When you're daydreaming about your new kitchen, functionality is just as important, if not more important than, design. But functionality and design should work together. What conveniences that will make your life easier? An uncluttered kitchen with plenty of storage is a dream to work in. Having everything in its proper place makes prepping, cooking and even cleaning easier and more fun. And who doesn't want to have fun in their kitchen?! Get inspired with some of these clever tools to keep your kitchen organized.
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1. Start by storing all of your big items since they take up the most space. It's easier to find a place for the smaller kitchen tools.
2. Kitchens are the stomping ground for most families. It's where you spend a lot of time, whether you are cooking dinner, eating breakfast or sitting at the kitchen counter helping the kids with their homework. Pantries and other covered built-in storage like the ones we built for the Oreland Mill kitchen give you a place for backpacks, workout bags, coats and more. This is especially great if you don't have a mudroom.
3. Keep the items you use most frequently easily accessible, not buried in a drawer.
4. Group your goods together to keep your pantry organized. Group your baking ingredients together. Group your cleaning supplies together. Group your breakfast foods together. This will help you find exactly what you're looking for in a hurry.
5. Get custom cabinets to fit your space. You know that small space above the microwave or wasted corner area? We did custom cabinetry in the little blue Buttonwood kitchen for exactly those reasons.
6. If you have exposed shelves, mix decorative items with dishes, cookbooks and other items you frequently use to add a little design to your kitchen organization.
7. Use baskets and bins to organize your loose items like spices, measuring cups and other utensils.
8. Don't cut your kitchen off at eye level. Use all of your wall space up to the ceiling. Add shelves or hooks to get your goods off the counters.
9. Some prefabricated cabinets only allow so much customization of your shelf spacing. Add hanging racks or hooks in your cabinets if you can't move the shelves to fit your needs.
10. Having a hard time keeping track of your grocery list? Paint the inside of a cabinet with chalkboard paint or hang a whiteboard so you always have a place to keep your notes.
11. Add a shelf where cabinets aren't an option. If you have a vent hood over your stove, faux cabinets look great to cover it but don't help with storage and organization. A shelf can add a little extra space above your head for design and organization like we did in the Byron kitchen.
12. Use a spice rack. There's a reason you can buy them at any home store in any style... because they are awesome! They are specially made to hold small containers and still show their labels. You can hang them inside a cabinet or pantry or on the wall to display your spice collection and keep them accessible.
13. Hang a pot rack over your island or stove. These make your pots and pans easy to find when you are busy in the kitchen. Those pots and pans take up a lot of space in your cabinets and no matter how hard you try, they never stay organized the way you want them.
14. If you have extra storage in your kitchen, you can store more than just cooking utensils. Stow your kids' toys or homework supplies in the kitchen too so you always have their things accessible to keep the kids busy when you are doing meal prep..jpg?width=401&name=collins%20kitchen%20(2).jpg)
15. Opt for a wall of cabinets to hide appliances and clutter rather than installing another open countertop. Storage is precious in a kitchen, so don't waste any space. See how we did this all over the Collins kitchen.
16. Use a knife block. This will not only keep your knives organized but also safely stored. You don't want to keep sharp blades loose in drawers, especially if you have kids around.
17. If a knife block isn't for you, there are special magnet strips you can attach to your backsplash or inside your cabinets that will hold your knives out of harms way without damaging the blades.
18. Use countertop organizer trays to keep your most used items together. Have a tray for your recipes and utensils. Have another tray for your coffee goods. This way you can store these items together and pull them out when you need them.
19. Use a bar cart. Instead of stocking your bar in a permanent residence on your counter, keep your shaker, muddler, jigger and liquor on a cart with wheels. This way you can roll it into your pantry when you don't need it or roll it from room to room and even outside when you want to enjoy a beverage or entertain on your patio.
20. Lazy Susans will never go out of style for organization - especially when you have deep cabinets. Toss your condiments and more on the round spinning tray so you can access everything in your storage.
21. Use drawer organizers to keep your silverware and other loose items organized. The last thing you want is to clutter up your precious drawer space with a junk drawer!
22. Instead of leaving your goods out on the counter, store them in pretty jars or boxes. You can get beautiful containers that match your decor for cheap.
23. Use hooks to keep utensils off your countertops. You can attach hooks under your cabinets or directly to your backsplash to keep your most used utensils close by without leaving your countertop messy. BONUS: with hooks, every tool has a place so you always know where to put it back.
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24. Are you a wine drinker? Consider built-in wine storage when picking your cabinets. Get your wine off the counter and out of your pantry like we did in the Larkspur kitchen.
25. If you keep a lot of dry goods in your pantry, think about transferring them from their packaging into Tupperware containers. Using matching sized plastic containers makes your goods easier to store and stack.
26. Break out that label maker! You can label what groceries go on what shelves (for your less organized housemates), what is in each Tupperware container and more!
27. If labeling isn't your style, buy all clear containers, whether glass or plastic, so you can always see what is inside.
28. Attach a magazine rack to the side of your kitchen island to store your favorite cookbooks and recipes.
29. Strapped for storage space in your kitchen? Add a bench to your breakfast nook like we did in the Linda Vista project. This dual-purpose bench adds more seating and takes up less space than chairs. Plus, you can hide your unsightly extras inside.
Do you have kitchen organization ideas we didn't mention here? Let us know! We'd love to add to our list.
