How to Organize Kitchen Cabinets

How to Organize Kitchen Cabinets

For most households, the kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the whole house. With all of the traffic and multi-users, it can be a difficult space to keep organized. With a good organization system in place, however, it is possible to get and keep your kitchen organized. If you think that I’ve always had organized cupboards, check out these before photos from when I first started my organization journey.

Come up with your strategy.

There are basically two ways that you can work on organizing the cabinets. The first option is to just jump right in there and do it all at once. This works best if you have a smaller kitchen or plan on doing a lot of cabinet reshuffling {i.e. rearranging items between cabinets}. Depending on the current state of your cabinets and how many you have to organize, this could take anywhere from a couple of hours to a full day.

The second option is to work on a few cabinets at a time. This works best

Declutter, declutter, declutter!

I can’t say this enough, but it’s so important to declutter any space before organizing it. First of all, a good decluttering lets you know what you actually have deep within those cupboards. Secondly, your cupboards will be so much easer to keep organized and clean when you have less stuff. It’s kind of ironic, but I also find that I use my items more when I have less. And lastly, there is no point wasting your time and energy organizing and maintaining items that you don’t really love or need.  For help with the decluttering process, check out this post on how to declutter any space and this post with 20 items to declutter from the kitchen.

Once you have completely emptied out your cupboards, get rid of anything that is broken or has missing parts. Look through everything that you have and do not put it back in your cupboard unless you USE it and NEED it. The kitchen definitely tends to be a gathering place for useless gadgets that seemed so cool when you were at the store. If there is a more multipurpose tool that can do the same job, toss it out. Let go of items that you have multiples of. The less items you have, the easier it will be to find those items that you want!

Do a thorough cleaning.

Once you have everything emptied out of your cabinets, make sure you do a good cleaning of the space. Be sure to clean all surfaces of the cupboards {including sides and top} and get right into those corners

• vacuum up crumbs and loose particles with a hand held vaccuum
• wipe the cupboards down with multi-purpose spray and a microfiber cloth. For extra greasy areas, you can use a bowl of warm water mixed with a few drops of dish soap.
• If you have any concerns with food spills, you can then use some disinfecting spray and then wipe down to remove residue.
• For pots and pan scuff marks, make a paste of baking soda and water to scrub or use another abrasive cleaner.

Organize by zones.

So now you’re finally moving to the actual organizing part! The first step is to take a few minutes to think about where you want to store your items and how you want your kitchen to function. Ideally, you want to keep items closest to where you’re going to use them. So the pots and pans should be close to the stove, storage for dishes and silverware should be close to the dishwasher for easy put away, all kids items/school lunch items should be together, etc. Depending on your kitchen layout and cupboard storage options, you may have to make a few exceptions, but this is generally the most functional way to organize the space.

Prioritize your storage needs.

Kitchen cabinet space is generally at a premium, so you want to make the best use of the space and make items as easy to access as possible. Store frequently used items in easy to reach locations at the front of cabinets or in canisters on the counter.  Save the back of the cupboard space or higher shelves for items that you use less frequently. If you’re short on kitchen space, infrequently used or seasonal items can even be stored outside of the kitchen in another area that has a little more storage space.

Declutter your counter.

Kitchen cupboard organization and decluttering your counters goes hand in hand. Keep out your most used items and try to find storage for other less used objects.  Find pretty containers, tray, or baskets to corral those items that you keep on the counter. It will make your counters much quicker and easier to clean and provide you with more work space {as well as make your kitchen seem instantly cleaner!} You also want to try to keep your counter storage limited to the back 1/3rd of the counter, so there is still plenty of space for prep work. For more tips on decluttering kitchen counters, check out this post on how to keep your counters clutter-free!

• Use bins and baskets to arrange like items together. Try sticking with one main brand or style to make things looks more uniform and less cluttered.

{source}

• As you go through your items, keep a list of things that need replacing or supplies that you need.  Have a great project idea or find something that needs fixing?  Write them down as you go to come back to LATER.  Do not let them distract you from the task at hand!

Since I don’t have any new pictures to show you yet, here are some great kitchen cabinet organization ideas to get you inspired…

Place cookbooks in a basket.

Use tension rods to create vertical storage.

Create a  pull out storage unit{or hang a peg board on a wall}

Use a baking pan to function as a “drawer” that you can carefully slide out to reach items in the back.

Use magazine organizers to store food wrap.

Invest in pull out drawers to utilize the full depth of your cabinets.

 

Organize measuring cups and spoons on the inside of your cabinets doors.

 

Transfer spices to matching containers.

Or create your own with recycled baby food jars.