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.)
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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 don’t have a pantry so I have bought 2 short and 2 tall bookcases and put them on a long empty wall in the kitchen and made that my pantry.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m fortunate to have a deep open cabinet (arched top), so I put a deep basket there to hold potatoes, onions, etc out of sight. Looks like the cabinet was just built for the basket – decorative! There is still some space in the back to “hide” some bulky, seldom used items.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use the tiered spice racks too, but find that many labels are still hidden. My solution was to make my own labels and put them close to the top where they’re always visible.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Lazy Susans in the cupboards! I have one for all my teas and another for sprinkles and other cake decorating items. They work great for spices too.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a lazy Susan to store my spices and put them in alphabetical order so they are easy to find when I need them. I keep them in an upper cabinet adjacent to the range along with other baking and cooking necessities: flavorings, salt, baking soda and powder, cocoa, etc.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I need to be more organized but I try to buy only what I need and label my containers. I only keep the appliances I use on the counter.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I am organized challenged! My kitchen is big, not sure where to start but I will start today!!! Thanks for the gentle kick in the hiney.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I put a jar on the counter next to the stove to hold all my spatulas and spoons. Frees up space in the drawers for other small things.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sorry for another post but I’m a huge fan of those clear storage bins in the refrigerator. So many of my friend’s fridges are so cluttered that you can’t find anything without moving everything. My whole fridge and freezer is organized with bins. Just makes it nicer.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I keep all my savory spices on one shelf and the ones for baking on a different shelf. So much faster to find what I need. I also use more glass jars with plastic lids to store things so that we can see what is inside.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Fall is my favorite season and it just seems like a really good time to go through everything and reassess what I have and do I need it. So I ‘ll be following along this week.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I reorganized my cupboards and draws to keep everything close to where I use it. (seldom used items are in the back of bottom cupboards)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I keep all my baking items together, my coffee/tea/cocoa together, etc. Also went through and eliminated duplicates of gadgets, and out of date foodstuffs.
Loved, loved,loved, this article!!! Well speaking of having too many cups, we have 8 children and 2 adults in our family and a multitude of dishes can oh so be a nightmare! So we color code our children. One plate cup and bowl in that childs favorite color that way we know who left what where and who it belongs to.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I also like to create zones in my kitchen. Spices, oils, and hot pads are closest to the stove. I have a baking cabinet next to my prep area. And dishes, glasses, and silverware are next to the dishwasher.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I try to go through my kitchen gadgets on a reg. basis to purge stuff that I’m no using regularly and I also keep my spice rack alphabetized so I can quickly find the spice I need.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.i rotate on different areas to focus on. This way it’s a small project, rather than one large one.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Potrack on the wall!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I bought these red tubs to put in my pantry. I label them and set them on the floor or a shelf of the pantry. No more searching for bags of open beans, lentils, split peas in one tub. Chips and crackers in another. Then I put wax paper rolls of aluminum foil etc in another. Macaroni, noodles etc in another. These hold a lot a free up space. So much easier to find things.
How do I post a photo?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like to keep all my baggies and aluminum foil items as close to the refrigerator as possible . that makes it easy for tossing those things in the fridge!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Smart tip, Susan!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I made narrow shelves using a rickety wooden step ladder, turning the ladder part upside down, and spray-painting it to match my kitchen! This hangs on on the wall and I store jars of loose teas and also seasonal salt-and-pepper shakers on it!
I have an awkward corner cabinet (upper) in my kitchen. Stuff was difficult to get to and always getting pushed to the back of the space. I removed the cabinet door to make it open shelving and I now store a stack of bright nested bowls on one shelf, all my cookie cutters and other miscellaneous small gadgets in a couple of small tin pails on the second shelf, and all my cutting boards, upright in one of those wire racks meant to store baking sheets vertically, on the bottom shelf. It works SO much better! Nothing gets lost and I can just reach and grab my cutting boards!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I live in a large house with a large kitchen and an equally large amount of people. Our organization salvation comes in the form of plastic containers, usually used for desk organization, to keep all our sauce mix packets and spices organized. It looks a little odd but they’re just small enough and easy enough to move that things are so much easier to find!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I am going to copy your idea of putting the cork on the inside of my cupboard door and hang my measuring spoons and cups on it! This is such a great idea!!!! Also, I had to smile when you described hanging your pot lids. I did this on my closet door to hang a full length mirror without damaging the door!!!! Great minds think alike!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My latest idea idea to keep my kitchen clutter-free is to use locker shelves in the cabinets to give more levels. Now I can get to my pots without having to lift a whole stack of them.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’ve started using one set of cabinets for all the items I have a feeling I don’t really use enough to keep around. Just like similar tricks for items in your closet (turning hangers the opposite direction, etc.), if I haven’t busted those babies out in 6 months to a year, they’re outta here!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I organized my spices from Sams Club(large plastic spice containers) by storing them in mason jars. Then I used my labeler to print and stick the labels on each. I keep them in my sliding kitchen drawer. They look so much better than
Please log in or create a free account to comment.those big plastic containers.