“Don’t underestimate the power of glass front cabinets,” Zaveloff adds. “It’s so nice to know what’s inside the cabinet without having to open doors.”
Step 5: Manage kitchen drawers
Keep cutlery from rolling around
Every time you open a cutlery drawer, the silverware gets jostled unless you have something keeping it all in place. “Pull-out drawers with utensil holders are a really clever option for people who like to keep their countertop clutter to an absolute minimum,” Zaveloff says. Invest in nice drawer dividers to keep everything together for easier table setting.
William Clukies, senior associate at MR Architecture + Decor recommends Hafele for drawer organization accessories for cutlery, utensils, and beyond. “Many of the Hafele pieces are trimmable to be precisely fit inside your kitchen drawers so they look like customized interiors,” he says.
Stick the knives
The last thing you want is to cut yourself when you’re digging for a knife. To avoid that fate, get a countertop knife block, a knife divider for the drawer, or a magnetic strip to show off the best chef’s knives.
Place clingy liners in drawers
Beyond silverware, kitchen tools—like whisks and spatulas—aren’t usually uniform pieces that can be stacked on top of one another in a drawer divider. Using a clingy liner can help keep gear in place.
Update cabinet hardware
Loose drawer and cabinet handles are as irksome as kitchen clutter. Adding vibrant hardware to your culinary space sends a message that this is your happy space. And if you’re really into kaleidoscopic design, you can even mix and match and use colors as hints.
Invest in a label maker
A kitchen in order means that the cabinets are also organized, especially when it comes to food storage containers—you can’t rely on sight or smell to distinguish all-purpose flour from cake flour. Keep a label maker on hand, perhaps in an organizer storage bin for odds and ends that find their way into a kitchen drawer.
Step 6: Look up
Step up with a ladder
Maximizing cabinet organization means using the upper cabinets and even the space above. But unless you’re tall enough to be in a basketball league, how do you reach anything you put up there? With a step ladder, of course. Look for one thin enough to slide into the space between your fridge or oven.
Start hanging up cooking gear
We’ve already looked at the space in and above your upper cabinets, but what about the rest of the ceiling? A pot rack hung from your ceiling can take advantage of otherwise wasted vertical space, and any frequently used tools that happen to have holes in them—slotted spoons, rubber spatulas, and the like—also make good candidates. Just avoid using anything that is heavier than what the rack is rated to carry or anything sharp or potentially dangerous, such as knives and kitchen torches.
Step 7: Don’t forget to organize your fridge
Master meal prep
Instead of playing Tetris with all the food storage containers in your fridge and freezer, invest in a set that stacks nicely. You can then designate meal prep zones for easy access. This will be the last time you open refrigerator doors and spend 10 minutes looking for mustard.
Wine-bottle holder for the fridge
Wine bottles might look great on the bar cart, but you probably prefer drinking chilled white wines, rather than those that have sat at room temperature. However, unless you have room to stand them upright, you’ll need a wine bottle holder to not only keep them organized but also prevent them from rolling out and shattering, which is the number one way to kill the vibe.
Adjustable fridge drawer storage rack
Similar to kitchen cabinets, fridges tend to have a lot of lost vertical space and not a lot of ways to adjust the shelf heights. Luckily humanity has come up with insertable drawer storage racks, which take advantage of the space under a fridge shelf.
Stackable fridge bins
If you don’t necessarily need more vertical space, but you need to keep similar items grouped together, consider stackable fridge bins to keep similar items together. No more looking for that chunk of cheddar.
Add a paper towel holder
Place a magnetized paper towel holder on the side of the fridge to clear up the valuable real estate that is the kitchen counter.
Implement the side for extra storage
Besides being very easy to install, a magnetic shelf is also, of course, removable (i.e. perfect for renters).
Step 8: Work double duty with what you have
Look for two-in-one accessories
Bet you didn’t think that paper towel holders could be exciting–and they are not, unless you have one with a secret spray bottle compartment you can fill with a cleaning solution. No more searching for a spray bottle under the kitchen sink when you have a countertop spill.
Find a use for sentimental items
“It doesn’t technically belong in the kitchen if it’s a sentimental item,” Cattano says. But if nostalgia pulls at your heartstrings, consider other uses. If you rarely use your grandma’s glass gravy boat, employ it as a candy bowl to encourage guests to nibble on sweets and snacks you want out of the house.
Use glass storage as cookware
Plastic food storage containers, like Tupperware, can’t be put in an oven since they’d melt. But glass storage containers can double as bakeware—or even work triple duty as bowls—if your kitchen cabinets are lacking space.
Multitask with glassware
If you’re tight on space for glassware, think about using Ball glass mason jars as both storage and extra cups for unexpected guests (and their plus ones). Cheugy? Admittedly yes, but no one will complain once it’s in their hands and full of beer.
Implement a removable over-the-sink dish rack
Counter space is always at a premium, but there’s an easy fix: Get a dish rack that fits over the sink. The best part is that you won’t have to worry about residual water spilling out onto the counters.
Step 9: Take advantage of the weird spots
Think vertically
No one likes a crowded sink. Finding a way to hold your dish brushes vertically allows you to optimize the space without having to worry about a grimey sponge station.
Stick magnetic hooks on the fridge
Dish rags, seasonal kitchen towels, and oven mitts can all find a new and easily accessible home on the front or side of a stainless steel fridge. And instead of losing cutesy measuring spoons in your kitchen drawers, you can also hang them from the hooks.
Invest in a storage cart
If you really don’t have a lot of kitchen storage options, but you have a weird closet down the hallway that doesn’t do much for you, get a little cart. You can add storage bins, uncommonly used kitchen utensils, or spare linens, and roll the cart into the kitchen when you need it. It’s not as convenient as closet storage in the kitchen itself, but it’s great for anything you aren’t using every week.
Hang mug hooks strategically
Cattano suggests screwing mug hooks into the bottom of kitchen cabinets to utilize that empty space between the cupboards and the countertops. That’ll make your coffee mugs all the more accessible during the morning caffeine ritual—plus allow you to show off that DIY mug you brought back from the paint-your-own pottery place.
