Kitchen cabinet organization can be a real struggle sometimes. Fitting in all your kitchen items and still having an organized space isn’t always easy. We’ve all been there.
But what if I tell you that there are at least 30 hacks that you can implement to make this process fast and easy?
Continue reading to improve your kitchen cabinet organization and revamp your whole perception of how it can be done, so you won’t have to struggle.
1. Start with References for Kitchen Cabinet Organization
Find pictures or videos of what your perfect kitchen cabinet organization looks like and use them as inspiration.
Find some worthy references on Pinterest, YouTube, or Instagram, and think about what kitchens click with you the most, what style you’d prefer, and what you want your cabinets to look like.
Do you prefer a strategically busy farmhouse look? Thrilling! Opting for a more minimalistic look? Incredible.
References will help you keep the visualized picture in mind to never get off track.
Then filter out all the references to create a unique mood board that will work specifically for you.
Screenshot of Pinterest
2. It's Time to Declutter
Start your kitchen cabinet organization process by decluttering your kitchen. Decluttering usually takes the longest, yet it is the most important step in organizing your kitchen.
Start by getting boxes for items you’d want to donate or sell and put them nearby. Now take everything out of your cabinets, drawers, pantry, etc. Go through each and every item and use your references to make the right decision.
3. Utilize Open Shelving for Aesthetic Efficiency
Open shelves allow for a place to store decorative dishes, indoor plants, cookbooks, ornate art pieces, and much more.
Open shelves also break up the monotonous flow of any cabinet layout.
Having a specific wall just for storage will open up the floor plan of the kitchen.
Typically, a floor-to-ceiling tall cabinet will be used in this space, designating all the storage in one area.
Glass doors will be incorporated into the upper sections’ open shelving, allowing your kitchenware collection to become a beautiful focal point.
4. Divide Your Countertops by Zones
The kitchen’s functionality should be first and foremost. The sections of the kitchen you use the most will have more importance over other areas that you use for storage.
Dividing your countertops by zones will help you stay organized. When cooking, they can get cluttered quickly so having designated zones for each thing will help you stay tidy, even while cooking or baking.
Zones to consider would be a separate zone for food preparation, a zone for cooking near your stove, a separate zone for small appliances, and a zone for your coffee maker, kettle, tea collection, coffee, snacks, etc.
Every kitchen is unique, so feel free to come up with a place for each major process you have. This way, you can customize it to make cooking more efficient and easy.
5. Choose a Specific Place for Each Item (and Try to Keep It That Way)
When everything has its designated spot, everything becomes easy to find, you save time when cooking or baking, and as I mentioned before, you’ll know exactly what you have.
This way, you won’t purchase duplicate items, and cleaning the kitchen becomes a breeze when everything has a designated spot.
The first thing to do is to group your items and categorize them all. Then designate an area for each group of items and keep every collection together, especially if they’re displayed on open shelves or cabinets with glass panels.
6. Designate Specific Items to Each Pantry Shelf
Pantries are a valuable part of the kitchen. The amount of storage a pantry adds is significant, but if everything is just lying around in a mess without a designated spot, space is wasted.
Group all items and categorize them, then designate each group or category of items to each shelf. Try to put your most used items on the shelves between the torso and eye level to avoid bending down or reaching high.
7. Add Extra Shelves to Utilize More Space
Did you know that more than half of the shelf space isn’t utilized at all? That’s only because there are so many things in the kitchen.
If you don’t have enough room for everything in your kitchen, there’s a secret to finding hidden storage to store more than you ever thought possible, and it’s quite simple, too.
Most kitchen cabinets come with adjustable shelves. You’ll know if you see little predrilled grooves on the sides of the inside of your kitchen cabinets.
Define what you want to keep in that cabinet unit, and measure the maximum height of the items. Then adjust the shelves so that the height matches your items inside. After doing this, you’ll find loads of room you can fill with more shelves!
8. Utilize Lazy Susans for Your Kitchen Cabinet Organization Strategy
Corners are the worst for kitchen cabinet organization. It’s hard to take full advantage of them because they’re deep, making you virtually have to crawl in to get something.
On top of that, they often end up cluttered and disorganized. So, getting anything is quite the process. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Putting a lazy Susan in the corner can solve these problems. You can just turn it, grab what you need and put it right back where you took it without a hassle. There’s no crawling in, taking things out, and putting them right back into that mess.
Kitchens by Decor are famous for its customization and adjustable lazy Suzans. If you’re unsure what the best way to incorporate lazy Susan into your kitchen is, feel free to contact your designer.
9. Install Cabinet Organizers Under the Kitchen Sink
Kitchen cabinet organization under the sink can be quite the process.
Cabinet organizers made of plastic are inexpensive, easy to clean, and waterproof, and many recycled plastic designs are available.
Wire stainless-steel or aluminum baskets are also a great choice, as they last quite long and stand up against corrosive cleaning materials.
If you choose to go with chromed steel baskets, you should know they have a shorter life because rust can become a problem, but they’re still quite durable.
