Stuart, you are very brave man; but good for you. First, do you like to cook/want to like to cook/have a partner who does or will like to cook? Did your mom cook? Grandma?

If so, think about where they stored things. If you have a girlfriend (or male-friend) who enjoys cooking and is good at it and does a lot of it, think of asking for their help.

If that won't work--put your things in useful "zones". Where is your DW? Where is your dining/eating area? Where is your sink? Put your dishes and silverware in a cabinet/location proximal to both the DW and sink (if possible) and convenient to the dining area.

Where would you prep veggies for dinner, or scramble eggs for an omelette, or mix up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough? (hint, generally, this might be between the sink and the stove, if you have counter top run there). Try to have your mixing bowls/spoons/gear near this area.

Give first priority of an area to the items that will be used most often. If, for example, you have only 1 upper wall cabinet and it is near both the DW/dining area AND prep area, you give that cabinet to your dishes--the items you'll need to access multiple times a day, instead of the mixing bowls you might need to get once a day, or once a week, or less often (depending on how often you cook).

Also, it will depend on your kitchen layout. Do you want to post up your layout for help on where to put things in your specific kitchen?

When I was designing my kitchen, the information on the link below was a giant ah-ha moment for me in planning my kitchen. Many, many thanks to Buehl for this write-up. Invaluable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Extremely valuable info on storage by zone

Breezy, thanks for posting the link. It's a great list!

THANK YOU!!!! This is exactly what I needed! No pictures necessary!

I hadn't even though about it until now but a good friend is a great cook, he grew up around a restaurant his parents invested in. Surely between asking him and Buehl's writeup I can figure it out. I hadn't even thought of asking a buddy as my plan was to decide where things should go with my Girlfriend (Now Ex) but my two cook kitchen turned into a one cook kitchen a bit unexpectedly.

As for my cooking abilities.... well.... Lets just say that I learned the hard way, the smoke alarm isn't suppose to be used as a cooking timer. I am getting better but still haven't strayed far from the microwave or canned goods.

After working so much on this kitchen I am determined to become a cook one way or another. I have a long way to go but my buddy has already offered to help teach me.

Thanks again!
Stuart

Edit: After making such a weird request I guess I will have to post a picture with the doors open once I move in lol.

This post was edited by SLTKota on Fri, May 24, 13 at 14:36

"the smoke alarm isn't suppose to be used as a cooking timer." What a crack up; love it!
Yes when you move in please do post some pics with open doors and drawers. I'd enjoy the novelty.

If I think of how much I regularly use in my kitchen I too probably wouldn't need half the space and mine isn't that big to begin with. So many covered dishes and so few casseroles! Anyone else get a big set of Corningware or Pyrex for their wedding? Seemed like such a must have at the time. :>)

Breezy thanks for the great link.

Good luck, Stuart!

There is no right or wrong answer, and what works for others might not work for you. But there are some items that have logical homes:
- Drinking glasses near the sink
- potholders near the stove/oven
- utensils near the stove (pancake turner, big spoon, tongs, etc)
- Knives near your cutting space
- dishes near dishwasher and/or dining space

I am in the process of a kitchen remodel, and I have made lists of what is going in every cabinet and drawer. Many things will be in the same general area; some will be very different. For example, the silverware drawer is moving from one side of the U-shaped kitchen to the other - because there are currently drawers on only one side. As I was describing this to my teenaged sons, they complained that it would be "wrong" to go to a new place for a spoon. I told them that the spoons will now be in the right place - they've been in the wrong place for 25 years!

Oh, are you describing my husband. I designed this kitchen down to the last inch. Myself. Alone. Then unloaded all our stuff into it. After a couple months (NOT 25 years) if I moved anything to a better place he acted like I was trying to upset the organizing principle of the universe or something.

SLTKota, I'm glad you're off to a good start. Think of it as an engineering problem that happens to be set in a kitchen and have fun.

"SLTKota, I'm glad you're off to a good start. Think of it as an engineering problem that happens to be set in a kitchen and have fun."

lol, That is great! Thanks again for all of the suggestions! My cabinets are now in but I'm guessing I shouldn't start putting anything inside them until I have my granite installed which is still two weeks out.... Or is there anything wrong with putting things in the uppers before the granite is in/ trim finished? I don't want to have to unload / clean everything if they make a big mess.

"SLTKota, I'm glad you're off to a good start. Think of it as an engineering problem that happens to be set in a kitchen and have fun."

lol, That is great! Thanks again for all of the suggestions! My cabinets are now in but I'm guessing I shouldn't start putting anything inside them until I have my granite installed which is still two weeks out.... Or is there anything wrong with putting things in the uppers before the granite is in/ trim finished? I don't want to have to unload / clean everything if they make a big mess.

My husband wanted to just unpack everything into wherever he happened to be near at the time of unpacking and we'd figure it out later. I fantasized much more about the Buehl method but really couldn't achieve that, even though I did have specific ideas like "plates in a particular drawer that is relevant to the DR, the sunroom, and the peninsula counter stools," not the one exactly closest to the dishwasher.

However, there are always those "miscellaneous" things that didn't have any particular logical home, so we have a drawer that is "if it has a hole in it, it goes here." That includes colanders, the apple corer, baster, funnels, potato masher, ricer, steamer, tea balls, and the like. We don't adhere 100% to this rule, it's more of a "when in doubt, look there first."

It works pretty well!

Great idea to have a friend come over and explain the 'cooking triangle' and an efficient placement of cutlery and such. It makes for a good start to learning the basics.
When settled, have a potluck kitchen party where friends bring a favorite dish and have them bring the written recipe. (suggest easily prepared and fresh food items that also freeze well). I brought a friend a favorite meal 'kit' and we prepared it together in her new home.
As a house warming gift i gave a good basic quality knife and big cutting board...(so when i visit i have the tools i need)

My sister attends the free cooking demos at WholeFoods in Miami. Might be something in your area for free or a small fee or a basic 'cooking for one' class.

In case anyone wants pictures, here are two of my albums:

Cabinet Insides

Drawer Insides

Unfortunately, with Photobucket's so-called improved site, pictures are smaller, the captions are no longer fully displayed, and the pictures are more difficult to view in general. You will probably have to click on each picture individually to get the details. (I'm going to look for another photohosting site b/c of the degradation in service - both viewing pics and storing them.)

Hmmm...kind of like GW's so-called improvements!

Thanks Buehl, I had actually seen your pictures before but forgot where and that is actually what inspired this post. haha

Though at least at work I can't actually view them, this could be because I am at work though.

I love all of the ideas so far! I do have a whole foods a few blocks from work so I will check to see if they offer cooking classes.

At this point I've got everything but the granite and I'm waiting to install the appliances until the granite is in. I started looking at where I will put things but at this point I think most of my stuff will fit in just a few cabinets that I put in for specific tasks. (I added a cabinet over the DW for everyday dishes, a coffee station, and a serving bar.) I think over half of the kitchen will initially be empty but I will be sure to get pictures. When I do I'll be sure to post up my china cabinet I have a feeling everyone will get a kick out of it.

Thanks again!
Stuart

This post was edited by SLTKota on Wed, Jun 5, 13 at 8:25