1. Store your equipment and ingredients where they are used first. This sounds obvious, but it’s a little more tricky than it might at first appear. Pots and pans, for instance – the obvious place to keep them is by the cooktop or range. But quite often, a saucepan or large pot gets used first at the sink, to add water! Frypans and woks, by contrast, usually go straight onto a burner. You may need to store some by the sink and some by the range instead of all in the same place. So think carefully about where you really do use things for the first time. Any time you find yourself repeatedly carrying something across the room before you can start using it, that’s a great clue that it’s not stored in the most efficient place.
2. If there’s something yo use repeatedly in several different places, it might make sense to store two sets, one in each location. Measuring cups and spoons are a good example of this, being cheap to buy multiples of and small and easy to store. Taken to extremes, this results in kitchens with multiple dishwashers and sinks – but for some situations, they make sense and are worth the extra money and space.
3. Store things together which you use together. Measuring cups, spoons, and jugs go with mixing bowls, cookie sheets, and the mixer, if you’re a baker: flour, sugar, and other common baking ingredients go in the same area. Before you know it, you’ve got a baking center! You can use the same principle to fit the way you use your kitchen, even if you’re not a baker.
4. Take the doors off your upper cabinets and use them as open shelves. Not everyone can tolerate the very “busy” look that this creates, but if you don’t mind it, you’ll save a lot of time not opening and shutting doors to look for stuff or to get it out or put it away. Glass cabinet doors are a halfway house towards this, making it easier to find things but you still have to open and shut the doors for access.
5. Use wall space for storing frequently-used equipment and ingredients. From a spice rack to cup hooks to utensil racks to a full-fledged pegboard wall, this is a great way to store things you just want to grab and use instantly. Rarely used items, which will just collect dust,  or things which need to be stored in the dark, obviously aren’t good candidates for this kind of storage.
6. Keep a running shopping list with a pen right by it so that you can add things as soon as you realize you’re running low. Buy the next package before you completely finish the current one!
7. Cook double quantities of any freezable dish, and freeze the extra for next time you need a quick meal right now. You might be surprised by what is freezable: not just stews and soups but pre-baked potatoes (stuffed or not), quiche, bread and cakes, sauces of many kinds, pesto, hummus and much more. If you’re not sure, try freezing a small quantity and test later to see how it worked out.
8. Do certain kinds of prep in bulk. For example,wash, cull and drain salad leaves, then store in a slightly ventilated container: don’t tear or cut them up till you need them. Generally, pre-cutting or peeling vegetables saves time but reduces their nutritional value. Pre-cutting or dividing large buys of meat into portion or meal sizes saves much time when you come to use it.
9. Make your own baking mixes for cookies, biscuits, pancakes etc. This saves money over store-bought mixes and gives you complete control over ingredients and quality, but gives you the same time-saving convenience when it comes time to use the mixes. A great reference for this is Make-A-Mix Cooking by Karine Eliason - my 1980’s edition of this book is covered in splotches and falling apart, but still doing sterling service in the kitchen.
10. Plan for leftovers. Either cook just enough for your family so there aren’t any leftovers, or plan to use the leftovers for lunch the next day, in a meal later in the week, or to freeze. Leftovers, well managed, are a wonderful thing!
11. If you’re a plan-ahead person, plan out your menus for the week or month ahead, and shop accordingly so you never have to run out to pick up just a few ingredients to make dinner.
12. Keep a full pantry – including all the basics, plus foods you use frequently, and those little extras that make it easy to quickly pull together a meal.
13. Invest in time-saving equipment that you will actually use, not just clutter up your counters and cupboards. Knives, graters, chopping boards, and plenty of containers are basic for almost everyone: some people love and use their food processor, blender, breadmaker, or stand mixer. If you use it, take a moment to pick the best place for it: if you don’t use it, get rid of it and use teh space for something else.
14. Make space to work before you start, and clean up as you go. I know, your mother always told you that, but it’s true: who wants to end up with the entire kitchen to clean up when you’ve finished cooking? There’s often a lull when you’ve finished one stage or one dish and don’t need to start the next just yet – do some cleanup in between and you’ll be happy you did later on! Having a sink full of hot soapy water all ready for dirty dishes helps too, as long as you’re not wasting loads of hot water doing multiple sinkfulls.
15. Another thing mothers (and cooking teachers) tell us is to get all the ingredients out at the beginning of the recipe. This makes sure you have everything before you start, and means you’re not stopping at some time-critical stage to run to the pantry for the next ingredient. Hey, mothers know a thing or two!
16. Does your family like boiled eggs? Especially in the summer, when you’re using them for salads, pre-cooking a pile of eggs and storing in the fridge is a good time-saver. I pencil a “B” on the shells of the boiled ones so I can tell which are cooked and which are raw. Don’t use a marker to do this – the ink can go right through the porous eggshell and stain the white inside!
17. Thaw dishes from the freezer in the fridge before you need them. This saves time when you come to cook, energy for the fridge (because the frozen foods help to keep the fridge cool) and energy to thaw things by other methods such as the microwave.
18. Use the microwave for things it does well, in quantities it does well. Depending on the power and size of your microwave, there will be a crossover point where it becomes quicker to reheat a larger quantity of food on the stovetop than in the microwave.
19. Learn how to use your tools and utensils really well. Knife skills are basic but most of us never learn them. Your small appliances may be able to do all kinds of things but if you don’t read the manual, you probably aren’t aware of all of them. Cast iron is great if you know how to take care of it, a pain if you don’t. Knowledge is power in the kitchen too!
20. Use “lazy susan” turntables in more places than corner base cabinets. Any time you have a group of items to store together where you want quick access to any one of them, a lazy susan is a great way to keep them all together while making access easy. You can use a small lazy susan on the countertop, the dining table, on a shelf, or in a wall cabinet.
21. Use the backs of cabinet doors for storage. There are many racks available which can be attached to door backs to store light objects where you can reach them super-easily.

