Kitchen organization is a multi-step process. For a chaos-free kitchen that’s easy to move around in and a breeze to use, you don’t just want to think about the organization on a large scale. Organizing the inside of your cabinets and drawers means that everything will have a place and will be easy to find and access as you’re working in your kitchen.
How often do you think about the organizational structure of your cabinets and drawers? With these tips and ideas for kitchen storage, you’ll be able to keep them neat and tidy, making everything in your kitchen easier to use.
Use Kitchen Space Creatively
There are opportunities for creative storage solutions, even in small kitchens. The space under your kitchen cabinets is a good place for hanging storage. You can add an under-cabinet wine glass holder to free up space in your small kitchen storage cabinets, or you could use a tiered hanging fruit basket to keep countertop space open. Hanging storage is also great for mugs, which frees up cabinet space.
Maximize Vertical Cabinet Space
Visualize your empty cabinets. What’s in there? Usually, it’s one or two shelves, creating two or three storage layers. You might use all of the space depending on what you store there. But in cabinets where you’re storing short things, like mugs or cans of food, you may miss out on some vertical space. Adding risers to the inside of the cabinet may let you elevate things without stacking them precariously.
Make Your Kitchen Shelves Easy To Clean
Kitchen organization ideas aren’t just for creating more storage space. You also need to think about how to make the space easy to clean and keep nice going forward. When you line your shelves with contact paper or shelf liners, your shelves will be protected and easier to wipe down. You can also make your space look nicer because shelf liners come in any color and pattern you’d like.
Adhesive shelf liners are often a little easier to clean than non-adhesive ones, but non-adhesive shelf liners can be easier to install. They aren’t really that different from each other, though, so use the shelf liner that you think looks nicest!
Have Fun With Food Storage
If you have a free-standing kitchen pantry, you have a designated place for food storage. But if you don’t, you’ll be storing food in your cabinets, and that can get disorganized quickly. One way to keep this in check is to have designated storage options for food. A 3-tier spice rack can be installed inside a cabinet, mounted to the wall, or even stand on its own on your countertop.
Clean Out Your Pantry
It’s so easy to accumulate food that we’re never going to eat, and the pantry is one of the first places to get cluttered. Take half an hour to purge any expired foods and check your canned goods for things you can donate to a local food pantry. Then, check for ways to improve the space’s organization. You can use a spice organizer for spices, smaller bottles and jars, bins and lazy Susans for cans and sauces, or even an over-the-door organizer to increase your storage space.
Decant Big Pantry Items
Bulk spices and things like flour and sugar can get their own storage solutions in the form of cute canisters, like this set of 8 tea tins that can be used for so much more than just tea! Doing this makes these items easier to use and is often less messy than scooping flour out of the bag.
Add More Shelves
Racks and small storage items aren’t the only things that can help with kitchen organization. Shelves are often at a premium in the kitchen, especially when you have a small kitchen, so why not add some more? There are a few ways to do this without having to invest in major renovations or carpentry. Individual floating shelves can go anywhere and hold lots of small items. For bigger items, a wall-mounted shelving unit will add extra kitchen storage shelves to your space without taking up too much room or occupying valuable floor real estate.
Choose See-Through Storage Containers
When you’re organizing your pantry, shelf space, or food storage cabinets, place things in either transparent plastic containers or wire baskets. The ability to see through your baskets and bins will make it a lot easier to see what you have in stock and show you what needs to be replenished the next time you’re at the grocery store.
Put Your Cabinet Doors To Work
The inside of your cabinet doors is the perfect space for enacting some clever kitchen cabinet storage ideas. You can install hooks to store pans, lids, or utensils. Adding a narrow rack can let you store pot lids or narrow items like boxes of plastic wrap or foil.
Don’t Forget The Cabinet Under The Sink
That dark area under your sink is easy to forget and sometimes not all that fun to think about. There are a few ways you can improve this space and make the organization better. Adding a stick-on adhesive tape light can help you see what you’ve got in that space. It’s a good place for miscellaneous cleaning supplies, and having a caddy or pull-out drawers will make it easier to access your cleaning products.
Organize As You Go
You don’t need to spend days tearing down and reorganizing your entire kitchen. Let yourself have the time and space to break the process into steps. Start with one cabinet at a time and keep going from there. Kitchen organization can be an overwhelming process, but it doesn’t have to be! Invest in some good kitchen storage solutions and make your kitchen work for you.
