Kitchen Organizing Ideas and Tips

Is having a better organized kitchen on your to-do list? It’s definitely on ours and I’m always working to make it more organized. I’m no expert, but in nearly 30 years of home ownership hopefully I’ve learned a thing or two about kitchen organizing.

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Kitchen Organizing Ideas

Today I’m sharing some of my favorite tips and organizing items, plus I’m teaming up with 22 other bloggers who are sharing their favorite kitchen organizing tips this week too! Be sure to check out all of their ideas at the bottom of the post.

Kitchen Organizing Ideas – Sink Area

The sink area is one of the hardest working places in a home. There are several ways to make it efficient and attractive with just a little effort. It’s always fun to get creative with your organization efforts and it’s a great way to show your personality.

Our dish soap is in a glass soda bottle with a spout attached for easy pouring. It’s up off the counter resting on a cake pedestal along with some dish towels and a little dish to put my jewelry in while I’m washing dishes.

Pretty glass bottles can be used for dish soap, oils, vinegar, and more. See how easy and inexpensive it is to create your own here: DIY Designer Dispenser Bottle

Kitchen Organizing Ideas for Underneath the Sink

The space underneath the kitchen sink is small and can turn into a big mess quickly if you’re not paying attention. I added a grocery bag dispenser underneath our and it’s a total space saver. This one can be attached with screws or mounting tape.  

A small key rack is a great place to hang a colander under the sink. And a basket organizer is perfect for storing cleaners, scrubbing sponges and microfiber cleaning cloths. 

Kitchen Organizing Ideas for Drawers

We all have a junk drawer (or two), but there are ways to make almost any drawer more organized and efficient. Adding a divided drawer organizer and light colored drawer liner will make it much easier to find what you need. See my best tips for using liner here: 10 Reasons Why You Need Shelf & Drawer Liner

GET CREATIVE!! Your organizers don’t have to be strictly functional. You can use anything you want and add your personality and a bit of pizazz. In a couple of our drawers I’ve used some vintage Jadeite bowls and cups to hold small items like chip clips and corn cob knobs.

If you have multiple drawers, group like items together and close to the area that they’ll be used.

For example, you obviously want your dish cloths and towels as close to your kitchen sink as possible, And folding your kitchen dish cloths and towels so they can be stored efficiently helps them fit better inside a drawer.

This divided drawer organizer keeps our measuring cups and spoons and our other baking gadgets organized and accessible. 

Organizing your flatware is a breeze with a bamboo kitchen drawer organizer. I used two in our flatware drawer so I would have plenty of space. I recently replaced all of our mismatched flatware with this set: hammered flatware set

Storing wraps and bags together in a drawer makes them easy to find as well. 

Kitchen Organizing Ideas for your Cabinets and Counters

Keeping your countertops and cabinets organized will make cooking so much easier and more enjoyable. Storing things closest to where they’ll be used will make your life much easier. For example, oven mitts and utensils should be within reach of the stove top and oven.

Here’s a breakdown of the contents in the cabinets and drawers in our cooking zone.

I like to keep our most used cooking items corralled on a vintage milk glass pedestal on the counter. You’ll want to use glass or something resistant to drips of oil if you add one to your counter.

Another way to add some personality is by storing your olive oil in a pretty glass dispenser or adding salt to a glass salt cellar.

Kitchen tongs can be hung on a cabinet door using small self-adhesive hooks. They’re easy to access and don’t get stuck in the drawer this way.

Platters, trays, cutting boards and other flat items can be stored on their side. They’re much easier to get to this way. You can use small tension rods or a cabinet organizer to keep them from falling over.

Another item in this cabinet that I love is our metal breadbox. It keeps the bread fresh and prevents it from getting crushed.

A 2 tier lazy Susan/turntable is one of the very best ways to get organized in the kitchen. We have two of them in our spice cabinet. One has spice blends and the other one has pure spices. All of them are stored alphabetically so we can find them easily. 

Another lazy Susan in the baking cabinet holds extracts, food coloring, and small items used for baking. Boxes of mixes are stored on their sides, and cupcake liners are stored in a glass jar.

I’m looking at this and thinking that I might invest in some clear storage containers like these for dry ingredients. It will look much more uniform. What do you use to store your baking items?

Small Pantry Organizing Ideas

We don’t have a walk-in pantry so I have to make the most of our small pantry cabinets. Pull out shelves make everything easy to find. Storing like items together also helps when searching for something or making out your grocery list. You can get creative and use wine crates or baskets for this. 

Need to store tall cereal boxes? Lay them on their side to store them in short shelves. 

Utilize the space on the back of a door by attaching a door organizer. We have extra items stored in this small pantry closet along with our aprons and larger electric appliances like our stand mixer, bread maker, toaster, and crock pot. 

Kitchen Landing Zone

For many people, including our family, the kitchen is the first stop when you get home. Designating a landing zone will help keep things from getting cluttered. If you don’t have much space, a wall shelf or small table can be a great place to drop your mail and bags. 

We added this long table in our kitchen and it’s been so helpful in keeping things organized. I converted a wooden toolbox into a mail organizer and stash our mail there until we can sort through it.

Small bowls and tins keep the drawers organized. 

As an alternative, an unused planter is a fun way to store magazines and catalogs.

And a pretty bowl or dish is a great place to stash your keys.

Another good way to get organized is with a weekly menu. This makes shopping so much easier and you never have to wonder what you’re having for dinner. A dry erase board is the perfect way to post your menu.

Now it’s time to see all of the great organizing ideas from my blog friends. We’ve created the ultimate cleaning and organizing resource for you to use as a guideline for your entire house.

Click on the links for each day to get some wonderful ideas. Let me know which one is your favorite!

Thanks for dropping by today. I’d love to hear your organizing ideas. Check out these great cleaning and organizing ideas:

SUNDAY – CLEAN AND ORGANIZATION PRINTABLES

Domestically Speaking | Simply Designing

MONDAY – CLEANING TIPS & RECIPES

Refresh Restyle | Cupcakes and Crinoline | Stone Gable |What Meegan Makes | My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

TUESDAY – KITCHEN ORGANIZATION AND DIY PROJECTS

Postcards from the Ridge | H2O Bungalow | Yesterday on Tuesday | Inspiration for Moms

WEDNESDAY – BATHROOM ORGANIZATION AND DIY PROJECTS

Petticoat Junktion | Redhead Can Decorate | Cleverly Inspired

THURSDAY – LAUNDRY ROOM ORGANIZATION AND DIY PROJECTS

The Interior Frugalista

FRIDAY – PANTRY & LINEN CLOSET ORGANIZATION AND DIY PROJECTS

Duke and Duchesses | Organized Island |Occasionally Craft | Organize and Decorate Everything