Organize Kitchen

What will give a kitchen that "wow" factor that will make it memorable? What do buyers look for in a well-appointed kitchen?Does your kitchen measure up to the competition? How can you organize a kitchen?

Kitchens usually will provide your greatest return on investment so spend your staging dollars here and spend them wisely.


As we write this page, kitchens are trending into spaces with cleaner lines and jewel box finishes. Cabinet door styles aresimpler but great attention is being paid to the hardware (jewelry). Dark stained wood is still popular but white cabinets are starting a comeback. Stainless steel appliances still rule if the budget allows but white or black can be made to work in a design scheme if they are current models. Granite can set a kitchen apart, but quartz is a rising star because of its ease-of-care. And tile. Recycled glass tile is the rage because it's eco-friendly - but natural stone and subway tile remain in the mix.

What does this mean to someone about to stage a kitchen? Well, you'd better start with a clean, uncluttered space. Here's where we show you how.

Some people say that kitchens need to be so clean that they pass the "white glove test". That's a pretty good standard. Better yet, aim for a kitchen that will pass the test of a visit from your mother-in-law. Now that's clean.

• Cooking spatter and grease can travel pretty long distances - farther from the cooktop than you might think. We've found grease residue inside cabinet doors, under refrigerators, on ceiling light fixtures, on shelves - evenin the next room. It's an airborne nightmare. Clean every surface with a good cleaner that has a grease cutter in it. You don't want to have to do this twice and leaving any grease around will just attract more dirt and grime next week.
• If you have a wood finish on your cabinet doors, consider polishing them with a good wood polish or wood cream. After a good cleaning, the polish will restore the lustre andshine to an attractive sheen.

Clean every appliance so that it looks as clean as new. This is a hot-button for potential buyers, they don't want to have to purchase expensive new appliances. If yours are squeeky clean, then the thought of buying new won't even cross their minds.

• Clean the inside of the oven(s) and all around the doors. Take a good brush to the wire shelves in the oven. Anything baked on can be removed with the right product and some elbow grease.
• We've been known to take a vacuum to the refrigerator after we've emptied it. This makes it easy to find and eliminate any crumbs or wayward food particles. Choose a mild detergent or baking soda to wash the refrigerator walls and shelves. Check the rubber gasket around the refrigerator doors for dirt and mildew as you clean.
• The cook top should sparkle and it will! Remove all the burners, fittings and knobs and just get in there are clean. This is one of the easier appliances to clean because so much is removable. Just don't forget where the pieces go back!
• Clean the microwave with a gentle cleaner. The inside should sparkle and the touch pad should show no fingerprints and not feel greasy.
• Dishwashers are pretty easy to clean - they are self-cleaning! Don't forget to check around the rubber gasket in the door to make sure that this area is clean as well.
• A good trick for cleaning a garbage disposal is to slice a lemon into 8 wedges and put one or two wedges in the disposal and turn it on. Clean and smells fresh in one operation!

Kitchens are magnets for all kinds of dirt and messes. Put these tasks on your to-do list:

• Don’t neglect the cabinet shelves and the tops of the cabinets. Cabinet shelves should be spotless and clean to the touch. If you haven’t visited the tops of the cabinets (assuming the tops aren’t flush with the ceiling or soffit), who knows how deep the dust is. Ditto for the top of the refrigerator.
• Take a keen interest in cleaning the handles on cabinets, drawers, faucets and appliances. Buyers will definitely use these handles as they snoop and a grimy handles leaves an awful impression.
• Get all light fixtures in pristine condition. Don’t forget to clean the dust off the light bulbs, too. Wipe clean all wall switches and outlet plates.
• Clean windows bring smiles and great natural light into the room. Make sure the sills and mouldings are spotless.
• Crumbs and dust can accumulate in kitchen drawers. Vacuum these before cleaning and the task will be much quicker.
• Countertops need to be unblemished and sanitary-clean. Potential buyers will most likely run their hands over the countertops as they evaluate the kitchen space.
• Floors need to be brought up to the “you can eat off the floor” standard. Floor tile grout needs to be returned to a just-like-new state.
• The backsplash, whether tile, paint or wood, needs to be just as clean as the countertops.

Buyers will notice how clean the kitchen is almost immediately. Make a great first impression with a kitchen that passes the mother-in-law test.