10. Mount Recycling Bins to Cabinet Doors for Better Kitchen Cabinet Organization
Mounting a recycling bin inside your cabinet door can save you from having to look at your bin out in the open in your kitchen.
Think of your dream kitchen for a second. What do you see?
You probably aren’t imagining your garbage or recycle bin right on display.
Mount your garbage and recycle bins inside cabinet doors, and they’re out of sight.
11. Use Cabinet Organizers for Wine Bottles
A good-looking wine rack is a great organizer for your wine collection. They’re usually cheaper than a wine cellar or built-in cabinetry.
If you plan to remodel your kitchen, adding built-in wine organizers is easy, but even if you don’t, you still have dozens of options.
Display your favourite bottles in style with inventive wine storage solutions from Amazon, or check the blog post by Deanne Revel and Caren Baginski on HGTV with 30 Creative Wine Racks and Wine Storage Ideas and choose one that suits your style. And remember, if you can’t buy it, think about how you can DIY it.
12. Install an Appliance Garage in Your Kitchen Cabinets
Appliance garages help you streamline kitchen storage for a more polished look.
Having enough storage in a kitchen is great, but it’s even better to have storage specifically dedicated to specific items.
When designing a kitchen, we encourage our clients to include an appliance garage. That’s because spots for plates and spices are often the first to be addressed, but people often forget about their small appliances.
Decor Kitchen by our Dealer: Studio M kitchen and Bath in Plymouth, Minnesota
Appliance garages provide storage for appliances like blenders, toasters, and food processors that might not be used daily but often enough that you wouldn’t want them in hard-to-reach areas.
13. Store Measuring Cups and Spoons the Smart Way
Often, measuring cups and spoons are thrown in a drawer, which looks messy. You can never find the right size unless you’re looking for a few minutes and finally find it.
Instead, a smart way to store your measuring cups and spoons is to add hooks to the inside of your cabinet door. This way, you can organize them by size in a neat row and don’t have to search forever.
24″ Kitchen conversion cork & chalkboard from Ragon House
14. Utilize Pot Lid Hangers for More Efficient Kitchen Cabinet Organization
Like measuring cups and spoons, a set of pot lids can become a jumbled mess. Taking out one pot and finding the correct lid can be a full-on scavenger hunt.
To avoid this and save enormous amounts of frustration, simply get some pot lid hangers to store your pot lids orderly. It’ll take a while to organize them initially but finding the matching lid to a pot will be a breeze once this is done.
Wall Mounted Pot Lid Holder from Shein
15. Get Pots with Detachable Handles to Save Room
Just like the pot lids, stacking pots can be another nightmare on its own. The best potential solution could be using pots with detachable handles.
This way, you can store your pots within each other, going from biggest on the outside to smallest on the inside, and the universal handles in a small basket beside them.
Photo of Dogado – Organic Cookware Set 6P
16. Install a Magnetic Knife Strip to Store Attachments
Blades from food processors or blenders tend to lay around on the shelf, making them look messy and hard to find.
A solution could be installing a magnetic knife strip inside your cabinet to store them neatly.
Hold General Store Knife Rack from Remodelista
17. Add Narrow Sliding Organizers for Better Kitchen Cabinet Organization
Narrow sliding organizers (often called utility pull-outs) are very convenient, making them a popular storage solution.
You’ll find utility pull-outs for knives, spices, bottles, cooking boards, pans, and even small appliances.
Small kitchens benefit the most from narrow cabinet organizers, and that’s because they make such good use of the space.
Narrow sliding organizers come in different designs, so you could choose one that works specifically for your kitchen needs.
Photo by GORDON BEALL
Because Decor manufactures custom cabinetry, it’s easy to take everything into account from the beginning, so your kitchen space would work like a clock, and you have enough storage for every item. Find a dealer that operates in your location if you’re planning to build or remodel your kitchen, and they will make your dream kitchen a reality.
If you’re just looking for a simple solution, Amazon and Wayfair have a wide variety of options for you to choose from. Of course, they may look more DIY, but it takes creativity (and YouTube videos) to make it all work.
18. Create a "Pantry" In a Drawer for Your Kitchen Cabinet Organization Approach
Whether you don’t have a pantry, yours is not big enough, or it’s just far away, sometimes it’s worth dedicating a kitchen cabinet as a pantry.
This way, you can keep your essentials within arm’s reach.
Just because someone says it should be in a cabinet or the pantry doesn’t mean that’s what you need to stick to. Get creative and create a “mini-pantry” in a drawer.
Megan from “The Homes I Have Made” has an incredible blog post where she shared her journey of building the whole pantry in cabinets, along with ideas and essentials to organize those drawers properly.
19. Use Cabinet Organizers and Drawer Dividers
Cabinet organizers keep everything tidy, as do drawer dividers. They help prevent things from slipping and sliding and don’t send you on a scavenger hunt in a mess.
Keeping the space in order is crucial to managing your kitchen cabinet organization successfully. You can use a wide selection of cabinet organizers to keep your cabinets tidy.
The idea is to make your kitchen cabinet organization efficient without getting rid of stuff you want to keep.
