Keeping the kitchen tidy enhances its function, appearance, and cleanliness - all important factors in this busy room of the home. However, with heavy use, it can sometimes seem a burden to keep the kitchen in tip-top shape if a good organizational system is not in place. Here are some tidy inspirations to get your wheels turning in your own home kitchen:

• 1 This kitchen has a place for everything, including an upper-cabinet-mount computer screen for referencing recipes. Concealed storage keeps things hidden away (we love the obscured glass in the upper cabinet doors).
• 2 These open shelves are kept orderly with bins that sort their contents.
• 3 A longtime favorite of ours, this pantry keeps things at an arm's reach. White keeps things fresh and bright. Don't have a pantry? Try transforming a nearby closet!
• 4 Add free-standing furniture for a wealth of new storage space when you're short on built-in cabinets.
• 5 Full shelves of cookbooks with lots of cookware hanging beneath. Don't overlook space that can be used for storage!

Images: Martha Stewart, Bob Hiemstra/Real Simple, Steve Gross & Sue Daley/Country Living, Miki Duisterhof/House Beautiful, DecorPad