Since clearing out my kitchen cupboards recently, I’ve been able to move many of the items I used to keep on the countertop into that newly freed up cupboard space. What a difference it made — my kitchen looks bigger and brighter than ever now!
That got me thinking about other ways I could streamline and achieve my goal of an organized kitchen while making my kitchen both easier to use and nicer to look at. After some research and brainstorming, I came up with 9 practical kitchen organization tips to share with you today.
Check them out and see what you might be able to use in your own kitchen!
9 Practical Tips for a More Organized Kitchen
1. Get Rid of Unnecessary Items
Every good organizing effort should start with an effort to identify and get rid of any unnecessary clutter in the area. Go through your stuff and figure out what you can sell, donate, or give away, which will both reduce the amount of items you have to organize later, and make it easier to do so by freeing up some additional storage space.
(Drawing a blank? This list of kitchen items to get rid of should give you some ideas.)
2. Consider Your Countertops
In many kitchens, countertop space is extremely valuable real estate, so be mindful of how you’re using yours. Avoid cluttering them up with too much stuff — a good rule of thumb is to limit your countertop to items you use every day, and keep everything else in a cupboard, drawer, etc.
For more tips that can help you tidy up your countertops, check out my list of what should be kept on the counter.
3. Store Ingredients in Space-Saving Containers
Store bulk ingredients like flour and sugar in neat, stackable containers and label them so you can easily find what you need. These storage containers have saved me a lot of shelf space in my pantry!
Plus, you can refill your containers by shopping in the bulk section at the store. These items are often quite a bit cheaper than their packaged counterparts, so it’s a smart way to save money.
4. Keep Fruit in a Fruit Basket
Corral produce that doesn’t need to be kept in the refrigerator in a wire fruit basket. Fruit baskets not only allow you to easily see what you have on hand, but they also allow for airflow that will keep your fruit fresh longer — a win-win!
5. Hang Things up on Adhesive Hooks
Use adhesive Command hooks to hang your oven mitts or pot holders somewhere near your oven. This will free up space in your drawers and keep your oven mitts closer to the area where you use them most.
You can also use Command hooks to hang measuring spoons and other small items on the inside of a cupboard door or wherever they’d be handiest. It’s a lot easier than digging for them in a drawer!
6. Use Your Cupboard Doors
Speaking of the insides of your cupboard doors, another way to use that space is to hang the lids to your pots there. You can do this with Command hooks by using two hooks at the bottom to support the lid, along with one at the top to hold it in place.
Cookware lids can be one of those things that take up a lot of space when stored elsewhere, so this could free up some very valuable storage space in your kitchen. (And check out other ways to use Command hooks here.)
More Ideas You'll Love
7. Keep Necessities Close
Set up an area somewhere near your stove to store your most-used cooking items. For instance, I keep cooking oils, a ramekin of salt, and a pepper grinder next to my stove, since I use those all the time when I’m cooking.
You can do the same thing with your coffee-making supplies or other often used items. Arranging them on a nice platter (there are some pretty cute ones at Home Goods!) will help keep them neat and organized.
8. Find the Right Organizers
If there’s something in your kitchen that has become an organizational pain point, do a search on Amazon or Google, looking for “[item name] organizer.” You’ll be amazed at the types of organizers you can find for coffee and tea, underneath your sink, and spices and seasonings.
Finding the right organizer can be a game-changer. For instance, this adjustable rack for pots and pans can be configured in a dizzying number of different ways, making it easy to find the ideal setup for your unique collection of cookware.
9. Think Creatively
There are plenty of items that can help you get organized that aren’t considered “kitchen items,” like pegboard, mason jars, and magnets. Pegboard is highly versatile and can provide additional storage space for all sorts of things.
You can use mason jars to corral and store things, and you can use magnets to turn any metal surface (and some non-metal ones!) into more storage space.
Want Even More Kitchen Organizing Hacks?
- For even more tips and tricks that can help you keep your kitchen organized, check out these posts:
- 9 Simple Hacks That Will Help You Get Organized In The Kitchen
- 7 Clever Hacks To Organize Your Kitchen On The Cheap
How do you keep your kitchen organized?
I was fortunate enough to have a bedroom off of my kitchen that I turned into a “butler’s pantry” and put two sets of large industrial shelves side by side and keep small appliances , pots and pans on one along with baking pans, etc. and the other holds stacking clear canisters that I have labeled with all of my baking products from flours and sugars, to nuts. I also had a large file box and notebooks that contain recipes which are handy to grab. I am also fortunate enough to have a small table with four chairs in the center of the room for the overflow of company we get during the holidays. Love this room!!!!!! which helps keeps my kitchen more organized.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes, I love my roll-out drawers for pots and pans, you can see where they all are at a moment’s notice. Storing the bulky crockpots and food processors, foreman grills is also a great way to use these deep drawers!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.the other comments shared are all great ideas as well as Britta’s original organized kitchen post. Thanks, CKay K.
