Spring Cleaning: Organize Your Kitchen Giveaway

After a long, cold winter, spring is finally here. Anyone have any urges to clean and organize?

Recently I was given a complimentary copy of the downloadable e-product, “Organize Your Kitchen in 3 Weeks” by its author, Beverly Coggins. The product consists of a zip file of 21 pdfs with the goal of keeping you on track to transform your kitchen from a cluttered space into an organized, functional workspace. I fully support this goal as I believe that in order for a kitchen to serve its role as “heart of the home,” it needs to be a room that is both inviting as well as safe and efficient for cooking. As Coggins writes, “Clutter drains energy and distracts your focus.” An organized kitchen makes organizing successful family meals much easier.

Coggins’ approach is very systematic, and she neatly breaks down what can feel like an overwhelming task into manageable steps. In my opinion, the strength of this product is in the first several steps, which involve sorting through your existing kitchen contents. I really liked her recommendation to sort items into the categories “keep,” “toss,” “give away,” “sell,” and “doesn’t belong in the kitchen.” The kitchen can easily become a dumping ground for a family’s excess “stuff,” and it’s valuable to take stock from time to time.

I did not find the directions for the later steps in the process to be as clear as the de-cluttering steps. I’m sure this is in part due to the fact that organizing your kitchen is highly dependent on the space available, layout, and unique features of your individual room as well as your individual style. Some specific suggestions for typical kitchen organization as well illustrations and photos of some options would make this product a more useful tool. If you struggle with ideas for where to put things in your kitchen, I'd suggest getting some input and feedback from a trusted friend and/or experimenting with several different ideas and seeing what works best for you.

If you’re experiencing a “spring cleaning” motivational drive right now, I would urge you to seize the moment, and organize your kitchen. Organize Your Kitchen in 3 Weeks can help you tackle this task in a systematic, organized fashion. Beverly has generously offered to give away one free copy of this product to one of my readers. To enter:

1. Become a member of Kitchen Table Parents. Basic membership is free. If, however, you join at the Premium level, you will also be eligible to win one of five 30-minute individual phone sessions with me.
2. Enter a comment below which either a) describes one of your biggest kitchen organization obstacles or b) recommends a helpful kitchen organization strategy or tool.
3. Be sure you include a contact email address either in your comment or through your commenter profile.

I will be randomly selecting one winner from all eligible entrants on April 18, 2011.