kitchen organization

I often find myself reorganizing my kitchen drawers and cabinets because I want my kitchen to be a space — like most spaces in my home — that is optimizes efficiency and the small amount of storage I have. So when I discover a better way to logically organize kitchen tools, I do so. For now, this is the most logical and efficient way I’ve decided to organize my kitchen.

First of all, I store all my dry food, coffee, and tea in the tall cabinets directly across from the refrigerator. I store the coffee maker and electric kettle on the counter below where I store coffee and tea. Makes sense, right? It’s a fun little coffee bar!

Below the dry goods, the most shallow cabinets house seasonal/holiday serving plates, towels, paper napkins, straws, and vases — items I don’t often use. Next to the oven, I store baking goods (flour, sugar) and baking utensils, and spices. Makes sense that spices and measuring cups are near the stove, right?

Under the sink, I store cleaning supplies, garbage bags, and dishwasher detergent.

I make sure all items are visible, and their labels are turned outward so I know what each item is, and I store like with like. Using baskets, bins, containers to organize cleaning supplies is helpful — I can grab the basket and carry it with me to whichever room I need to clean.

I store every day glasses and mugs in the cabinet directly next to the sink. Grab your glass, turn on the faucet. Logical.

I store wine and beer glasses in the cabinet to the right. It’s a wider, taller cabinet the perfect size to store tall wine glasses. It’s also where I store plates, bowls, and travel mugs.

All the way to the left, I store mixing bowls and serving bowls.

I love these bamboo cutlery dividers. They’re eco-friendly, beautiful and functional. All the silver wear goes in the top drawer closest to the sink. Below, in the second drawer, I store larger cooking/serving utensils. The drawer to the right and farthest from the sink houses less frequently used utensils, like tongs, pizza wheel, etc.

All my pots and pans are stored in the deepest cabinet (supposed to be a Lazy Susan) next to the sink.

In the farthest cabinet from the sink, below the mixing and serving bowl cabinet, I store Tupperwear and other storage containers.

In the little island, I store less frequently used items, like the Crock Pot, juicer, blender, mixer, and waffle maker. The small, top shelf stores a few frequently used tools and batteries. It’s our junk drawer — the least organized drawer in the house!

As you can see, it’s easy to organize and store kitchen items in a small space when you have few things. It’s not a true minimalist kitchen, but I try to only keep items I truly use and need. I store like with like, and store items closest to the spaces I use them (refrigerator, oven, sink). I try to make sure every item is visible and stored with something similar. Using containers, bins, and baskets is another helpful way to organize smaller items in a bigger space.

When you have fewer items, organizing is easy! It also makes clean up much more fun.