When is the last time you reevaluated the way you store stuff in your kitchen? If youโre anything like me, then it was probably quite a while ago, and there could be things you’re storing the wrong way!
I typically just store things in the same place out of habit, without really considering if itโs actually the best way to do it. But there are actually some compelling reasons why reevaluating your kitchen storage could definitely be worth your time!
First, your current storage methods might actually be doing more harm than good to your dishes, cookware, and utensils. Storing them properly could help you protect your investment and extend the life of your stuff! And second, your current storage methods may not be as space-efficient as they could be. Adopting a different storage method could free up some valuable space in your kitchen cupboards and drawers!
So with all that in mind, today Iโll be highlighting 7 different kitchen items that are common stored in less-than-optimal ways. Iโll also share some practical advice on better ways to store those items! :-)
7 Kitchen Items Youโre Storing The Wrong Way
1. Cookie Sheets
Storing your cookie sheets in a stack takes up a lot of valuable storage space in your kitchen. Instead, use a vertical storage rack, a file sorter, or even a few bungee cords to store your cookie sheets vertically. It saves on storage space, and it will help prevent scratches too!
2. Non-Stick Pans
Stacking your non-stick or cast iron pans will quickly scratch up your cookware if youโre not careful! Instead, place a paper towel, a paper plate, or a thin cloth between each pan in the stack. The barrier will help protect your cookware and prevent scratches.
3. Knives
Storing your kitchen knives in a drawer could be doing more harm than good. Your knives could be getting banged up by the other items in the drawer. Itโs also dangerous, because someone could easily reach into the drawer and cut themselves accidentally.
Instead, store your knives in a knife block or on a magnetic knife bar. Itโs an easy way to protect your knives (and your fingers!)
4. Spices
Thereโs certainly an argument to be made in favor of transferring your spices into a cute, matching set of bottles. Itโs definitely more aesthetically pleasing than a hodgepodge of various bottle sizes and label designs! But transferring your spices to other containers is time-consuming, and can get pretty messy too! Sometimes itโs just best to leave well enough alone.
5. Baking Mats
Stacking your silpats and baking mats can take up a lot of space! You can try rolling them, but they wonโt stay in place on their own. Instead, roll your baking mats and slip them into a cardboard tube. They keep your baking mats nicely rolled, and make them much easier to store!
6. Canned Foods
Canned foods are really space-efficient and easy to store, but itโs easy to lose track of how long those cans have been in your pantry. You could check each label individually, but it would take quite a bit of time! Instead, just store your cans in a storage rack! Place new cans in the back, and take them out from the front to ensure that youโre using the older cans first.
7. Wine Glasses
Storing wine and cocktail glasses upside-down might keep dust out, but you run the risk of damaging your glasses. The lip of the glass is the most fragile part, so itโs more likely to break if you knock the lip against a shelf. Instead, store them right-side up. You can always cover them with a paper towel to keep the dust out. :-)
Do you any tips or tricks that help you keep your kitchen items organized?




























covering wine glasses and glassware with a paper towel to keep out dust would be very unsightly, to me, never mind having to figure a way to keep the paper towel in place. I think I’ll risk the fragile lip upside down. Knowing the lip is the most fragile part, is enough to caution me before reaching.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put extension cords in paper towel tubes. Just fold the cord so it is slightly longer than the tube, ends stick out slightly. I mark the length on the cardboard tube with a black marker. Doesn’t take up a lot of space and they don’t tangle.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.What great ideas, Jillee!! Love your discussions–so fun and informative. Removing marker from glass bottles using a cotton ball and nail polish remover (non acetone or not). Baby wipes work, too. You can use a grease pencil to write on the glass; remove it with nail polish remover.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My daughter gave me a wine glass rack that my husband screwed to the bottom of one of our kitchen cabinets. The glasses hang upside down, but do collect residue of oil from when I saute onions or mushroom. I do not have to wash the wine glasses often, but when I do, I just put them in the D/W with a tiny amount of liquid D/W detergent and set the D/W to “rinse.”
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have read many sources over the years that say knife blocks are a breeding ground for dust, crumbs, mold, and bacteria. I stopped using one years ago.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put my non-stick pans in the drawstring cloth bags that some sheets come in, then stack them.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have an apple slicer/corer, that I am trying to find a good place to put it. Any ideas? It cuts 12 slices and cores the apple and come with a slotted tray to help cut all the way through. I doesnโt hang from a hook and is too big and bulky for the drawer and is very sharp. Thanks, I love your blog and all your ideas.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I hang my bulky apple slicer on a plastic command hook thatโs attached to the side of my refrigerator. I also have an expandable curtain rod on command hooks on my refrigerator holding all my cooking utensils. This works for freestanding fridge.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great ideas. I wouldnโt use the tp rolls for storing the mats. I donโt have any mats but the thought of using them with all that bacteria is ew gross. Paper towel and gift wrap tubes would be a better way.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I just use small rubber bands that come off my produce (like green onions) to hold my rolled baking mats. I find that T.P. and paper towel rolls donโt hold their shape for very long.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When I ordered my silicone baking mats, they arrived rolled up in a cardboard box. I kept that box. I place paper towels between the mats before rolling them up.
But looking at paper towel cardboard roll, that should work too.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks for the tips, Jillee – I actually love the matching bottles in my spice rack. The rack itself is round, holds 48 bottles, with labels on the top, and since they are clear, I can judge quickly when I need to refill them. The biggest advantage to me over leaving them in their original containers is that they are stored alphabetically, so I can find everything for a recipe very quickly. It does take a little bit to set them up, but to me it is well worth it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I LOVE my matching square bottles as well. I think itโs one of my favorite organizational things Iโve done in years! I have around 40 spices. They are alphabetized (I can find them so easy!) and they take up such a smaller space now! The only drawback that I can think of is that they donโt have an expiration date on them after you transfer the spices.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.If you miss having the expiry dates, each time you refill the bottle you can write either the expiry date (from the packaging you’re transferring from) or the date you refilled the jar. Every time you refill, you can wash off the old date and write the new.
