How to Declutter and Organize Your Kitchen
You can easily organize your kitchen without the process being a complete nightmare. With some clever tips and tricks and a simple decluttering guideline, you can transform your kitchen from a cluttered mess to an organized dream.
The number one problem with kitchens is that they have cabinet doors.
You throw things inside drawers and cupboards with no rhyme or reason, close the door, and boom your kitchen seems perfectly clean and organized.
Well, the problem with that is although it seems organized, you know it’s not. Knowing how cluttered things are behind those closed doors is enough to drive you a little crazy.
I know that you want to organize your kitchen, that’s why you are here, but what is your main goal for this project?
The goal is very important, it can help you figure out how and what to organize in your kitchen.
So, if you’re ready to figure out this cluttered kitchen problem and of course fix it then keep on reading!
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01 | IDENTIFY YOUR GOALS
Do not skip this step!
Figuring out what your goals are for the functionality of your space will help you understand how you to need to organize your kitchen.
Do you want to cook more and eat out less?
If so, maybe you need more counter space for cooking, or you need to get your spices organized and labeled.
Do you want to be able to close all the drawers without utensils getting stuck?
Then you need to go on a serious decluttering session.
Do you see how understanding your goals can help you figure out what to change and improve?
Take a moment and think about what you are trying to accomplish before you go into your kitchen guns a blazing!
02 | THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
We cling to conformity and past ideas of how things should be.
The utensils have always been in this drawer or this cupboard has always had the pots and pans.
Well, I am here to try to break up this locked way of thinking. Really look at your kitchen and think what your life would be like if you moved the Tupperware from this drawer to that cabinet…
I promise you there are no rules when it comes to kitchens, and even less when it is YOUR kitchen.
If you want to store small appliances in the linen closet to free up space in your cupboards, then do it!
If you want to move all the food out of the pantry and onto wire shelving then do it!
You control your kitchen and once you realize this the possibilities are endless.
Take a hard long look and figure out if there is any other way you could possibly organize your kitchen.
03 | DECLUTTER TIME
Decluttering time!
Time to remove some of the clutter to make the space you need to get your kitchen organized.
Take this time to just declutter. Just decide what to donate, sell, or trash. Do not worry about organizing anything at this point.
Just simply declutter.
To simplify this process take note of the following to help you decide what goes and what stays.
It needs to go if…
- It’s cracked, broken, chipped, or stained
- Your missing a piece, a lid, or a piece of a set
- You have duplicates
- It hasn’t been used in over a year
- Another product you have can function in this one’s place (ex: a salsa bullet maker, if you have a blender that performs the same function as the salsa bullet blender, then get rid of it)
Follow this guideline to help figure out what to declutter in order to make the process a little simpler.
- Drawers
- The top row of cabinets
- The bottom row of cabinets
- Island if you have one
- Pantry
- Freezer
- Fridge
Finish one section completely before moving onto the next. Take your time. Really decide what you want to keep, what you might want to sell, and what needs to just be recycled or trashed.
04 | ORGANIZE YOUR DRAWERS
The kitchen drawers can easily be organized with containers, dividers, inserts, and anti-slip mats.
Here are some clever and inexpensive kitchen drawer organization ideas to try.
- Can’t afford expensive dividers? Cut up cardboard to fit the drawer and create your own slots for dividing, tape together, and paint. Boom! Free drawer dividers.
- To prevent everything from sliding, insert rubber anti-slip mats from the dollar tree or use contact paper to protect the drawer bottoms.
- Use small Tupperware containers to create mini-sections inside the drawer to catch all the small things like chip clips or corn stabbers.
05 | ORGANIZE YOUR CUPBOARDS
There is more unused space in your kitchen cupboards than you think.
Use vertical space! Risers will help you place items on top of each other without physically stacking them within each other.
Place command hooks on the inside of cupboards to help hang lids, oven mitts, dishtowels, utensils, etc.
Magazine holders can help keep cookie sheets, muffin tins, and cutting boards standing on their sides filed together to stop having to stack them on top of each other.
Install pullout drawers or lazy susans. Do you know that crevice way back in the corner bottom cabinet, the space where your items like to sink back into and disappear?
Stop wasting that valuable real estate!
A lazy susan or pullout inserts can help you have constant access to anything, even in the furthest deepest corners of your cabinets.
Related Read
The Most Helpful Decluttering Guide Ever
06 | ORGANIZE YOUR SPICES & SEASONINGS
If you were ever going to make an investment to help you organize your kitchen it would be to get matching spice containers.
