Whether you have a palatial farmhouse kitchen or a tiny galley, things need to be organized. Really, from my experience, more space usually results in more stuff.
But making sure all that stuff has a proper home while still leaving room to, you know, cook, doesn’t have to cost a small fortune. The point is to cook more , not less.
1. Organize your junk drawer with tissue boxes.
You don’t need to spend a lot on fancy drawer dividers, or even raid the dollar store for baskets that may or may not fit. Instead, just start collecting some empty tissue boxes.
This project was shared on Hometalk by Time With Thea.
She was looking for a better way to deal with her junk drawer, and after her husband had a cold, she decided to turn the boxes into cubbies. If you don’t have a bunch of tissue boxes at home, try asking for some to be saved for you at the office.
2. Turn an empty pop bottle into a plastic bag dispenser.
Get those plastic bags out from under the sink and give them a proper home with one of these easy DIY dispensers. The lid is just an old CD painted black.
You can find the full instructions at Craft Your Happiness .
3. Store cutting boards on the inside of a cupboard door.
With a bit of hacking, you can use the same wire holder intended for rolls of foil and plastic wrap. Just string a few zip ties through the bottom rungs, that way the skinny boards won’t slip through.
4. Utilize the space under a shelf with a pot rack.
The brackets for this shelf had holes perfect for holding a towel bar. S hooks completed the project.
If you don’t have a shelf with brackets like these, you can attach a towel bar to the underside of the shelf.
5. Put small appliances in their own baskets with all their accessories.
This is one I need to adopt, like, yesterday. Instead of having your electric mixer in one cupboard and the beaters somehow split between different drawers, just keep everything together in an easy-to-grab basket.
6. Use Command Hooks to hold devices or cookbooks.
Not only will this allow you to easily reference your recipe, but it’ll keep the phone or tablet up and away from messes.
7. Use self-adhesive hooks to hold kitchen rolls.
Not only will this save space in cupboards and drawers, but it’ll be easier to grab what you need. Most brands of plastic wrap, foil, and parchment paper already have holes in the ends for this, so check next time you buy your next roll .
8. Use a produce box to organize all those plastic lids.
There is never going to be a perfect, one-size-fits-all solution to storing plastic containers and their lids, but this practically free options comes pretty close.
Borei Designs covered a produce box with contact paper for her lid storage.
Besides costing very little to make, it keeps the lids contained to a single place and less likely to go missing.
9. Make a hanging, spinning utensil rack with lazy Susan hardware.
You can start with an actual lazy Susan or buy the hardware on its own. You just need some hooks and a board. See the full tutorial at From House to Home .
10. Save space and time by freezing flat.
This works for everything from ground meats to leftover soup. By freezing in flat packs, you speed up the freezing and defrosting process while saving a lot more space in your freezer. I usually start the freezing process on a cutting board or sheet pan to make sure they are flat.
11. Hang mason jars on the wall for attractive storage.
Mason jars make great storage, but we don’t all have the counter space for a bunch of them to hang out. This option from Liz Marie Blog elevates them onto the narrow end of a wall.
12. Use a pegboard for more wall storage.
Pegboards are a great way to create customized storage in a kitchen. Big pots? Spread the hooks out more. Easy-peasy.
Though, unlike the person who took this picture, I probably wouldn’t put the heaviest pot all the way at the top like that.
13. Use a cord bundler product to keep appliance cables tidy.
You usually see these handy items in garages or workshops, but why not bring them into the kitchen? You can stick them to the back of appliances to keep the cords in place.
Much better than my habit of just leaving the mixer plugged in and taking up space.
14. If you bake regularly, turn the inside of a cupboard door into a measuring rack.
There are lots of ways to add the labels and conversions to the rack for easy reference, but I like this chalkboard version from Modish and Main . If you use chalk markers, then there’s no need to worry about dust in the cupboards.
15. Use Command Hooks to store pot lids on the inside of doors.
This is one of those cases where I would invest in proper name-brand hooks instead of my usual dollar store knockoffs. You want to make sure they stay where they belong even when holding the weight of the lid.
16. Add drawers to your pantry cupboard.
If you tend to prove the term “nonperishable” wrong by losing things in the back of the pantry, adding a couple of drawers can make a huge difference. You can see everything, allowing you to be more efficient when cooking and making grocery lists.
17. Stop piling papers on the kitchen table by adding a simple filing system.
Even when we mean to keep paperwork away from the kitchen, it tends to pile up there. So, instead of letting it win, why not create a mini filing system like this one from Refashionably Late ?
She made her own folders with scrapbooking paper, but you could also buy folders.
By attaching the folders to the inside of cupboard doors, the folders and paperwork are hidden away, but still easily accessible.
18. Build a narrow rolling shelf for canned goods.
Classy Clutter made this really attractive shelf on casters that’s narrow enough to slide down into the nook between the wall and fridge.
Of course, it doesn’t have to go beside the fridge. You could put it wherever your kitchen has a weird gap.
Just make sure that your fridge still gets plenty of airflow around it from other angles. Then you don’t need to worry about it working harder than usual.
For the full instructions, head on over to Classy Clutter .
19. Build a shallow pantry between wall studs.
If you have a blank wall that isn’t load-bearing, why not add some extra storage? Barn-style doors make it easy to hide away those canned goods without taking up space with a swinging door.
Check out the full project at Live From Julie’s House .
20. Refinish old Christmas tins for pantry storage.
Pins are a great way to store things and we get tons around the holidays, but we don’t always want the Christmas-y look.
I love this rustic redo from Knick of Time .