When you are thinking about how to get the most out of your kitchen cabinet layout, consider your family and living arrangements. Also consider what is in the short term future for yourself, as you will not be undertaking such a major renovation in the near term. Some things to consider are do you have or plan to have children. If you do have children are they younger and you will help them access the cupboards most often, or are they older and self sufficient? Do you need to keep breakable items away from small children? Are you getting older and it is becoming more difficult to reach high places or bend over to reach lower storage? Do children not factor in to your life and instead you are looking for a kitchen cabinet layout that fits your lifestyle? All of these are important in determining functionality.

Additionally, how is the kitchen used in your house. Are you interested in cooking or do you mostly prepare quick meals? Is it the center for family gatherings and discussions or only used at meal times? Do you entertain frequently and have many guests in the kitchen? The type of use you are designing for will also determine the functionality you require.

Once you have thought about your family situation and how you use the kitchen, you are ready to begin the your design. Try several different kitchen floor plans as you look at different possibilities. Share this information with the company you are purchasing your cabinets from. They have many design suggestions to get you started, but will provide you with the ability to change the layout.

When you are locating the cabinets, think about their placement as it relates to major work areas. What items would you like to store closest to the sink, stove, microwave or refrigerator? Kitchen island designs contain a lot of storage room under the island, so take advantage of it. You should also determine if you are going to build a pantry for staples or instead store them in the cabinets.

Another consideration is what other storage exists for kitchen related items. Do you have a formal dining room set that offers a curio for china, silver and glassware? If not you can design some glamor spaces in your  kitchen to highlight these items. But you will want to put them off to the side away from key work areas as they will not be accessed as often.

One of the biggest challenge is finding the right storage space for large pots and pans. These require a lot of storage space and may not be used that frequently. Once again the under island space may be perfect for these items. Another option is to take them out of the cabinets entirely and hang them over the island.

Proper planning of your kitchen cabinet layout will provide a highly functional and enjoyable kitchen for many years.

The tool used to solve these problems in design is the concept of work centers or zones. A work center groups everything needed to do a specific type of task into a single area.

The three major zones are:

Food Prep Center Near fridge, near sink (may have its own sink separate from the main cleanup sink), near trash and compost containers: needs counter space, knife storage, cutting boards, measuring and mixing utensils, small appliances such as food processor or blender, casseroles and baking dishes, flavorings, cookbook storage, graters.

