There are several ways to organise your student kitchen. The kitchen is the shared part of the accommodation where students can spend a lot of time eating and socialising with you flat or house. It is important to make the most of the space that you are provided.
Ways to label your belongings
Many students tend to buy one of those student kitchen starters sets from places like Ikea or Home Bargains. As a result, many students end up with a lot of the same kitchen equipment meaning it can be easy to mix each other belongings. A tip to stop this is to put nail polish on all your kitchen items. This way you can stay more organised as you will easily be able to tell which items belong to you. As a result, will reduce the risk of any flatmates thinking you have their belongings
Cupboards
Most universities have enough space for students to have two cupboards. It is a good idea to have one cupboard with all your cooking utensils in such as pots and pans, your Crockery and cutlery and then the other with all your dry food and snacks. That way you keep all your similar items together.
Kitchen cupboard boxes
Good things to use are kitchen cupboard boxes that way within your cupboard you can keep things tidy and organised. This will make it easier to find things when you need them as everything will have its own place. The boxes are usually quite cheap and can be purchased from places such as Poundland and amazon. It’s good practice to label all of your kitchen cupboard boxes that way you know what is in each box. This will ensure that you put the right item away in the correct box after you have used it.
Hanging Rack
In Student kitchens, it’s a good idea to not only use the physical storage provided of the cupboard but to make use of the cupboard doors. To do this it’s worth buying a hanging rack which provides great storage for things like oils and condiments. That way they take up less space in your cupboard which means you are more easily able to find and organise what’s in your cupboards.
Food storage
To keep your food fresher for longer there are a number of ways to best store certain items of food. For fruit it is a good idea to have a fruit bowl that way it helps to keep your fruit fresher for longer. It’s recommended to use a wooden fruit bowl as they have holes in them which allow the air circulation around your fruit keeping them fresher for longer. A fruit bowl also helps your fruit ripen quicker which means you don’t have to wait as long to eat your fruit then if you store them in a dark cupboard.
Airtight containers
For dry goods such as nuts, lentils, pasta and rice it is a good idea to store these foods in different airtight containers. That way you keep the moister from getting to your dry food keeping these foods fresher for longer. You can even reuse old jars for this purpose that way you’re keeping your food airtight and organised. At the same time, you’re not having to spend any extra money buying these containers as you no doubt already have some suitable containers. If they are clear jars then you are able to easily tell which items are running low. This will help keep you organised as you won’t need to make unnecessary trips to the shops as the clear jars will ensure that you keep everything stocked up.
Spice racks
A spice rack is a perfect way to store your spices. It keeps all of your spices organised, in one place and easily accessible when you want to use them in your cooking. These racks should be stored in a place that’s out of direct sunlight to help keep your spices fresher for longer. It’s best to keep spices in an airtight container to help keep the moister out. If your spices come in plastic packaging then it’s best to transfer the spices into small glass jars that way, they will last longer. It’s a good idea to label your spice jars that way your spices stay organised and you know which spice is which. There are a number of a different spice racks that can be purchased from places like amazon, Ikea and home bargains that will work for all kitchens.
Can be handy to have a basket at the back of your cupboard to store all of your lost food and belongings such as potatoes and onions. By having this at the back it works well for the foods that need to be stored in a dry dark place
Kitchen Draws
If you have any drawers in your kitchen then it is worth purchasing a cutlery tray. it’s perfect for storing all of your utensils as it provides a set place to put all of your utensils. Keeping your draw more organised saves you time having to look for things when you open your draw. Also, will mean that you won’t need to touch all of your utensils every time you go into the draw as you will only need to touch the utensils in the compartment that the specific utensil is kept in. You will now be less likely to lose any of your utensils as they now have an organised home.
