Firstly, how much space to you have available in the kitchen?
How many pantry pantry, cupboard space do you have?
How much counter space do you have?
I personally hate having kitchen gadgets and canisters on my kitchen counters. It drives me crazy. we have a decent kitchen with tons of cupboards etc.
On one counter I have a microwave and a toaster.
Counter closest to stove has the knife block. Remainder of counter space is used for food prep etc. If other children in the house, I put the block higher out of the reach of little hands. Drawer next to stove contains all utensils needed for cooking. Cupboard beneath that contains various cutting boards. Next to that we have two huge cupboards with two shelves inside. This contains all pots, pans, frying pans, lids, with still plenty of space. I keep pots , pans on one shelf and all lids on the other.
Another counter area where the sink is located is bare. Extra dirty dishes etc are always piled there, and underneath that counter is the dishwasher (which we seldom use).
Our dishware used to be in the upper cupboards, but it was harder for the children and older people to reach. Since we have spacious bottom cupboards, we added another shelf to it, making it two levels. All dishes are located there, with kiddoe non breakable plates etc within easy reach. Above these cupboards we have drawers where the everyday cutlery is kept. No one has to run from one place to another on a daily basis looking for items to use. Everything is within reach, and it has a nice easy flow in the kitchen.
Everyday cups, tea mugs, glasses are located in top cupboard , which is close to the kitchen sink and the fridge.
I have another top smaller cupboard to the right of the stove. Everyday masalas, spices, salt, pepper is located there. No dashing across the kitchen for those things.
I have one pantry that is the size of a linen closet. It is shelved from top to bottom. This pantry contains all my kitchen appliances, gadgets: from hand mixers, choppers, Kitchen Aid, blender. My Crockpots easily fit there too. Since we have a ton of baking items, we picked up space savers, and DH made extra shelves. We also have a couple of bins located in there where all baking gadgets, spatulas , measuring cups, are located. Nothing else goes in there.
Have another pantry (shelves on three sides, like the letter U) which is for food only . One side has all my Desi foods, the other side contains my non Desi items.
The third side has a shelf for cereal, another has shelf for bread, rolls etc items. Another large shelf has snack items. Everything is easy to find for myself, my family or anyone else who comes into the kitchen. Underneath this is a rolling cart where I keep onions/potatoes etc.
MY inlaws, Mum, others who come, never have to ask ‘where is this’ where is that’. Alhamdulillah all is easy to find.