Refresh Your HDB Kitchen with these Simple Organisation Solutions

Your kitchen is one of the busiest and hardest-working parts of your flat. And yes, it is also the most expensive part of your home to renovate. Having a well-designed kitchen is important to efficiently cater to your work triangle while giving you enough space to move around and store your items. Of course, a beautiful kitchen helps you be inspired to cook and share delicious meals with your family. Since your bustling kitchen deserves a makeover, here are some practical tweaks for a leveled-up kitchen!

Clean and Declutter Your Kitchen

Clutter simply makes everything unpleasant. If your kitchen is too jam-packed and unorganised, you will surely have a hard time getting your items with ease. Sometimes, you lose your important utensils and cutlery. Not to mention, a cluttered kitchen is very unsightly. 

Make your kitchen a comfortable place to work in by reducing your clutter and organising your essential items based on how often and how you need them.

1. Dispose of items that you no longer need to make room for more essential kitchen items.
2. Do not put all your kitchen appliances on your countertop. Keep the items you usually use and immediately need, then store the less-used items inside your cabinet.
3. Arrange your kitchen items inside your cabinet according to how you need them, not how they look. Put the less-used items at the back and place those you immediately need closer to your reach. Take note of your working triangle when arranging your items. Place your cookware and utensils near the cooking area, and the appliances and kitchen gadgets near your food prep area.
4. Do not buy too much food or kitchen utensils. Since you have limited space to store your items, you must avoid buying too much and overwhelming your space. It is okay to get extra food, but be sure that you only buy what you can consume in a specific amount of time to prevent wasting money and space.
5. Use transparent containers for your condiments and ingredients in your cabinets and refrigerator. Add labels to access them easily.
6. Put your cleaning solutions in one place, away from heat and food items.

Promote Proper Traffic Flow

Your kitchen should cater to the kitchen triangle—the sink, refrigerator, and hob areas. This means that all the necessary cooking items, like your pots, should be placed near your hob area. The prep items like knives, colanders, cutting boards, and peelers should be closer to the sink. For those who love to bake, your bakeware should be placed in your baking zone. You should also designate a space for your trash bins near your food prep zone. Strategically arrange your kitchen based on your lifestyle and preferences. The key is not to let any unnecessary item, furniture, or clutter obstruct your workflow.

Ensure that You Have Enough Walkways and Workspace

For smaller HDB kitchens, it is challenging to create enough space for you to comfortably move and carry on your tasks, especially if you prepare meals with your partner or your kids. It is definitely a challenge to fit two or more people in a narrow kitchen. To address this, you have to have a clear delegation of tasks, well-defined cooking zones as mentioned above, and an uncluttered space. Make sure your kitchen aisle is always clear. For kitchen appliances like your oven, refrigerator, and dishwasher, you have to make sure to place them in areas where fewer people pass by. For food preparation, free up your counter space as much as possible. Get a dedicated storage area for your less-used appliances and cooking items. Choose two-hinged cabinets that do not take up so much space when opened.

Make Your Refrigerator Accessible

One effective way to save space and promote ease of movement within your kitchen is through the placement of your refrigerator.

First of all, you have to consider your refrigerator’s door type. If you have a standard one-door refrigerator, you will need to place it in a spacious area to get a proper view of the items inside. You should also consider other heat sources in your kitchen, such as sunlight, the hob, and the oven. Constant exposure to these heat sources will make your refrigerator work harder to maintain its temperature, making it less energy efficient.

Ideally, you want to place your refrigerator in a more accessible area, preferably on the outer side of your kitchen triangle. This placement makes it easier to load and unload food items and access the lower parts of your refrigerator without bumping into your kitchen island or counter. Moreover, you have to place it away from constant heat sources. Keep at least 4 to 9 feet between your refrigerator, sink, and oven to operate your kitchen triangle effectively. Most importantly, you have to keep the space around your refrigerator well-ventilated.

Choose the Right Cooker Hood for Your Needs

The ideal cooker hood for your kitchen is an extraction cooker hood. This is because it filters the air, capturing grease, harmful compounds, and unnecessary odour. The ideal hood will be larger than your hob and mounted high enough to allow you to move around comfortably while cooking. A wall-mounted chimney hood makes for an aesthetically pleasing kitchen with its sophisticated design. The chimney hood is easy to install. However, due to their relatively bulky design, you may not be able to see all of your cooking zones at once. A telescopic hood is a more compact piece that can be installed beside your cupboards on top of your cooking hob. Because of its compact design, a telescopic cooker hood gives you a good view of your cooking zones.

Add Decorative Items and Accessories

Your kitchen does not have to be too formal all the time. You can always add personal touches to your kitchen to make it more welcoming and fun to work in. Make your HDB kitchen stunning by playing with kitchen furniture, colours, and easy-to-replace decorative items. Add some bar stools to your kitchen counter, place colourful accent chairs on your dining table, play with your backsplash and tiles, and create a personalised wall with framed wall arts and decors. For a more cohesive kitchen, you can select an accent colour and let everything, including your containers and appliances, revolve around your chosen colour palette. Make use of lights to uplift your design and make it easier for you to access the items that your central light can’t reach.

Make it Easy to Recycle

Spend some time in your day to organise and declutter your kitchen. At least 15 minutes a day will help you prevent your kitchen items from piling up. Separate food waste and non-biodegradable and recyclable items are ready for the big blue bin.

The first step to making a kitchen a refreshing and inspiring place to cook is to keep it clean, well organised, and personalised. You need a kitchen that adjusts to your needs, not the other way around.