1. Light It up

Lighting is the biggest factor that can completely change the outlook of your kitchen. Dimly-lit kitchens tend to look dirtier, dingier and less inviting. Make sure you have good overhead lights from the off when you do your main décor. If you have areas that aren’t very well lit, the kitchen isn’t the place for small lamps but you can improve your kitchen with things like under cabinet lights, particularly over counter tops you use most often. You can also get creative and use string lights to good effect. Food theme lights such as red chili peppers give a nice pop of color.

2. Oil Your Cutting Boards

Nearly every dish that you make involves the use of a cutting board. And it takes only 5 minutes to oil up your wooden cutting board so that it stays in top condition. If you have more than one cutting board, you can devote half an hour to oil them up and you can stay assured that you won’t need to oil them up again for a month.

3. Clean Your Knives

Just like the cutting boards, nearly every dish that you make involves the use of knives, Hence, it is imperative that you keep them sharp, clean and in condition for use. Keeping your knives in shape regularly is one of the best ways to improve your kitchen. You’ll also find it much easier to work with shiny sharp knives.

4. Rethink or Redo Your Cookware Storage

Whenever we clean our kitchen, we organize the cookware for neatness and ease of access. But bad habits don’t die easy and after a day or two it’s back to the normal disorganized way. One of the quick changes to make in your kitchen is to reorganize your cookware and keep it organized. If space is at a premium, organize it so the most used items are easy to hand. If you’ve got a few dollars to spare, and space permitting, invest in intelligent storage solutions like pot lid racks, magnetic racks and stackable tins.

5. Organize the Pantry

I’m not suggesting you go all “Sleeping with the Enemy” and have everything in regimented rows, but an organized and neat pantry is just a time saver. And, it also helps you to see what you have so you don’t buy unnecessarily at the supermarket, as well as helping you spot items that are going out of date. If you have a lot of dry goods, open packets are a pain. Decant them into jars or plastic containers and label them. It’s much better than having shelves full of grains of rice, lentils and oatmeal.

6. Clear the Counters

Even if you have a range of the most expensive kitchen electrical, if you fill the counter tops with them, your kitchen is always going to look cluttered. And it’s not much fun fighting for space for the chopping board with your Gaggia. If you don’t use an appliance at least 3 times a week, there is no reason for it to be on the counter gathering dust. You can improve your kitchen space greatly if you clear as much space on your counters as you can. It also makes cleaning a heck of a lot easier.

7. Kitchen Tools

Hands up everyone who has to root around looking for the one particular measuring spoon or cup because the tool drawer is a mess? We seem to gather kitchen tools and accouterments like nobody’s business and somehow, they all just end up a jumbled tangle in the drawer. Give your tool drawer a makeover. Be ruthless. Any tool or implement you only use occasionally can be separated from your general use items. Find them a new home – even if it’s in a box in a cupboard. Put those measuring spoons and cups together in the drawer and keep them that way. And, while you’re organizing the tools, you might as well do the cutlery too.

You can see you only need minimal time to improve your kitchen in little ways that give good results in making the room more enjoyable and practical to work in. I’m all for making life easier in the kitchen, what about you? Do you have any more quick and easy changes to make to the kitchen for an easier life?