Many of us came out of the holiday season swearing that next year will be different. Before the next extravaganza of baking and cooking and entertaining, we'll make sure the kitchen is organized. We won't try to cram leftover turkey into a fridge containing science experiments that started out as Halloween treats.

Marcia Cianchetti of Tallmadge, Ohio, says her kitchen typifies such chaos. She has containers of candied cherries for fruitcakes she never baked last Christmas, a bread machine her daughter dragged out of storage, an empty tin from cookies that were on special, newspapers and stuff.

Because her family eats in the dining room, the breakfast nook has become a quasi-storage area and dumping ground.

"I just have too much stuff. Thirty-one years ago, I had half the cupboard space I have now and I had plenty of room. Now, I have twice the space and I still don't have room for everything," she said.

Professional organizer Jamie Escola, of Calm and Collected Organizing of Canton, Ohio, said Cianchetti's situation is typical. "It's human nature. If we have the space, we will fill it up," she said.

Escola gave a walkthrough of Cianchetti's kitchen to offer tips on how to get a kitchen organized and keep it that way.

She likes to practise a technique known as SPACE, created by organizer Julie Morgenstern: S - Sort through stuff.

P - Purge anything that is expired, broken or unused. A - Assign everything a home.

C - Contain your items. E - Equalize your space.

In Cianchetti's case, her kitchen offers ample storage - two large pantry cupboards (one for food and one for equipment) and a generous number of cupboards to hold dishes, glasses and other items. All of them are filled.

Escola said to begin by sorting all of it and purging.

For food in the pantry, refrigerator and freezer, get rid of expired packages, stale items or food that you know won't be eaten. If, at Christmas, you were given a bottle of tarragon-garlic vinegar, and you know tarragon-garlic vinegar is something you'd never use, give it to a friend who likes that flavour or donate it to a food bank. Do not shove it to the back of the cupboard, where it will be forgotten until it expires and eventually thrown out anyway.

Escola advised Cianchetti to ditch about 25 per cent of what was in her pantries. For cookware, that means examining what she has and eliminating items she doesn't use. For items that are seldom used, such as holiday platters, Escola recommends storing them in the basement or shed, where they aren't taking up space the whole year. Make sure the things in the kitchen are things you are using regularly, she said.

Deciding what to keep and what to get rid of can be difficult. Escola said saving items like baskets that came filled with flowers or food, or tins that once held cake, isn't a bad idea if you are likely to give somebody else a basket or tin of cookies. But you can't realistically save more than a few.

She suggested setting a small number to keep, to be stored in the basement. But don't let them accumulate.

When it comes to storing in the basement or garage, Escola said again it is important to set a limit; otherwise you will fill up the basement. Assign three shelves for kitchen overflow. When that space is filled, it's time to purge again, she said.

Sometimes, Escola said, you have to give yourself permission to get rid of things and donating is always a good option.

"Ask yourself, 'Is it something I really need or that adds to the enjoyment of my kitchen?' If it does, you need to create a home for it. It's about weighing the positives and the negatives and about letting go," Escola said. Anything that doesn't have a purpose or a place is clutter.

Assigning everything a home is the next step, and is crucial to getting and staying organized. If you always put coupons and receipts in the same place, then you'll always know where to look for them when you need them, Escola said. The space doesn't have to be an organized file. It can be just a box or drawer. But as long as you use it for paper and only paper, you'll always know where to find items.

The time to buy plastic bins, containers and other organizers is after you have given everything a home, so that you will buy the right container for the job. Resist the temptation to go out and purchase new containers, products and organizing tools before you know what you need, Escola said.

She is a big fan of baskets or plastic bins for holding like items - for example, bags of nuts and baking morsels. They keep supplies together, and can be pulled in and out, creating drawers on shelves.

The final step, equalizing, is about maintaining the new order.

When she examined her cupboards, Cianchetti discovered that she had four bags of marshmallows, and didn't even remember buying them.

Before going grocery shopping, Escola said, "Shop your pantry first." If you have three bags of rice, then plan some meals using rice to help pare it down.

Now that you have a plan, getting started can be the hardest part.

Escola recommends starting with all flat surfaces first - counters, islands and tabletops. Eliminating the visual clutter will immediately transform the kitchen's appearance, and it will give you space to work when you tackle what's inside the cupboards and drawers.

Countertops are a constant trouble spot, but they also can be an indication of what a kitchen is lacking. If your counter is cluttered with keys, mail, sunglasses and everyone's cellphone charger, it's probably because there isn't an assigned spot for those items. Hooks by the door for keys work well, and so does a basket for items like school papers that need to be signed and invitations that need replies.

At the end of each day, make sure your kitchen counters are clear.