Organizing the kitchen is never an easy task, especially serving platters. Think about the serving dishes you usually pull out when friends and family are around. How about the pans and pots you use to prepare food? Add these to the muffin tins, baking sheets, and cutting boards you frequently use.
All these kitchen utensils can create a messy environment if they are not organized. Worry not; this critique will guide you on organizing serving platters. You can use the ideas you gain here to store other utensils, too!
Buy the Right Platters for Serving Food
Before you even think about organizing platters for serving food, you should buy suitable platters from the stores. While buying single platters might seem to be a great way to cut costs, buying platters in sets is always recommended.
A set of platters come in specific shapes and sizes. Typically, the platters are placed inside each other. It can help you save on space in the kitchen. The set of platters can also give your kitchen a nice facial uplift. Serving food using these plates creates the right mood to enjoy tasty meals prepared in your kitchen.
Be Creative With Vertical Spaces
Traditionally, most people are used to organizing platters by stacking them. This isn’t a bad way of arranging plates for serving food, but it’s not the best option. It’s time to bring some creativity into your kitchen by making good use of the vertical spaces.
Find some pieces of plywood and use them to make vertical dividers in your kitchen cupboards. You can then use the spaces created to organize your platters. You will notice that you will be using less space to store the platters. Plus, you will find it easy to store the platters or put them away.
Organize With Tension Rods
Using the vertical spaces in your kitchen cupboards also comes in handy here. You can organize platters using tension rods. Using these rods can even help to safely remove some of the serving dishes you haven’t used in a while.
Typically, stacking platters makes it difficult to reach serving dishes at the bottom of the pile. Vertical storage using tension rods helps to eliminate this.
Use Racks
Racks are a must-have in your kitchen. They simplify the whole process of organizing your dishes. Plus, they help a lot in drying hand-washed utensils. You only need to use a water-absorbing placement below the rack, and you’re good to go.
Racks also give your kitchen a beautiful aesthetic, especially if you choose specific designs that match the look of your kitchen and utensils.
Heavy Stuff to the Bottom Cabinet
It’s always a struggle to reach for the heavy platters stored on top shelves. This is especially true for ceramic platters. It takes a lot of effort to get them out and use them for serving food. Most people end up using other dishes to avoid all the hassle.
To avoid this, organize heavy platters at the bottom cabinets. You don’t have to struggle to get them when visitors are around. What’s more, you avoid the potential breakage of these platters.
Hang the Platters
Ever thought of hanging your platters? Designer platters usually come with specific handles– use these to hang them! You can use these handles to hang them vertically and make good use of your spaces. The trick here is to use a curtain rod with hooks.
Position the curtain rod somewhere next to the sink for easy washing and hanging. The rod also should be within your reach when serving food. It makes it easy to grab and use. So, remember to shop for designer utensils that have these hooks when you’re looking!
Take Advantage of Hooks
If your kitchen has enough shelves, you might find extra storage space using hooks. You can hook these storage hooks anywhere on your kitchen shelves. They provide an innovative way of storing your platters for easy retrieval.
Protect Your Platters From Scratches
The last thing you need in your expensive dinnerware is to have them scratched just because of improper storage. If you are stacking your plates, consider giving some extra padding. Use disposable paper plates or sheet foam to provide an extra layer when organizing your platters.
This helps to prevent the platters from coming into contact with each other. Any form of layering works here; you don’t have to go for anything expensive.
Organize and Decorate
Organizing serving platters isn’t just about putting things where they need to be. It’s more than just decluttering. You need to be creative here and keep things organized while at the same time decorating your kitchen.
For instance, instead of using the usual baskets to store platters, you can use well-designed cane baskets. You will enjoy spending more time preparing hearty meals in a well-organized environment. So, it’s worth leveraging your creativity here.
Install Pegboards
Pegboards are the in-thing these days. You can always use the empty kitchen wall spaces to store platters. Ensure you install the peg boards around places where you can easily access them. For instance, install them next to the sink or close to the dining table, if you have one in your kitchen area.
Declutter and Stay Organized
An integral aspect of being organized requires decluttering some of your serving platters. Tidying up your kitchen environment helps to de-stress. Preparing meals in a disorderly space can easily make you feel overwhelmed!
Therefore, you need to get rid of some of the platters you no longer use. Over time, there is a good chance that you’ve collected tons of kitchenware. Get rid of some, as this helps create space for new things you might require.
Organizing serving platters doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Once you establish a specific storage system, the rest is simply maintenance. Keeping your kitchen organized creates a welcoming environment where you can cook and share conversations with your friends and family.
Use the ideas discussed herein to simplify the process for you. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel – do what the experts do!