I stay organized by cleaning out our refrigerator and pantry at least once a month.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.where did you get the clear container that you have tea bags in? That looks so nice and like a good size.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Wow what great ideas! I have been receiving these emails all week and putting off reading them because I knew I would want to reorganize everything immediately (and of course I do!) I live in Puerto Rico right now and am still getting used to all the moisture in the air. Foods go bad much quicker here and you must get rid of all cardboard because bugs love them. I’m a freak about any bugs in my house yuck! I use many of the techniques you mention already but I need a drawer organizer and I MUST GET RID OF UNUSED THINGS! Let’s say this together Carley it’s ok to get rid of unused things! Whew ok I feel better. Thanks Jillee for your amazing blog you help my life so much seriously!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m lucky to have a rarely large kitchen with a pantry so I have the pantry cabinet organized with clear bins for smaller items and wire shelves on top of the built in shelves. My challenge is organizing the plastic containers we use for leftovers. Ugh………a nightmare of messy proportions.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.So inspiring! I just wanna clean now!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use plastic storage containers for things I buy in bulk like flour,sugar, rice, etc and store inside cabinets leaving more counter space for my Kitchenaid and food processor and such.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a hanging shoe pocket to store water bottles and small thermos bottles on the back of a door. I recently swapped out all the plastic canisters and containers (the famous brand that starts with a T and ends with ‘ware’) for 1/2 gallon and quart mason jars. I can label then up close to the neck, line them up 3 deep in the pantry and still see what’s in them. Glass food storage is so much safer than plastic! And if you have a lot of flour, pasta, rice or beans you can oven can them and they will be safe from bugs or spoilage for up to 10 years.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.one of my favorite finds for kitchen organization was a 3-tier hanging wire basket at World Market for under $10. i use it for fruits/veggies that don’t need refrigeration. It’s in plain view so we remember to eat the healthy stuff, plus it doesn’t use up valuable counter space.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That sounds great, Rosemary! I need one of those!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a newly expanded kitchen, but before it was redone, I organized all the shelves in the pantry to hold smaller things in themed bins. Baking supplies, pre made mixes, pastas, chips, breakfast snacks. Makes it much easier to grab and go as they are all stacked vertically inside the bin.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a shallow drawer for my spices. They’re all laying down with the labels facing up so I can see them quickly.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love the kitchen drawer divider idea, but my drawers are only 12″ wide. Well I’m gonna try putting them in longways from side to side, maybe I can get more in there.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I live in an apartment complex and have very little cabinet space. I use my bottom drawer of my stove to store all my pots and pans plus all their lids. My mom has a double oven and she stores a few skillets in them also. Unfortunately i have only one deep drawer in my kitchen which I store all odds and ends. My washer and dryer are also in my kitchen so I utilize the shelf above them with trash bags, storage bags, foil along with my detergents which helps tremendous.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have tall cupboards in my kitchen and I am 5’3″. Lazy Susan’s are great for accessing things that are on the higher shelves. The very fronts of the shelves I can reach and with the lazy Susan’s everything I need can easily come to the front.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I just keep working at cleaning out things I just don’t use. It is freeing when you can look into a cupboard or drawer that isn’t stuffed to the max.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I try to keep everything grouped together in my pantry that goes together, such as cans of soup and crackers. This defiantl makes it easier for my kids.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When I bring something new into my small kitchen, then something old has to go out because I don’t have the room for more and it adds clutter.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My rather small pantry has shelves starting about 3 or 4 feet off the floor. I bought a wire grid type rolling unit that has two pull-out drawers and a top on it to use for things like boxes of plastic bags, paper bags, foil, dishtowels, and anything else that I can’t find an easy place to store. I think I got it at the Container Store when I found it on sale (it’s been a number of years ago).
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My kitchen is a small galley style but I have wall space because of our high ceilings. My husband hung shelves for me with a short frontage so I can store everything in 1/2 gallon sized Mason jars. I love them because no bugs or weird smells get in, everything stays fresh so much longer, I can see exactly what I have and what I’m running out of, and it’s a constantly changing array of prettiness! I will always use this storage system no matter how big my next kitchen is!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I keep my pan lids in a contraption similar to your vertical bakeware organizer. I found it at Target, but here’s a similar one from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Organized-Living-Lid-Organizer-White/dp/B003I5J186
Also, my husband picked up a magnetic knife block from a kitchen supply store, and attached it to the wall above the counter. We keep the knives we use most often there.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Systems for organizing the leftovers really help to save time and money. I am a big fan of rolling over items into new meals and if my kitchen pantry is organized I am much more creative while cooking. That motivates me!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Eight kids, 1 mom, and 1 dad can go through a LOT of water glasses in a day. It’s been almost 10 years since I first made “water glass bracelets” with alphabet beads and elastic beading string with each of our names. No mixed up glasses = one glass per person per day. We even made a bunch for our guests with words like “perfect”, “cute”, “dishwasher”, “happy”, “green thumb”, etc.
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