Kitchens tend to overflow with utensils, cookware, kitchenware, ingredients and the like. The best way to maintain an ounce of control over your growing kitchen collection is of course with some clever organisation. For Ellen Bennett, founder and C.E.O. of the culinary and lifestyle brand Hedley & Bennett, and former chef, organisation is a non-negotiable. She recently shared her secrets for a streamlined kitchen with The New York Times. “When you have a place for everything, you don’t have to think twice. It’s about not having to do the extra work,” she explains.

Her top five tips for keeping your kitchen as organised as a professional one are as follows:

Prep, Cook, Serve, Store
All cookware you own can fall under one of the above four categories, so try to divide your things accordingly. Bennett suggests separate drawers for each, which are clearly labelled for visibility. Not sure what’s what? Prep equals mixing bowls, scales and the like, while Cook is for pots and pans. Serve contains plates, bowls, glasses, and Store is for Tupperware and containers.

Flavour and function also play a part
When it comes to your fridge, use these two sections to divide (and conquer) your ingredients. For Bennett that means separating the likes of Asian and American sauces, fruits, vegetables, and pickled items, which each boast their own section. “Knowing there’s a zone for everything makes it easier to just go and find,” she explains. For ease she also allows a ‘flavour station’ to sit on her counter, a fruit bowl of sorts which contains daily essentials for her favourite food, like garlic, and onions.

Visibility is key
Rather than rifling through drawers for utensils, Bennett suggests you use a magnetic strip mounted on a wall for essentials. “It’s all about visibility and making it easily accessible,” she says. She also transfers any purchased dry goods to labelled and transparent containers. This is so that she can always see remaining stock levels. “When you have a carton, you can’t tell how much is left over. In a professional restaurant, you see how much is left, and if it’s below halfway point, typically, you order new. This is a way for you to be able to say, ‘Oh, O.K., I’m running out of cinnamon sticks.’”

Keep basics close at hand
“Counter space is precious real estate,” explains Bennett, but pantry basics deserve a place front and centre for easy access. For Bennett this means a collection of butter, salt, pepper, oil, tongs, spatula and wooden spoons are kept next to the stove. Everything else is put away in its rightful place out of sight. “Those are good to have at your fingertips.”

Remember to Spring clean
Don’t hold on to kitchen gadgets or ingredients that you don’t use regularly, they’re a waste of space (and could well be past their use-by date). Bennett suggests instead treating your kitchen to a regular cleanse to remove anything that hasn’t been used in the past six months. As Bennett explains: “It’s healthy to do that, just like in your closet. Your closet and your pantry are basically the same thing.”