Big or small, spacious or narrow, all kitchens have the potential to look absolutely beautiful and be organized in a way that will make using them intuitive and logical. However, coming up with the right design and layout can sometimes be a bit challenging. With all the pans, pots, Tupperware, plates and cutlery that need to be stored away but still easily-accessible, this task can even seem somewhat overwhelming.

That being said, here are some organizational and designing “hacks” that can be applied to kitchens of all shapes and sizes, whether you live in a small one-bedroom in a big city like Minneapolis or a suburban home, that will enable you to create a beautifully organized space you’ll actually enjoy spending time in.

Zone it out

To start off, you should first carefully inspect the place you’re working with. If you’ve just moved into a new home and your kitchen is still empty, come up with the design and layout that will allow you to use the space the best to your ability. If not, empty out all of your cupboards and drawers and start zoning. In the kitchen, you should have a baking/cooking zone, a coffee zone, a dish zone and so on. Try to assess how you will be using the space and come up with the most fitting zone plan. Once you do, make sure you group all the things you might need in a particular zone together or at least close to each other.

Group similar items together

The next step ties in directly with the previous one. Once you know the zones you want to create and once you determine what would be best placed in each zone start organizing. Also, keep all of your pans in one place and the same goes for your pots but avoid mixing together the two. If you do, you’ll only have difficulties finding exactly what you’re looking for. By grouping similar items together, you’ll make finding what you’re looking for that much easier and you will have all the necessary items in one place which will definitely motivate you further to use them.

Make the room bright

Furthermore, finding things in a poorly-lit room will be pretty difficult, no matter how good the room is organized. That’s why you need to make sure that your kitchen is as bright and well-illuminated as possible. First, switch all of your incandescent light bulbs for the eco-friendly Led ones to maximize the artificial illumination. If necessary, install some additional lighting fixtures as well. On top of that, make sure you replace your current window treatments with stylish roller blinds so that you can, at any given moment, control the amount of natural light you want to let into your kitchen. The best part is that you can even find light filter rollers that will still let through plenty of natural light but won’t make it too overwhelming as direct sunlight can sometimes be.

Place things where you need them to be

Additionally, make sure you place all the things right where you’ll be using them to avoid constantly having to run from one part of your kitchen to the other one in order to get what you need. For instance, if you have a coffee machine in your home, make sure you keep coffee, sugar, coffee cups and all the other essentials close to the machine so that you can quickly grab and prepare all the things you need while the coffee is being brewed. Also, if you have a pantry, keep all the types of pasta, as well as all the pasta sauces in one place, group all the cereals in the other, keep all the teas close together and so on.

Be yourself

Finally, there’s virtually no one in this world that can help you organize something to your liking but you. That’s why you should first make sure everything makes sense to you before you open yourself to other people’s opinions and ideas. This doesn’t just go for the organization of space but the décor and the overall layout as well. That’s why you should do what works for you, and create an environment you’ll actually want to spend time in.

No matter the size or the shape of your kitchen, make sure you organize it so that all the necessities are easily-reachable and readily-available whenever you need them. As far as the things you don’t use on the daily are concerned, make sure you move them out of the way so that they don’t take up any valuable space, but still, keep them close for when you actually do need to use them.