A designated drawer insert allows for extra storage, plus the drawer inserts are highly customizable.
Now you can store your silverware and baking utensils separately but in one place.
20. Add Pull Out Shelves to Never Lose Anything in The Back of Cabinets
At Decor, we know that customers want easy access to the harder-to-reach areas of the kitchen. That would mostly concern the base cabinets, especially as the dimensions get deeper and harder to reach.
But you don’t have to revamp your whole kitchen just to add slide-out shelves. Amazon, Wayfair, and Home Depot have a variety of options that you can use to customize your kitchen cabinet organization and improve what you already have.
21. Get Extra Storage by Installing Toe-Kick Drawers
A toe-kick drawer gets its name because it opens with a nudge of your toe.
This is a space between your floor and lower cabinets that are rarely utilized but, if used wisely, can help you store items that you don’t use often.
It can be a perfect place for all your baking trays or pet bowls you can pull out when needed.
Photo by JEFF HERR
22. Store Your Spices for Quick Access
A very popular choice for cabinet organizers worth mentioning is specifically for spices. This can come in an insert or already built in.
This particular insert angles each spice bottle to make it easy and quick to find any spice.
Keep all spice containers the same for a cleaner and more tidy look. You can buy a pack of glass spice jars with customizable labels on Amazon for less than $20.
Adding this to your kitchen is simple, but the joy of having all your spices nicely organized is hard to measure.
23. Stick to The Same Style of All Your Jars and Containers
Ensure all your jars and containers look the same to make your space look clean and organized.
This doesn’t mean they all have to be the same shape and size or even colour, and they should just be the same style. This will help you get a theme in your kitchen, providing a “flow” feel.
Glass Container with Acacia Lid from Slate
24. Keep Your Junk Drawer Organized
A junk drawer is always a dreadful one to organize and clean up. That’s because this is the drawer where you store the random, out-of-shape, and no-other-place-to-go items.
All you need to solve this drawer’s problem is to add organizers of different sizes to fit everything. Put these organizers into the drawer and divide your junk into groups to never question where to put something.
25. Organize Your Snack Cabinet
Organizing snacks in the cabinet or shelf can be quite a hassle because they all have different odd shapes.
Add bins and trays that would work perfectly, but try to stick to the same style for a more clean and organized look.
26. Arrange Your Food Storage Containers
Food storage containers are usually a jumbled mess. Each has a different style, colour, and height, and they’re sitting in the cabinet jumbled together.
Group food storage containers of the exact sizes, styles, shapes, or colours and store them by lining them up neatly in rows for an aesthetically appealing look.
Use plate racks, bins, shelf dividers, or an expandable food container organizer to keep them sitting tight in one place.
27. Use Clear Containers and Jars
If you’re tired of the long search in your pantry, looking through ten containers until you find the one thing you need, then using clear jars or containers will do the trick.
It’ll help you store things that will take you seconds to find. Instead of opening each container or using stickers that make it impossible to use a dishwasher to clean them, use clear containers and jars.
Clear containers to store things in your pantry will also help you keep stock of everything easily and fast. You’ll know what needs refilling immediately, so you never have to run to the store in the middle of baking or cooking or have all your plans crash.
Food Storage Containers from Walmart
28. Arrange Items by Height for a More Aesthetic Look
Having things organized in your cabinets in neat little rows is nice, but you can take it to the next level by arranging everything by height.
This will make your kitchen cabinet organization a breeze while making things aesthetically appealing.
29. Install Hooks to Hang Mugs
Hanging cups on hooks will help you utilize wasted space. Instead of having them sit on shelves in your cabinet, you may reach your favourite cup without fumbling around.
Photo from Amazon
Stop hiding your cups and mugs on a shelf in your cabinets. Use this to show off your ceramic collection. And if you don’t collect them, maybe it’s time for a new hobby that can open up a whole new ceramic world for you.
Photo by Food52
30. Use a Fruit Hammock to Keep Fruits Fresh for Longer
Many people store their fruits in the pantry, leave them on the countertop, or put them into the fruit bowl, where they can easily go bad.
Instead of hiding them where you’ll forget about them, using a fruit hammock on the underside of your kitchen cabinets will solve your forgetfulness.
This will solve the “out of sight, out of mind” problem and keep them easily accessible and fresh for longer.
Photo by Raising Nobles
Final Thoughts
Kitchen cabinet organization can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
If you’re planning to renovate your kitchen, it’s always worth customizing your space as much as possible. Every household is different, every kitchen plan is unique and having your kitchen designer take into account all your needs and make them work for you, not against you, is precious.
Find a Decor Dealer that operates in your location and let them do their magic so you can enjoy the completed result without a hassle.
If you’re not planning to remodel your kitchen any time soon, it doesn’t mean that you should stick to how you’ve been organizing your cabinets before. Use our tips as inspiration and design a perfect kitchen organization system that will make your everyday life easier and the cooking process smooth.
If you want to know how you can organize and store food for a longer shelf life, check out our tips and tricks to store food so you can reduce waste and save money.
