Here's How the KonMari Method Can Make Preparing Meals Easier

Prepping daily meals and baon for the entire family can be exhausting, but even more so if you have a cluttered kitchen. If your kitchen cabinets are bursting at the seams with canned goods and your countertops are groaning under the weight of unused appliances, then your space might be due for a KonMari purge.

The KonMari method of cleaning and organizing puts emphasis on “tidying up as a celebration,” and since one of its benefits is that there’s an increase in productivity, it would be fair to say that decluttering and streamlining your kitchen can help you prep meals faster, without the additional stress of kalat.

How to make preparing meals easier in a small kitchen

Christine Dychiao, a mother of three and the Philippines’ first licensed KonMari consultant, revealed the secrets to an organized kitchen where you can prepare meals efficiently. Identifying the causes of clutter, getting rid of expired items, and maximizing every inch of space can help you achieve your dream kitchen where whipping up meals definitely spark joy. Christine shares these additional tips you can keep in mind:

1. Identify the causes of clutter in the kitchen

You may think that it’s your appliances or cooking utensils that are making your kitchen more chaotic. Dychiao reveals these two (surprising) main causes of clutter in your kitchen, based on the spaces she had seen in clients’ houses: half-open bottles of condiments and multiple dinnerware sets.

 “The most common would be half-open bottles of everything,” reveals Dychiao. “Even in the tiniest kitchens of people who don’t cook so much, there are a lot of condiments, sometimes you have multiples, two bottles of patis. You forget that you have another bottle at the back.”

“Another thing is people hold on to so much stuff. There are people who hold on to 20 plates, 50 mugs, so people always have more than they need. And when you ask them: are you using them? They say no. So, you always have to ask yourself: Does it spark joy?” she adds, referring to the famous KonMari catchphrase.

2. Be inspired to improve your cooking area by envisioning your dream kitchen

Aside from the obvious strategic purging, Dychiao says that one way to have an organized kitchen is to use one of the primary KonMari principles of envisioning your ideal space. Imagine that you have a tidy, beautiful kitchen—an orderly, clutter-free room where you can cook nourishing meals in comfort, a room where you can feed yourself and your family.

3. Get rid of the unused, the old, and the expired

Unless a particular kitchen gadget sparks joy for you, be ready to let it go, especially if you haven’t actually used it in months. What you definitely need to toss out ASAP, however, are expired canned goods, perishable food, and even cleaning products.

4. Think vertical, always

“To save space on your countertop, you have to store things vertically, all of it should be pataas.” Dychiao shows that the best storage pieces for this are tall and narrow dispensers or containers that can be stacked one on top of the other to maximize countertop or cabinet space.

5. Stack it high to see everything

Dychiao recommends using shelf stackers for your cabinets or pantries, so nothing’s hidden at the back. “You should see everything at a glance,” she says. “It’s always easier to see all the cans all at once, because things expire easily, and it’s so common so you have condiments that are two years old, because you forget about it.”

6. Work with clear containers

Refrigerators are notorious for harbouring all sorts of clutter, from half-empty takeout containers to food past its expiry date. Using clear, stackable containers for your leftovers can let you see what you have in one go.

7. It’s okay to lie down

Sometimes storage can be very limited in your kitchen cabinets or in your ref. But if you can’t stack things vertically because of space restrictions, you can always store an item lying down; just make sure that your container is spill- or leak-proof.

8. Say yes to spill-proof containers

 

Leak-proof containers with a watertight and airtight seal are some of the best inventions since sliced bread. Not only will they ensure that your kids will have a neater, spill-free baon, these seals make the food stay fresh longer.

 

9. Say no to multiples

 

As mentioned earlier, you might be buying two or three or more of the same coffee cup, ingredient, or kitchen tool because you probably didn’t see that you already had that item, because it was hidden behind the clutter. “It’s unnecessary to have multiples, unless you have a kitchen, or a commissary when you’re cooking for so many people because you have a food business.”

 

10. Fold to save space

Don’t leave your table napkins, rags, and kitchen towels just lying about. These would just contribute to visual clutter. In true Konmari fashion, you can fold these kitchen linens into pieces that are only one-eighth their size so you can easily stash these inside your kitchen drawers. “This way, it’s easy to see if you’re missing one (table linen) You’ll see where everything is, and the way it is folded also doesn’t make it wrinkled.”

Follow Christine Dychiao on @sparkjoyph or join her Konmari group on Facebook at Spark Joy Philippines (Konmari Support Group). Asvel is located at the 3/F of The Podium, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City; follow them on Instagram at @asvelph.