs. and …my soy sauce is in the cupboard teryaki sauce in the refrigerator. Just because my mother did it that way. I never checked the lable. Resteraunts leave soy sauce out on the tables.
I’ve read all the comments and, Amy Sowers, I’m still laughing!
My pantry cupboards have a map… My sisters know to put things back where they belong, or else! Believe me, you do not want to be in my kitchen if something is not where it’s supposed to be when I want it… lol
Oh, the map! That reminds me of a great story.
My father has a friend whose neighbor had a pegboard in his garage with the outlines drawn for all the tools. He never had two tools down at a time unless he was using them together.
He’d take one down, use it, wipe it clean, hang it up, take the next tool down. Took forever to get anything done, but you could eat off the floor in his garage.
One day while my father was helping his friend work on his car, the neighbor was in the driveway washing his. Dad said, “Hey, you missed a spot.”
The guy didn’t even look up when he said, “No I didn’t.” And he was right.
I have to let this out, that picture up there is killin’ me. I want to reach in and clean it for them so their lives will be easier. LOL
I voted all things have a place. It’s just habit for me to put things back where they came from. I do admit that since we move every few years (hubs is military) it takes me a good 6 months or so to get my kitchen organized in an efficient way so I move things around a lot and confuse myself (which isn’t hard to do…at ALL).
So glad I’m not the only nutjob about this….the hubster doesn’t get it at all. His shop looks like that kitchen picture you posted! My kitchen is so small everything has to have a use and its own few square inches of space. But the fridge…totally different story in there. I’m gonna do the day-glo orange for the mayo! Best idea I’ve heard in ages.
Like a lot of you, I am a mix of both. Being in an apartment with a tiny kitchen and little to no counter or storage space, there is a strategic placement for a lot of items (pots and pans, certain shelves in the pantry, etc.) However, as much as it drives me crazy, my spice cabinet is a mess of items shoved in because there isn’t room for my organization! *sigh* That’s why my job is to vote for the house we get based on the kitchen as much as everything else!
I got fed up with the mess years ago so I bought around 10 plastic containers to hold everything. These are about the size of two shoeboxes side by side but just the right size to hold things together. They do not have lids.
After trying to describe these I decided to go measure them
They are (W) 10.8 X (L) 14.16 X (D) 5.42 In.
So I have all my spices in one of these and baking, cereal, etc. are all separated in each of these.
I have one of these that has my oils, vinegars and soy sauce etc. in it.
Another holds the family’s first aid kit and day to day medicine (This one is blue – the rest are all white)
The only variant to this – I have a small ice cream container (2L container) that I keep my salt and pepper and other “table” spices. This way I can move the entire container to the table without hubby or the kids getting confused as to where things ought to be put back into.
The nice thing about having the containers in the cupboard is that you can find out at a glance what you have or don’t have for the latest recipe from HTCLYG
Marnel, that’s not a bad system at all. The only problem I can see is that you can’t buy another vinegar (for instance) if that tub is already full.
You are right Drew – hubby doesn’t complain though. He is always complaining about keeping to the budget
I’m really organized at heart but have an 11’6 x 11’6 kitchen. Unless we bought the same things every week, the only way to put things away is where we can fit them. On the plus side, the kitchen is so tiny it doesn’t take any time to find things! In our next house, which I swear will have a pantry, I’ll be crazy neat and organized!
My kitchen is the ONLY place that is organized! Spices in alphabetical order, knives lined up in decending order…
Amy Sowers – is that just a male thing? Same thing in my home. “Honey, where’s the mayo?” Same spot it always is!
I have a “generalized place” for everything. The spices go on the bottom shelf of the upper cabinet, but there’s no order to the spices. The olive oil goes in that upper cabinet over the sink, unless you run out, then you have to find the giant jug of oil which we stick in a lower cabinet where there *should* be some room.
So there’s a sort-of place for everything…