Are you struggling to find what you need when you need it in your kitchen cupboards? Do you end up taking everything out to find what you need hiding at the back? Maybe it is time to organise your kitchen cabinets.
An organised kitchen will save you both time and money. You won’t wind up owning three of the same types of spatula because you’ll know what you have. Everything will be in its place, and you’ll be able to find it in a snap.
Compiling your grocery list, planning meals, and preparing food will be more straightforward than ever. Even cleaning your kitchen becomes easier when everything is well organized.
Here are some of the most effective ways to organise your kitchen cabinets and simplify your life.
1. Declutter first
Before you embark upon organising your kitchen, donate, sell, or throw away anything you aren’t using. Remove any boxes for trash or donation before you start trying to rearrange your cookware and other items.
By decluttering first, your task will be way less overwhelming, and you’ll likely get it done much faster.
2. Categorize your items
Putting your items into categories will make your job much easier when deciding what goes where. In the first instance, you’ll probably want to separate food items from cookware/dishes.
Once you’ve done that, within the food items, you could separate them into baking ingredients, canned goods, snacks, drinks, etc.
For your cookware, you can separate it into pots and pans, utensils, cutting boards, etc. Dishes can be separated into glasses, mugs, and bowls, and plates. These categories can vary depending on what you have in your kitchen, but you get the idea.
Now that you’ve decluttered and are working with the essentials, it’s time to see how to organize them effectively.
3. Baskets
Small baskets in your cabinets can help organize dry goods such as spices, cleaning supplies, and food items that don’t need to go in the fridge. You could have one basket for spices, one for flour, sugar, and other dry baking goods, one for pasta, and so on.
4. Lazy Susans
Lazy Susans are brilliant for cupboards because they allow you maximum visibility just by turning the turntable. Some have several tiers so that you can organize small items like vitamins, condiments, and spices.
Turntables are another way of maximizing corner cabinet space, so see if a turntable can work in your kitchen. If not, some people use them in the refrigerator!
5. Drawer organizers
If your cabinets have drawers, try a drawer organiser for things like silverware. Those flat items that otherwise could get jumbled up together can be organized by purpose: forks, knives, spoons, serving utensils, etc.
6. What to put on the bottom
Bulky items are best at the bottom of cabinets so that you don’t need extra effort to lift them. Such things are appliances, a large casserole dish, an Uno Casa Dutch oven, or a giant-sized soup tureen.
If you have sets of pots, pans, or mixing bowls, nest them inside each other and put them on the bottom.
Equally, if you have dishes that are only for special occasions, these don’t need to be within easy reach. Consider storing them either on the bottom or at the very top. Have everyday dishes organized by function (plates together, cups together, etc.) and put those at eye level for easy access.
Cleaning products are also best stored away from food in a section of their own where children and pets can’t get at them.
7. Inside the cabinet doors
On the inside of your cabinet doors, see if you can fit a knife rack, spice rack, or hooks for dishtowels. You could also install a lid holder for stacking lids of pots and pans so that they are easily accessible.
Having items on display just inside the door will maximize the space.
8. Make the most of your current shelves
Try inserting stacker units (either wire or plastic) between your shelves to create twice the amount of shelving space.
You could also hang hooks underneath a shelf for hanging mugs, glasses, and other items.
For flat items such as cutting boards, baking sheets, or pan lids, try installing rods between shelves so that you can store these items on their sides without them falling over.
9. Maintain your decluttered space regularly
You don’t want to go to all the trouble of setting everything up and then letting clutter build up again. Plan to go through your cabinets at least once or twice a year. Go through food and check expiry dates. Toss or donate unused kitchen items, and enjoy the clean and clear space you’ve created!