Best Tips To Organize Your Kitchen
Of course, a lot of people do not have a spacious kitchen. Do your dishes and cups come tumbling out when you open your kitchen cabinets? It's time to reorganize your kitchen. Instead of focusing on what you don't have, maximize your limited space with these smart kitchen organizing tricks.
The best kitchen organization ideas
There are a lot of benefits to organizing a small kitchen. It helps save you time, energy, effort, and money. While you might not be able to transform your tiny apartment kitchen into a palatial space with its own walk-in pantry, you can get it in tip-top shape.
Clean your cabinets
The easiest way is to start with a clean slate, and organizing kitchen cabinets is no exception. Remove everything from your cabinets. Go ahead and take out everything from plates, glasses, mugs, pots to pans, and anything else you have stored in your cabinets. Lay everything out on your kitchen table so you can assess what you've got and what you need.
Sort everything
You might have a collection of plastic cups from restaurants, a dwindling pile of paper plates, an old coffee maker that no longer works. A lot of stuff that you do not need anymore. Now is the right time to keep only things that you actually use and organize your kitchen. Getting rid of clutter will make it much easier to stay organized. If you discover that you actually need something new, go ahead and buy it before you organize the cabinets. You need to do it as soon as possible cause later it will be more difficult to find a good place.
Buy a utensil organizer
Some kitchen drawers have built-in organizers for utensils, but many don't. If your drawer doesn't have one, it's worth picking one up for a few dollars. Want to organize your kitchen tools and keep everything close at hand? With Royal Craft Wood’s Drawer Organizer everything is possible. The bamboo drawer organizer is absolutely eco- and health-friendly – it’s made from sustainable organic bamboo.
Buy cute canisters
It is a good way to organize your workspace and store dry goods in canisters. If you store flour, sugar, spices, and other food items in your kitchen cabinets (as opposed to using a separate pantry), you might want sturdy food containers. Choose containers with tight-fitting lids to keep insects and air out.
Buy a dish rack
Organize your kitchen utensils properly so you don’t have to worry about them at all! With a stylish X design, the dish drainer rack will dry all your utensils fast and efficiently. Royal Craft Wood’s small dish drying rack is easy to store and fits perfectly on any kitchen countertop. The collapsible wooden dish drainer is a useful device for everyone. Save your space and keep your kitchen clean.
Gather your boxes
You should know what is contained in any box you have. Label every box to reflect its contents. If you're unsure, sort through each one, unwrap larger items, and take stock of what you have to sort and organize. It's important to do this first to ensure that when you place an item in a cupboard or in a drawer, you won't have to move it again.
Make things accessible
Place items that you rarely use on higher shelves or towards the back of cupboards so that frequently used items can be grabbed easily. If you have a little chef in your kitchen, you definitely want to have a kids’ cupboard so that they can easily reach all of their own kitchen items.
Buy a knife block and cutting board holder
If you never know where to store your cutting boards, this stand is a must-have for your kitchen. It gives you a place to store them upright to save space and has storage for knives or utensils built right in. A stylish and really useful tool for any kitchen.
Define your zones
Before you start to put anything back, assess your entire kitchen and group cabinets and drawers into zones. The easiest way to do this is to have a notepad and pen and write it down, including which items belong in which zones.
Organize your pantry
Store canned goods and dry foods in a pantry closet or similar space that is separate from your dishes, pots, and pans. It is better to keep spices close to the stove. Plus, it is a pretty good idea to label tops of jars to quickly find the spice you need. No matter where you want to store your spices, you need to keep them in a dry, cool place to maintain freshness.
Hang mugs
Because of their shape and handles, mugs can take up valuable space in cabinets. Hanging them by their handles from a shelf solves the problem while also keeping them in reach when you need your next caffeine fix.
Organizing dishes
When you organize your kitchen cabinets, it makes sense to group similar items together. That way everything is easier to locate. Assess which items you use on a daily basis and pick a large, accessible cabinet to store them in. Upper cabinets or top shelves of cabinets are the places to store items you want to keep safe. Everyone's kitchen is different, but in many cases, the lower cabinets (below the counters) are perfect for pot and pan storage.