Cooking Center Range (stove) or cooktop and ventilation: oven may be located separately if it’s not part of a range (possibly near the baking zone). If you cook using your microwave, you might include it in this zone (possibly mounted over the range), but if you mainly use it for heating up snacks it could be better located outside the main work triangle where non-cooks can access it without getting in the way. Close to the food prep center so that food can go directly from prep to cooking. If you do a lot of cooking involving large pots of water (pasta for 12, canning, etc) a faucet nearby can be very useful. Small cooking appliances like the toaster, toaster oven, convection oven, deep fryer etc might be located here or in a separate snack center. Storage for frypans, possibly saucepans, pot lids, cooking utensils, salt, pepper and spices (away from heat), oils, vinegars and other flavorings, oven mitts and gloves, fire extinguisher.

Cleanup Center Main sink, dishwasher, garbage disposal, trash and compost bins, recycling bins, waste compactor; storage for cleaning materials, dishtowels, food storage containers and materials, paper towels, garbage bags, colanders and strainers, possibly everyday dishes and flatware (near dishwasher), possibly saucepans (near water source).

Depending on your cooking and eating style, you may have other work centers too:

Baking Center Counter space (may include marble or stone slab for rolling pastry): cookie sheets and baking tins, cookie cutters, rolling pins, electric mixer, food processor, food storage for baking ingredients, cake decorating equipment, cookbook storage, measuring and mixing utensils, mixing bowls.

Snack Center Close to refrigerator, cup and dish storage: includes microwave and toaster ovens, popcorn maker, coffee and tea making equipment and materials, water cooler, microwave-safe dishes and dish covers, oven mitts, snack foods.

Eating Center Eating surface and seating (could be a table and chairs, breakfast bar and stools, or built-in nook); storage for dishes and flatware, napkins and placemats, condiments.

Clearly, there is some overlap between the equipment and materials needed in each work center. Where you choose to keep what depends on your cooking style and needs, the size of your kitchen, and placement of centers near each other. You might also choose to duplicate some items (anything from measuring cups to dishwashers) in several zones if you have the space and it makes work more convenient.

Many of us have a number of things hanging out in our kitchens which could be got rid of with no great loss. How about food? Foods you experimented with and hated, foods that you thought you would eat, but never did, foods long past their expiry date, can all be got rid of and never be missed. Sometimes we keep worn-out equipment or supplies long after they have ceased being usable – worn towels and dishcloths, and cleaning supplies which are dried up or no longer usable are good examples. Pots and pans with wobbly handles, burned-out areas, or cracked enamel are also good candidates for the junk heap.

Other stuff just doesn’t belong in the kitchen, especially if we’re tight on space there. Cleaning supplies you use elsewhere, stuff belonging to other people or other rooms, and things used only at the holidays could all be stored elsewhere to free up kitchen space. Special-purpose equipment you haven’t used for more than a year also comes under this heading: if you really will use it again some time, store it somewhere else, otherwise: get rid of it!

Then there’s the stuff that just seems to breed when our backs are turned. Gadgets and small appliances are a classic problem here. Do you own small appliances you’ve never used, or used once and then never again? Or that don’t work and probably never will be fixed? How about “As seen on TV” gadgets that never worked as you’d expected? Many of us also have many duplicates of things such as can openers, utensils, china and flatware: pick the ones you love the most to keep, get rid of the ones you will really never use, and stash the “just in case” or “guest” pieces outside the kitchen. Oh, and how can we forget the plastic tubs (and their lids, which somehow never match up) and glass bottles that we hold on to because they are SO USEFUL! Of course, they are, but how many dozen do you really have room for? More are arriving all the time!

Sadly, lots of us also have shelves full of cookbooks and recipes we never look at. The photos were – and still are! – so alluring, but we just never got around to making the dishes. Will you – ever? No? Then probably someone else should have the chance to enjoy them.

With all that gone, perhaps you now have room to breathe and move in your kitchen. Going forward, try not to let the clutter collect again, as it wants to do. It’s much quicker to organize the stuff you really need and use, once the unwanted clutter is out of the way.

What if you don’t have room to move, even after you’ve cleared out everything that you can? What if the kitchen really is too small, or has too few cabinets, or too little counter space? In that case, maybe it’s time for kitchen makeover or even a complete remodel. Check the other articles on this site for lots of help with kitchen floor plans, decorating ideas, design concepts, and more.