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7 Steps To Get Your Kitchen Ready For The Holidays

Worried your turkey won’t fit in the oven? Worktops too small for meal prep and your pantry is still painted an awful olive green? Does your kitchen look tired and old and make you feel embarrassed? If your kitchen sucks, it’s time to get it in shape before the holidays start (and family arrives).

Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to ensure that your house not only looks great but is in perfect working order this festive season.

Step 1: Throw Out Expired Food and Organize Your Food Space

Old food can take up a lot of space in your kitchen, especially in your refrigerator. Be sure to throw out any food that has passed its expiration date to prevent mold transferring onto your new food. This will also free up your fridge and make more space for your holiday favorites – goodbye week-old ham, hello cheesecake!

Make sure to check your pantry too, you never know which canned foods could be expiring soon. Throw out any old expired foods and move any that are going off soon to the front, so you’ll remember to use them first over anything new you buy.

Along with clearing out your refrigerator and pantry, you can also defrost the freezer while you’re in the cleaning mood. This will make a lot more room for your frozen holiday goods and let you see exactly what you have in your kitchen and what you need to stock up on.

Remember that the holidays are a busy time for any household, and you’ll need to stock up on more food than you would usually have. So, consider investing in a plastic cooler to accommodate for the extra food and drink you’ll need for your guests.

Step 2: Stay Tidy By Sorting Out Your Cookware 

It's always a great feeling when you know where all your pots and pans are. You don’t have to search high and low for that missing lid and can get down to cooking as soon as possible. When it comes to cooking over the holidays, there might be some extra pieces of equipment you need, and you may have forgotten where you stored them.

To prevent this from happening, take an inventory of all your cookware and give the shelves and cabinets a clean as you go (you might as well!).

While sorting through your inventory of kitchen essentials why not take the time to see what you need and what you can throw away, donate or put into storage. You can always put away smaller, unused appliances to free up space on your kitchen counter and give you more room to make your festive feast.

Step 3: Stock Up

Imagine going to bake a wonderful, delicious, stunning cake for your guests and realizing you have no eggs. Or going to make breakfast pancakes and not having any maple syrup to go on top!

The last thing you want over the holidays is an unplanned run to the store, having to stand in a ridiculously long queue – just to get that one thing you forgot. So, make a list of all the things you’re going to need over the holidays.

Stock up on all your basics and ensure that you’re not going to run out of the necessities like dish soap, batteries, paper towels and anything you might take for granted during the rest of the year.

Step 4: Meal Plan

A kitchen ready for the holidays is a kitchen that is stocked and raring to go! But with all this food, surely there is a chance that you could end up with a lot of waste? Not if you plan your meals!

Set out some meal plans for a week or two ahead so you know what you want to cook each day and what supplies you need to cook these meals. This will save you on time too – and limit any unnecessary trips to the store.

Try to include some non-perishable foods in your meals so that you can stock up on them and not have them going to waste if you don’t get to use them on time.

Quick, easy meals will also help you spend the days with your family and friends without having to worry about what’s for dinner and if you’ll have enough time to make it.

Step 5: Test Your Tools

There is nothing worse than a broken appliance when you need to make a meal for a dozen. So, make sure you check your kitchen appliances to ensure they are in top condition and working correctly.

Clean out your oven to ensure your food is cooked without the lingering smell of last month’s burnt cookies. Make sure your dishwasher is in good working order, so your dishes are cleaned perfectly after every wash – nothing puts a downer on celebrations like having to do the clear up!

Try to do the same with the rest of the appliances in your kitchen, even the small ones like your hand blender. Make sure that they all work and they’re all clean and ready to use.

Step 6: Reconsider Your Kitchen Layout

Consider changing the layout of your kitchen in time for the festive season. Is it too small to accommodate all your guests? Maybe your worktops and appliances need sprucing up?

By freeing up more space in your kitchen and dining areas, you can accommodate more people, more comfortably. A crowded kitchen does not a happy holidays make!

If your oven feels like it’s going to give up soon, maybe consider upgrading to a newer model to ensure that your home-cooked holiday meals are baked to perfection!

Step 7: Childproof Everything

This is not an understatement. Childproof everything!

If you’re used to small children running around the house, then I’m sure you’ve already got this covered but if you’re not, then listen up!

Toddlers love to touch everything, so make sure anything sharp or dangerous is put away. Try to use childproof locks on cupboards to prevent them from getting inside. If they can open it, they will and if they can put it in their mouth, they’ll do that too. Make sure anything hazardous is safely put away or out of reach.

At Home by NP, we want to make your holiday as magical as possible. We specialize in remodeling and would love to make your kitchen into something that will make your life easier around this busy period.
To take a look at what your kitchen could look like, give us a call on (703) 497-9187 or visit our website to take a look at what we have to offer.

 

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