Find a space for cleaning supplies
The area under the sink is a convenient place to store everything you need to keep your kitchen spotless. Trash bags, cleaning solutions, rubber gloves, extra dish soap and detergent, extra sponges, and so on can be found in this spot in many people's homes. Don't use this area for food or kitchenware storage if you're also storing cleaning supplies there.
Store food
It’s time to clean your fridge. Store your food in 'zones' in the fridge - lunch items, condiments, vegetables, healthy snacks, leftovers. Avoid having an overstuffed or crowded fridge, as this will lead to faster food spoilage due to the fluctuating temperatures.
Clean out your fridge
Do a quick cleaning of your refrigerator every time you do a grocery shop. It will help to avoid holding onto items you no longer need/use or running the risk of food rotting in the back. Bring older food to the front of the fridge/top of the drawer so it can be used first.
Deep cleaning routine
Try to do a deep-clean once a month where you empty the fridge, take out the shelves, and give everything inside and out a really good clean. Having a sparkling fridge will motivate you to keep it that way!
Use labels
Always label the leftovers you store in the fridge with the date so you know exactly how long they've been there - washi tape, masking tape or sticky-notes are all good options.
Organize the freezer
Taking items out of their bags, such as frozen peas, corn, broccoli, etc., and putting them into containers, will prevent loose items from escaping and rolling around the bottom of the freezer.
Get rid of wasted space
Got a kitchen with awkward, unusable spaces? Yeah, me too. If you have trouble seeing or reaching items at the back of a space, such as a cabinet under the sink, the inner depths of your fridge, or the corner of your pantry, a Lazy Susan could help. For that weird space between your fridge and the wall next to it, build a roll-out pantry or a sliding spice rack (you might be able to use an IKEA shelf to create your own). If you’re desperate for more space in your kitchen, turn those false drawers in your kitchen into usable storage space. You can also create a secret drawer at the bottom of a kitchen cabinet on the cheap.
Be creative
Want to take it a step further? Start to get creative with your organization and determine which hacks will work best in each zone. For example:
- Install a hanging rack for pots and pans to free up cupboard space
- Mount a rack for spices and actually alphabetize it
- Have a tall pantry door? Hang a clear shoe organizer to make use of that space
- Make use of drawer organizers and dividers to keep everything super accessible
- Use standing dividers for things like baking sheets and cutting boards
Containers
Store your plastic/glass containers with their lids separated and 'filed', and try to keep your collection of these containers to an absolute minimum. Keep food storage containers, plastic wraps, and labels near the fridge to make it easy to deal with putting the leftovers away.
Knife rack
Use a metal knife rack attached to a wall to store your knives - they will be easy to grab, safe from little fingers, and you won't be taking up precious counter space with a bulky knife block.
Change your habits
Make clearing off your kitchen counters a daily habit - things will inevitably build up during the day, but a quick 10-minutes at the end of each day will keep your kitchen clear and uncluttered and is a great way to start the next day.
3-tier fruit basket
Instead of storing your fruit in a bowl that takes up valuable counter space, take advantage of the vertical space in your kitchen by adding a hanging fruit basket.
Create a section with tension rods
Tension rods are a surprisingly awesome organization tool throughout the kitchen. You can use them for hidden paper towel storage, organizing cleaning bottles under the sink, creating an extra shelf for spices, and creating pantry dividers or lid organizers in drawers.
Buy a wall mount grocery bag dispenser
Everyone reuses plastic grocery bags, but storing them? That's a whole other issue. This dispenser stashes them in a convenient, easy-to-access spot that looks much neater than having a bag full of bags in a cabinet under the sink. Plus, it can mount to the wall or the inside of a cabinet, if you want it hidden.
Use an expandable cabinet shelf
An expandable shelf, like this one, allows you to really take advantage of the vertical space in your cabinets. You can stack things without making them harder to retrieve.
The best organization tips for your kitchen
With the proper shelving, functional storage, and a thought-out plan of attack, your kitchen can transform into a space that is equal parts clutter-free and gorgeous. Once you've organized your cabinets, you'll look forward to cooking in your kitchen again.