Fridge
For the fridge and freezer, you usually get one shelf in the fridge and one drawer in the freezer. This is usually enough space to store all your food as you only cook for one. Again, kitchen cupboard boxes will work well in the fridge as they will keep your food more organised and fresher for longer, if kept in sealed containers. These storage containers will stop all your food from being rammed into your shelf which will reduce the risk of things being spilt, food being squashed and your food from freezing as a result of touching the back of the fridge.
There are some things that you could share within your fridge such as milk, butter or sauces as this is something that most people end up buying. There is not always enough room to store everyone’s milk and sauces in the side of the fridge. That way keeping the whole fridge more organised and will reduce the amount of food that will go off as it can be difficult to get through a whole bottle of milk before it goes off if you only using it for things like tea.
Freezer
There are many things you can do in the freezer to make your drawer more organised and usable. One key tip is to not overfill the freezer as it stops you from being able to close the door properly. This can create excess ice and damage your food.
Label and date your food
It’s a good idea to label and date any food that you cooked and then put it in the freeze. That way when you next want to eat one of the meals you will know what the dish is and how long it’s been in the freezer. This will help to keep the freezer more organised as you will know exactly what is in the freezer and save you time guessing how long it’s been in the freezer.
Space saving tip
To save space in the freezer It’s quite handy to put any food that you cook into zip-lock bags instead of Tupperware containers. This way your food will take up less space therefore you can fit more into the freezer. It is also a good idea to store your food flat in a zip-lock bag. As a result, when you come to defrost your food, it will take less time.
It is worth taking out the food you need to defrost in the morning. That way keeping you organise as you will already have the food defrosted by the time you will need dinner saving you time when making dinner.
How to store leftovers
There are a few ways to store your leftovers. All you need are a few Tupperware containers and Ziplock bags. Even the ones you get from your takeaways will work. It’s often hard to get the portions right for one person so it great to have somewhere to put the leftovers so that the food does not go to waste. Tupperware is great for food prepping which will keep you more organised and save you time as you won’t have to make a meal every day of the week. It’s good practice to not store cooked and raw meat together so on your shelf have this in separate storage containers. Any leftovers should ideally be eaten within 1 or 2 days and stored in airtight containers. That way there is less of a risk of getting food poisoning.
Sink
There are some things in the kitchen that can be shared. The sink is where most things end up being shared. These are things like sponges, washing up liquid and cleaning products. This is because everyone in the house or flat uses these items. Only using one of each product at a time will help to keep the kitchen and sink area more organised and usable.
Under sink cupboard
It is worth using the under-sink cupboard that way all your cleaning products and bin bags can stay off the counter and keeps all these products in one place. That way everyone will know where these products are and will be able to use them. Using organisation boxes will help to better organise the sink cupboard as everything will have its place. That way you will always be able to find what’s in the cupboard.
Drying rack
It can be very handy to have a drying rack especially when most student kitchens don’t have a dishwasher. This is a great way of letting your kitchen utensils, plates and pots and pans dry without you having to dry them up. This is great for when you are in a hurry and don’t have time to dry up. Also, it helps to keep your sink a little more organised as you won’t have stuff dangerously piled on the draining board. This will allow you and a few other flatmates to dry your kitchen stuff at the same time. Drying racks are pretty inexpensive and fit perfectly on your draining board.
Student Storage
When you can no longer be in your student accommodation then Spaceways student storage is the perfect way to store your Belongings. Spaceways does storage by the box which will easily fit all of your kitchen utensils and cleaning products that you want to be put in storage. These boxes will keep your belongings organised as you can separate different areas of your kitchen into different boxes. That way you will easily know what’s in each box when you get your belongings back saving you time looking for things. To make the packing of the boxes easier you can put your kitchen cupboard boxes directly into your storage boxes saving you time having to empty these cupboard boxes. The Spaceways drivers will come and deliver all of the boxes needed. Once these are ready for storage the drivers will come back and collect your boxes to take to our warehouse for storage. When you need your belongings back the drivers will redeliver your boxes right to your room door.
We hope that you use some of these tips to make your kitchen more organised and usable for everyone in your student house or flat
