How to Organize Your Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers

Having an organized kitchen is necessary to run it efficiently. Whether you’re cooking a meal for your family or just getting breakfast for yourself before work, things work more smoothly if your kitchen cabinets and drawers are well organized. So what are you waiting for? Learn the best way to organize kitchen cabinets. Here are our tips to help you get organized!

First, sort everything into categories. If you have no idea about what to do when it comes to arranging your kitchen more systematically, you can always try the basics; know what you are dealing with and then make a plan.

First, pull everything out! Go through every single kitchen cabinets that you have. Discard or donate things that are not frequently used, broken glasses, or items that you forgot that you had. Be ruthless! Some kitchens have pantries, others have less storage room, but the goal is to have it organized for easy access to the things that you use every day and achieve the best arrangement of kitchen cabinets.

Then, you should group items into categories, first the containers:

• Dishes and silverware for everyday eating
• Serving Dishes
• Pots and pans
• Baking tins & utensils
• Food Storage Containers

When you’re done with containers, it’s time to organize food:

• Spices, including salt and pepper
• Canned foods
• Condiments
• Bagged foods
• Boxed foods
• Baking items like flour, sugar, candy decorations etc.
• Coffee and Tea

Next, those extra things we all have at home:

• Plastic bags for food and garbage
• Foils
• Food wraps
• Paper Plates, plastic cups, and plasticware
• Paper towels and napkins
• Cleansing products
• Hot Pads and Oven Mitts
• Cloth Towels

And finally, the things you rarely use:

• Holiday and special occasion dishes

Then, regroup everything once more. The key here is to group similar items together and then assemble each group into zones by how frequently you need them. Plan out how you want to organize your cupboards using these tips:

1. Determine what is used every day and pick the cupboard that is easiest to access for those items.  You may want to locate them near the dishwasher so that they can be quickly put away after washing.
2. Decide what needs to be accessible for frequent use but isn’t used every day, they can be stored in cupboards that are not quite as easy to access as those things that you need every day.
3. Store the dinnerware in one cupboard along with the glasses and cups if they will fit in one cupboard.  If not, store the larger things in the cupboard next to that first one.
4. Put all the items needed for baking in one area so that you can find the thing like the baking tins, mixing bowls, mixer, and even flour, sugar, cake mixes in one general area.  Put the foods in the higher cupboard spaces.
5. Store your pots and pans in another cupboard.  These could go into a lower cupboard if you have children.
6. Cleansers can go under the sink.  You could install foil and wrap holders on the cupboard doors to save space.  If you have children, you need to decide if the cleansers can be safely stored and locked up under the sink.  If not, then they need to be put somewhere else.
7. Put those holiday and special occasion dishes into the cupboards that are not easily accessible, usually the smaller cupboards over the refrigerator.
8. Food Storage Containers and Serving Dishes can go into their space if you have sufficient cupboard spaces.  Otherwise, store them where you find extra space.
9. Decide what you want to be placed in drawers beside the silverware.

Now you can put everything away – Make use of drawer dividers. If you want to store cooking tools, using drawer dividers might do the trick! Drawer dividers are a great way to organize your kitchen utensils and silverware.  Other than the usual silverware trays, you can also use those office desk organizers to store the oversized utensils or silverware or any other small items that you have.  

Don’t forget to have a drawer just for the kitchen towels, hot pads, and dishcloths.

Use dish racks and cabinet risers

You can consider inserting cabinet risers or sliding shelf organizers to make access even more comfortable.  Also use those kitchen racks, shelves, and dividers so that you can store those things in an orderly manner so that they are easy to see and retrieve. 

For example, you can use a wire shelf to stack up soup bowls and small plates in one spot. Add a bin for small things that come in bags.  If you have enough space you can use an upright rack for storing your dinner plates. Cooking utensils that are used every day could be put in one container that is easy to reach, if not in a cupboard then on the counter.

Introducing Lazy Susans

Lazy susans are rotating trays that can be used to hold things together such as oils, vinegar, and other cooking ingredients, as well as spices, vitamins or medications. A lazy susan is not just for tables, it can be used for organizing your kitchen cabinets!  Also, it can add efficiency to your kitchen, allowing easy-access in a problematic cupboard. They are available in a variety of sizes and styles to suit your needs.

In addition to these tips, you probably should make a plan to go through your cabinets at least once every two or three months to check for any foods or spices that might have passed their expiration dates and toss those out.  Once your kitchen is organized, cleaning it should be a lot easier, however, if you are pressed for time, you can always hire a professional cleaning service to help keep it clean.