If your spices and seasonings are taking up tons of cupboard space, try putting them in a drawer instead. Use matching containers with labels on the top so you can simply pull out a drawer and visually see every spice at once.
No drawer or cupboard space?
Get magnetic spice holders and use that fridge! I promise you cooking will never be easier!
If a cupboard is the only place you can organize your spices and seasonings, then get a clear lazy susan to be able to see everything in one quick spin.
A 3 tiered rack might be the trick to see all of your seasonings on one glance inside your cabinet as well.
With so many little bottles, no wonder we often let our spices get out of control. Make cooking a breeze again by finally figuring out an organizational solution that will work for you.
07 | TACKLE THE PANTRY
To truly organize your kitchen you have to really dial in your pantry organization.
Organize each shelf based on what type of food it is.
Top shelf – Cereals and breakfast foods
Middle Shelf- Snacks and lunch foods
Bottom Shelf- Canned goods and dinner foods
With how many shelves you have you will determine how many of these “sections” you can create.
Get an over the door organizer to utilize unused space. Even a plastic shoe holder would be great for snacks, to-go water bottles, grocery backs, etc.
If you want to make an investment, clear containers and large bins can be all that you need to really get your pantry under control.
There are a few reasons why so many people are starting to put their pantry staples in clear containers.
One- They are air tight making your food last longer.
Two- You can visually see if your running low on something.
Three- Less bulky packaging means more space to maintain organization.
Four- It is visually appealing. If you love the way your pantry looks, you will be more apt to want to keep it that way.
I completely understand if you cannot afford tons of clear matching bins, jars with lids, fancy labels, etc.
But…
If you want that dream Pinterest pantry there is nothing wrong with transforming it slowly.
One container per paycheck. Slow progress is still progress.
Lastly with your pantry, do not store anything in there that you never ever use. Place these “once in a blue moon” items in a box and put in your garage. When you need this particular item so get it, use it, and return it.
If you never go and grab that item, that just may be your cue to donate it.
08 | ORGANIZE THE FRIDGE & FREEZER
Freezer organization is as simple as a few dividing bins. A bin for chicken, a bin for beef, a bin for frozen veggies & fruits, and a bin for deserts.
Clearly label this bins and keep all grouped items separate from each other.
With your fridge, take a moment to see if adjusting the shelving might help. If your sick of bending over to grab the bulky items like milk from the bottom shelf, adjust the top shelf to make the milk carton fit there instead.
Again, bins can tremendously help you section off like food items to be stored clearly and cleanly together.
Clear glass containers are great for cut up fruit and veggies to be stored at eye level in the fridge for healthier snacking. This helps you get your produce out of those plastic grocery store bags.
Limit what you display on the top and outside of your fridge.
If you want your kitchen to look more organized store nothing on top of the fridge or only one or decorative items. Also, reduce how many magnets you have on your fridge.
09 | COUNTER TOPS
First, remove anything from the kitchen counter tops that do not belong in the kitchen. We often end up storing keys, lunch bags, mail, medicines, etc. on the counter tops. Find new homes for these items.
Reduce your kitchen decor. If you have too much decor sitting on the counter tops taking up space think about limiting yourself to your absolute favorites only.
Upgrade your dish rack. If yours is old, dingy, or discolored try replacing it with a more aesthetically pleasing one to compliment your kitchen.
Really take a long hard look at your counter tops, is there anything at all that could be stored somewhere else?
If you’re apprehensive about removing something from your kitchen counter tops, why not just give it a trial run?
If it doesn’t work for you, then put the item back! No harm done, but you won’t know if you can survive without it on your counter tops until you try.
10 | MAINTENANCE
Now that you have done all the hard work to declutter and organize your kitchen, you have to also learn how to maintain it!
This is the best part, maintaining your kitchen to stay clutter-free should now be a lot easier than before.
Once a week pick one small section to perform a quick clean up.
Open up a drawer and organize it. Move things back to the right spots in the fridge. Straighten up one shelf in the pantry.
These tasks always seem that they will take longer than they actually do. You will be pleasantly surprised that it only takes you minutes to tidy up one small section a week.
If you can maintain that pace, your kitchen will stay tidy, clutter-free, and ready for any new recipe you decide to whip up!
When you take the time to organize your kitchen, you are taking control of the central hub of your entire house.
As long as you consistently decluttering items you do not need, come up with organizing solutions for problems areas, and perform weekly maintenance you will easily be able to keep a beautiful clutter-free kitchen.
Happy Decluttering!
