Ina Garten Inspired Me to Change How I Organize My Kitchen Tools. And You Should Take Note.
I’ve been known to spend, what some people might call, “too much time” shamelessly scrolling through Ina Garten’s Instagram. I like to admire what she’s recently made and her gorgeous, sprawling East Hampton kitchen. And a few weeks ago I found myself seriously invested in how Ina organizes her kitchen tools, because that’s been a sore spot in my personal organization. For years, my kitchen tools have been thrown into drawers and haphazardly stuffed into utensil crocks, so jam-packed that there’s absolutely no wiggle room.
Which led me to Googling “How does Ina Garten organize her kitchen tools?” and “Ina Garten’s favorite utensil crock.” I soon stumbled upon this slideshow, detailing how Ina stores her wooden and stainless steel utensils in separate utensil crocks, and this article breaking down a kitchen tour Ina did for the New York Times. You can clearly see her two utensil crocks so very neatly organized, with an assortment of wooden spoons in one and various metal utensils in the other.
So, yep, you guessed it: I decided to organize my utensils the same way. And while I couldn’t find information on the exact utensil crocks Ina has, I did buy two of these off-white stoneware ones that look very similar to hers. Once they arrived, I got to sorting my tools.
Prior to this, I had two differently sized utensil crocks (one blue, the other purple). Now, with two matching, same-sized ones, the whole setup just looks so much more put-together. And separating wooden tools from metal ones has proved to be brilliant because I don’t spend nearly as much time rooting through the crocks to find what I need; if it’s wooden it’s in one, and if it’s stainless steel it’s in the other. It’s had another unexpected benefit, too: My husband, who often puts away the dishes, now actually knows where the utensils go. Which, in turn, helps me! I might even add a third crock for silicone utensils!
Once again, Ina’s done it. Now, back to her Insta.
Do you have a favorite utensil crock? Tell us about it in the comments!