Even if you use permanent marker, if you’re writing on glass you should be able to wash it off with the scrubby side of a sponge. You can always make a small test mark first and wash it off a few days later to check it’ll work with whatever pen you’re using. And you can write somewhere out of sight, like the bottom of the jar, since you don’t need to see it every time you use the contents.
Black crayon works!!!
Iโve used #5 before, but in a short time the cardboard tube loses its shape and opens.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use two or even three toilet paper tubes on rolls of wrapping paper, spaced out along the roll. I imagine a couple would work for baking mats — but I’d bet paper towel tubes would work even better. Or you could try two TP tubes with the slits/openings turned in opposite directions. That’d probably hold up better.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Use hair scrunchies.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.On #6, you show a rack for holding / placing cans in a neat manner in your pantry. I have looked online for this and cannot fine. Please tell me where you found this. Thank you.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I think it’s just a magazine rack!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes, it is a magazine rack! :-)
So enjoy your good ideas!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I really enjoyed this post and all of the great information that came with it! Thank you so much for sharing, I can’t wait to try some of these!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Organization Junkie
Jillee– Would LOVE to know how & where to store a rolling pin! I use a long French pin (no handles) and I keep moving it all over the place and it just gets in the way! Any ideas?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’ll have to think of something – keep your eyes peeled for that tip in an upcoming post :-) Thanks for the idea!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a rolling pin holder or wine bottle rack which hangs on the wall (super cute). You can find them on Amazon, Etsy etc.
I had a smidge of extra space above my cookie sheets, in my narrow cabinet. I cut another shelf for that space. This is where rolling pin lives, with the mat rolled around it. Neither one complains.
What an EXCELLENT use of that space in the top of that oh-so-narrow cabinet! FIVE STARS to you Ms. Annette!
Excellent idea! Thanks for sharing!!!
I keep mine in my rolled up baking mats.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I keep both styles of rolling pins in the drawer with my dish and tea towels and cheese cloth.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My rolling pin is pretty so I keep my pin on display over my stove top.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m trying to post a photo but it isn’t letting me. It sits across the top of my stove on a pin holder.
In our last house, there was a full size, full depth cabinet above the stacked, double wall ovens that had several removable dividers in it for standing up trays, cookie sheets, cooling racks etc. IMHO kitchens need something like that. Also every lower cabinet all the way around had pull out shelves. No trying to find or reach something on the back of the shelf. When the previous owners redid that kitchen, they did a great job. Oh, one other thing in that kitchen: there was a small drawer above those lower cabinets, with a pull out cutting board below the drawer between the drawer and the lower cabinets all around.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.How handy!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.FYI, I use coffee filters between my frying pans, they are inexpensive and most people have them already ;)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great tip!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use cheap washcloths. They seem to work very well.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like the cardboard roll idea for storing baking mats. I’ve used hair bands, but the size is not adjustable and the cardboard roll will close to fit.
If you have solid shelves, there is a great way to store cutting boards and baking pans. Get short spring tension curtain rods and set them up vertically. I used three rods from front to back of my shelf and six rods to create three sections (using the wall of the cabinet as an end). Inexpensive and practical – no need to spend on anything fancy.
I’ve used paper towels between my non-stick pans for over twenty years. The paper towel protects not just the bottom, as a paper plate would do, but the sides of the pans as well.
I store my wine glasses upside down with a bit of space between. I put a soft, open weave liner on the shelves (my grandmother’s antique armoire). This keeps the glasses from chipping and lets air circulate to make sure they are dry. I’ve had crystal wine glasses from both sets of grandparents for thirty years and never (thank goodness) had a chip.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love the tension rod idea!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I bought a kapoosh knife block years ago and love it. My knives, peeler and granny forks go in it. Also the meat thermometer. They are in the order I want them, and as I have multiple pairing knives, no wooden block is available that works for me. I suppose if I planned one out my husband could make me one. But I won’t need it when I’m gone.:)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I keep my baking sheets and plastic cuttingbords behind my sheet pans in a vertical holder similar to yours :) LOVE this place :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My spice carousel is the best purchase decision I’ve made toward organizing my kitchen. Beautiful and accessible, I can clearly see all my spices and tell which ones are running low.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a 2nd refrigerator and a freezer in my pantry. I store my baking mat on the side of the freezer. It is empty space and takes no room, it sticks well there.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.A timely post as I am in the process of re-evaluating all of my kitchen storage. Iโve freed up most space by moving out seldom used small appliances and my grandchildrenโs sip cups with mid-matched lids. I agree with leaving spices in original containers. They are easier to identify.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Where are those shelves from in the last picture? Love them!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.i found white ones on amazon. type in bathroom wall shelves. price was 37.99. l love them too. i want for coffee cups
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Same as the ones I bought in IKEA for about 10 euros each !
I bought them on Amazon! Here they are :-) http://amzn.to/1rNryej
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I place my baking mats against cookie sheets, which are stacked vertically in a file sorter rack. This way I can keep them flat.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks for all the great suggestions Jillee!
That’s a great idea!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put silicon trivets from the poundshop (dollar store to you!) between my pans. They will last forever.
I am reevaluating my need for a rotating spice rack on the grounds of this email!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Cloth napkins work *great* to place between nonstick pans to keep them scratch-free. (And scratched nonstick pans can give off toxic compounds–into the air and your body–when heated!!) Cup towels also work really well, and some (especially the flour-sack kind) come in large enough sizes that you can even fold them in half and still cover the pan’s whole surface.
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