For the month of January, I’m working on an organizing challenge in our home and sharing the entire process over on Instagram. All the details and videos are in my “organizing” highlight in case you missed it! The 31-day purge was a great start last year and kept me on track for most of the year. However, it’s time for a little improvement. So, I’m sharing my top tips for kitchen and pantry organization. (post contains affiliate links, see disclosure)
EDIT, EDIT, EDIT
I first organized our kitchen a few years ago during my 10 days to an organized home challenge. I was shocked at the amount of kitchen stuff we had. Multiple can openers, serving spoons, spatulas, etc. I kept only the multiples of things we use a lot. Like pizza cutters and flat spatulas for scrambling eggs. And I donated the rest – multiple cups, bowls, flatware, etc.
BASKETS, BINS & RISERS
Baskets and bins are great for almost every cabinet in the kitchen, including the pantry, cabinets, and even in the fridge and freezer. In the pantry, baskets can be used to hold snacks, bags of chips, etc. Plastic bins are great to keep crackers from going stale. And I like to use them for items like pancake mix or rice because I can easily use a measuring cup or scoop to get what I need. I’ve been using this brand for years. They are great and super affordable.
And if you have large and deep pantry cabinets like mine, risers work great for being able to see everything. My goal for this kitchen is to eventually build pullout shelves and drawers, but for now, this little bit of organizing is perfect. I keep the bins towards the front and all the extras in the back.
TURNTABLE ORGANIZERS
I love these turntable organizers so much. I have them in our kitchen, bathroom, and want to get a couple more for the pantry and laundry room. Under the kitchen sink, it holds dish scrubs, dish soap, rinse aid, etc. It’s easy to just spin and grab what you need, instead of bending down to look for something.
DRAWER ORGANIZERS
Another must in my tips kitchen and pantry organization are drawer organizers. Before, we had basic ones that were a little too small and just wasted a lot of space. Luckily, I found that these cheap drawer organizers from Ikea that fit perfectly in our drawers, and I was able to reorganize them all. It’s much more functional now. But if the Ikea ones don’t fit, they are plenty of expandable options that work great too.
PAN ORGANIZERS
Pan organizers are great for the lower cabinets. I have stackable pots and pans, which does save a lot of space. However, when I’m cooking, I always end up grabbing the ones that are on the organizer in the back. I can grab what I need, without having to pull everything out. Again, my dream would be a pullout shelf to make things even easier and not having to bend down.
MATCHING FOOD STORAGE
When it comes to food storage or Tupperware, we used to have a lot of mix-matched pieces. They never fit together and made it hard to organize. Using this set has been a dream. I used to put the lids on and stack them all. But even that got too complicated. So I took the lids off, stacked the bottoms, and now put the lids all together on top.
LABELS
I used to think that labels were just another “pretty Pinterest organization” thing. But once I started putting our food into bins and baskets, it just became a given. It’s easy to see, get, and grab. And I have to admit, it looks pretty too. But, instead of spending money on fancy labels, I decided to make my own and will share more about them next week.
SPICES
Another just a “pretty Pinterest organization” thing. But, I admit that I was jealous of those super cute organized spice drawers and wanted my own. Staying home and cooking more in 2020, made me realize I actually needed one of these drawers. I used to have all of our spices crammed into a basket at the top of the pantry and I would have to pull it down and look for a spice every time I was cooking.
So I did some rearranging in the kitchen and found space for a mini spice drawer. Again, I created my own labels and used these inexpensive glass bottles from Amazon. And now I love it and cooking is more enjoyable when everything needed is much more accessible.
FOLDING
The Marie Kondo folding method doesn’t just apply to clothes in a dresser. It’s very useful in the kitchen for linens, napkins, and dish towels. Our drawers aren’t very deep, so sometimes I just roll or fold. There is so much more room in the drawer and pulling out the towel that I need is an easy grab and go.
Overall, I think my best tips for kitchen organization are that it takes time to edit and truly have it function in a way that is best for daily living. We’ve lived in our home for years and I’m just now getting to this point. A functional kitchen is easy to cook in, easy to clean, and helps the whole family.
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Loving your ideas!! I have a pretty small kitchen…and I’m so excited that we are getting it re-redone next month. But while it will be all brand new, it will still be small. Your ideas and hints are JUST what I need to help me make the best use of my new space. Thank you!!!
Yay! So happy to hear that and I bet your new kitchen will look amazing!