Taking out the excess stuff in your kitchen - on the shelves, in the drawers, inside the cabinets - will show you have lots of space. That space needs to impress the buyer who will want lots of space for their 250 kitchen implements, their 5 sets of dishes and the scores of other small appliances and gadgets that they own.

• As with the other areas in the house we've already decluttered, we advise that you remove two-thirds of the items in your kitchen drawers and cupboards. Leave only what you absolutely will use from day-to-day while your home is on the market. Usually we will keep one set of dishes, eight placesettings of flatware, a few glasses and one or two favorite coffee mugs. As for utensils, pack away everything that you don't use everyday -- and just keep one of each of these utensils. If you absolutely need your garlic press, for example, you can just pull it out of the box that is neatly stored away in your garage or basement. Keeping these extraneous tools out of the kitchen will get you praises for your neat kitchen drawers.
• Pots and pans and bakeware also use up lots of valuable kitchen real estate. Again, keep just what you need to get through a few weeks and pack everything else away.
• Countertops are prime real estate in the kitchen. Our rule is to clear everything off the countertops except for one small appliance. We usually choose the coffeemaker as most people use this small appliance everyday.When we stage the kitchen, sometimes we will put a small green plant on the countertop BUT NOTHING MORE. One of the number onecomplaints about kitchens is that there isn't enough counter space. Make sure you offer every single square inch of countertop as usuable space by clearing them completely.
• Home buyers will almost certainly look inside your refrigerator/freezer. Since you have already cleaned the refrigerator to hospital-clean standards, you will need to declutter your refrigerator just as if it were cabinet storage. Remove two-thirds of the foodstuffs on the shelves, door racks and the drawers so that the refrigerator/freezer appears to be one-third full. If you have a built-in ice maker, empty the ice basket so that fresh ice cubes replace any old ones. You want potential buyers to see that your refrigerator/freezer is spacious, works properly and is clean.Task done.
• Pantries also need to be cleared of excess inventory. Keep the pantry shelves one-third full and pack away the rest for future consumption -- at your next house.
• Any open cabinets or open shelving should be cleared off at this point for staging later.
• Make sure you are not using your dishwasher or oven to store extra cooking implements or dishware. You don't want to leave the impression that there isn't enough room in the kitchen to store these items properly.
• Paper towels. Find a place to stash away the paper towel holder. It should not be visible during showings.
• Ditto for any evidence of pets. Bowls, beds, 40 lb. bags of kibbles -- these should be out of sight.
• If you've managed to add additional furnishings to the kitchen, now's a good time to store them away for your next home. The kitchen should only have the built-in cabinetry and appliances, a breakfast table and chairs and 2 or 3 counter stools in it. Everything else (such as rolling carts, extra stand-alone shelving, high chairs, changing tables, etc. need to be cleared out. Leave as much free floor space as you can and the kitchen will read "spacious" and "uncluttered".

Because of your diligent efforts, the amount of "stuff" in the kitchen has been reduced by two-thirds. It will be much easier to adhere to the old adage: "A place for everything, and everything in it's place."

• Our number one staging secret for the kitchen is toget liners for the drawers and shelves from IKEA. These are the absolute best liners for price, appearance, ease-of-installation and quick delivery. When buyers peer into yourkitchen drawers and cupboards (and you know they will), only efficiently organized spaces with a modern, practical touch will be visible. If your cabinets are not new, then years of wear on these surfaces can be off-putting to a buyer. Use these liners and save yourself hours of sanding and painting.
• Each cabinet should have a specific function such as storing dishes, storing cans, storing cereal boxes, storing glassware, etc. Like items should be placed neatly on shelves so that buyers will know that canned goods, for example, have their own cabinet or shelf. This will convey the impression that the kitchen has enough room to be very organized and that everything the cook needs is close at hand.
• The same is true for drawers, each drawer should have a specific function -- no catch-all or junk drawers, please.
• Go through each cabinet, shelf, and drawer this way and you will be organized in no time.

Good cooks want an efficient kitchen that can be organized to their way of cooking. By displaying enough preparation space (countertops) and storage space (drawers and cabinets) your kitchen can appeal to even the most finicky chef.

Return to Step 2. Clean, Organize and Declutter from organize kitchen.

Do you want to go back to our home page? Or, would you like to continue on to Step 3. Staging a Kitchen?