Organize Kitchen Cabinets in 10 Easy Steps

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Well it’s January, the start of a new year and apparently y’all are just like me and trying to organize all the things! Alright, this was the top voted blog post for this week. Everybody wants to organize the kitchen cabinets, so let’s do it!

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10 Easy Steps to Organize Kitchen Cabinets

Here’s the run down:

1. Get Started
2. Pick a Side
3. Empty the Entire Area
4. Wipe Out the Area
5. Toss and/or Rehome
6. Shop Your Home
7. Organize
8. Placement
9. Extras (if needed)
10. Label

Step 1: Get Started

I think simply tackling this task is the hardest part. Just do your best to change your mindset. Know that at the end of this it will all be worth it. When we take the time do this and do it well, it will clear the clutter and allow our minds to focus on what really matters in our day to day lives. I enjoy turning on a good podcast, audiobook, or music and sipping on some good coffee. Go ahead and get the good coffee out and your favorite creamer. Get some oils going in your diffuser!

Step 2: Pick a Side

What do I mean? Just pick what side of the kitchen you want to start on. For example I like to start with my island, once I’m done there I move around to the left side, the center, and then finish up on the right. So while my island and left side of the kitchen look great, the right side is usually piled high with all the junk I need to move to homes or trash. Side note, I do this in the pantry too. I start on the left side, then center, then right, then the floor. Same thing when I clean up after meals, I start with the kitchen table and chairs, then the island, then the left countertops, the stove and then I do all the dishes and load the dishwasher.

Step 3: Empty the Entire Area

I know this is scary, its going to get messy. But you have to empty the entire drawer, cabinet, whatever it is you’re working on. Take every last thing out of it.

Step 4: Wipe Out the Area

This is when you can you use you’re favorite cleaning products and make this part a little more enjoyable!

Step 5: Toss and Rehome

Make dedicated piles for trash, donate, and rehome. So trash anything you’re not using, anything that’s out of date, anything that you don’t need or use anymore it’s got to go. Donate any items you can. And if something is out of it’s “home” then make a pile so you can return it after you’re done cleaning. Everything should have a “home”.

Step 6: Shop Your Home

There’s no reason to go out and buy all these fancy organizing things, don’t get me wrong I love them. But I have more important things to spend money on like the good coffee mentioned above. I just mean go around your house and look for anything you can use to organize your kitchen…baskets, bowels, containers, glass jars (mason jars are my favorite) super affordable and I use them for everything! So if you find these items that aren’t being used to their full potential take them to the kitchen and see what magic you can make with them. I do this all the time!

Step 7: Organize Kitchen Cabinets

The best part! Organize your kitchen cabinets with what you shopped for around your house. It’s possible you might not even need to use anything.

Step 8: Placement

Now that you have all your things that you’re keeping ready to go back into your space, it’s important to put your most reached for items closest to the front and what you don’t use often towards the back.

Step 9: Extras to Organize Kitchen Cabinets

If you think you need a few containers, jars, etc. Go ahead and grab a couple. Just buy them as it fits your budget.

Step 10: Label

Labeling also saves you time! When things are labeled they get put back in their proper place!

Tips:

• Repeat each step until you’ve worked through all your kitchen areas.
• Set a timer for 30 mins to an hour each day until it’s completed so you don’t feel overwhelm.
• Minimalism is your friend here.
• Stack things to make use of the space.
• Take things out of packages/boxes if you can. Things like granola bars, applesauce pouches can go in baskets. Put flours, oats, rice, etc in glass containers.
• Everything needs a home, you can always change this as it works for you. But put stuff back where it’s current home is.

You don’t have to have a large kitchen or a million cabinets or a pantry to make this work. Before we built our home that we’ve now been in for 3 years, we lived in a small house that was built in 1953. I had the tiniest amount of counter space to work with and about 4 cabinets that I could actually reach and we made that bad boy work for almost 10 years with a family of 5! All 3 of the kids at the time even shared a make shift closet underneath the stairs (color coded hangers came in handy then).

Most of the time when we allow ourselves to have more space we just fill it with more stuff, stuff we don’t even use. So it’s not about needing more cabinets, it’s about making the most of the space you currently have! Even though we now have a lot of extra cabinet and drawer space in our kitchen there’s several cabinets that are sitting empty, mostly because of the todzilla I’ve mentioned on Instagram, but also because we don’t have a ton of stuff that needs storage.

Organize Kitchen Cabinets: Questions

Someone on Instagram asked about storing appliances. Before we moved we had a metal wire shelf in our laundry room, which was the size of a hallway. That’s where I kept my crockpot, instant pot, waffle maker, mixer, etc. My coffee pot hung out on the counter. Since we’ve moved and have a pantry I keep all of my appliances in the pantry on one side. And when we moved I did ask for a cabinet on top of the counter to hide my coffee pot and toaster. I do love this cabinet so much!

Shop These Favorites to Organize Kitchen Cabinets

• 32oz 12 Pack Glass Wide Mouth Mason Jars
• Bamboo Tea Box
• Wire Basket
• Wood 3-Tier Expandable Spice Rack
• Lazy Susan
• Dymo Label Maker
• 32 oz Glass Jar with Metal Lid

I feel like this blog post could go on and on, but I hope this was a least a little helpful! If ya have a question just hit the reply button or head over to my Facebook or Instagram! I’ll be sharing more of our kitchen organization and some great deals I found at TJ Maxx if you’re looking to organize and save money!

I love the feeling of a clean kitchen, it actually inspires me to cook! Head over to this blog post and read all about how to menu plan…there’s even a free printable!