When it comes to finding innovative kitchen organizing ideas, they’re a dime a dozen. From clear storage bins to baking racks + drawer dividers –– clever gadgets for organizing your kitchen cabinets, drawers (+ even your shelves!) are certainly feelin’ the love these days. 

This is why my friend, I’m not afraid to blow the whistle because there’s actually a huge problem that comes with this convenient promise of organizational bliss. Whether you’re thumbing through magazines or poking around online, kitchen organizing ideas are literally everywhere! You know what I’m talking about. They’re articles about the “135 kitchen organizers + you must-have for a tidy kitchen. Or, “25 kitchen organizing ideas for $20.” 

And while it may seem harmless, it drives me nuts. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe all of this organizing goodness might just be a bit too convenient?!

For instance, that had-to-have color-coordinated collection of storage containers –– it’s just one more thing to buy. Or what about that dinglehopper –– isn’t it just the latest + greatest gizmo, gadget, or thing-a-ma-jig you have to figure out + find a way to use? 

But are you really in control? You see boo, beyond the sudden impulse to achieve organizational bliss, without any context as to why it’s right for you, all of these “things” wind up becoming just another piece of the clutter chaos puzzle.

Now don’t get me wrong, I know that no one likes a messy kitchen. Hence why kitchen organizing ideas are so popular. 

Not to mention, when it comes to impulse shopping, we all do it.  In fact, retailers bank on this type of vulnerability but did you know that our impulsive decision making is often a result of our psychological weaknesses?

At Elegant Simplicity, we believe that organizing is the foundation to creating a beautiful, functional + forgiving home. Our focus is on how we drive real change in our habits, our day-to-day routines + in our mindset. In other words, kitchen organizing ideas aren't about “getting organized once and for all” or the latest + greatest kitchen organizer.

No boo, that set it + forget it mindset only makes sense if you're cooking a rotisserie chicken *wink!*

To us, the art of creating a home is continuous — it’s an ever-evolving process of looking at how we live + what we truly want + need from our homes. When we take the time to apply this kind of introspective thinking to the way we live, we not only learn “how” to get organized but we understand “what it takes” to stay organized.

No doubt, the kitchen is one of the most diverse places in our home +  there are some serious benefits to having it organized too! So let’s dive into some of our kitchen organizing ideas + find out what we’ve been up to.

Kitchen Counter Organization Ideas

When it comes to organizing those kitchen counters of yours, less is truly more. And while many people expect a professional organizer to tell them that they have to “throw away everything” the reality at Elegant Simplicity, is that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, we’re not interested in what you throw away — our approach as a kitchen organizer is to help you identify everything you need to keep. 

So, now that we’ve flipped the script I’m curious to learn, what do you need on your kitchen counters? Think about, what small kitchen appliances do I use regularly? Ask yourself, does it make sense for you to store them in a cabinet + pull them out when you want to use them? Things like a(n):

• Coffee maker

• Espresso machine

• Tea kettle

• Toaster

• Blender 

What, if anything, can you store in canisters? What about things like spatulas, spoons + other generally large + irregular-shaped cooking utensils? While they’ll be visible because they won’t be tucked away or hidden in a drawer, corralling them together in a canister or tall vase will not only create less visual clutter but it provides a great opportunity to add a little decorative accent to your kitchen in a really functional way. Who said kitchen counter organization couldn’t be beautiful?

Speaking of yummy decorative accents, another idea is to utilize jars (with airtight + leakproof lids of course) to store a small selection of dry foods. Grouped together, neatly arranged along with the backsplash + curated to match the style of your kitchen absolutely adds unexpected pop happiness to your kitchen counters while keeping them clear of clutter.

In general, if things are curated together as collections + you’ve identified a place or a section of the counter for them to live then you’ve already begun to strategize about the things you actually want visible + what you don’t. And trust me boo, this intentionality will go a long way towards ensuring things don’t feel like clutter when their sitting out on your kitchen counters.

Of course, there are literally tons of kitchen organizing ideas for keeping your countertops clear but that being said, keep in mind that functionality for you + your family is the driving force.

Kitchen Cabinet Organization Ideas

When it comes to kitchen organizing ideas in general but specifically here, cabinet organization ideas… what we’re really talking about is how you should assign each cabinet a purpose. In other words, how to organize kitchen cabinets becomes all about each cabinet having its own categories.

And, as you do this — you want to consider what makes sense for you to put in upper cabinets vs lower cabinets? What makes sense for you to put on the lowest shelf of an upper cabinet vs the highest shelf?

WHAT TO STORE IN YOUR UPPER KITCHEN CABINETS

Glassware + Dishware: Psst… a little professional organizing secret. The best place to store glasses + dishes in your upper kitchen cabinets is right above the dishwasher or where you dry your dishes. The reason is that then it’s incredibly easy to unload the dishwasher or the drying rack + put them away easily. 

Cutting Boards: A cutting board should be located as close to the prep station as possible. If that’s an upper cabinet or lower cabinet then so be it :) 

Pantry Items: If you don’t have a pantry (or your pantry is too small) it’s ideal to store food in upper cabinets as opposed to lower cabinets. And, if you can place the food in upper cabinets directly above the counter space you’ll use it to prepare the food. This way, everything you need is in one spot when you’re cooking.

Cookbooks: We encourage our clients to utilize a digital cookbook but we know that family recipes with edits in grandma’s writing can be hard to part with so the best place to store any cookbooks you have is in an upper cabinet where you’ll actually use it. If it’s stored in the worst possible location — how often will you actually make those recipes?

WHAT TO STORE IN YOUR LOWER KITCHEN CABINETS

Small Kitchen Appliances: If you have the space to store small appliances in an appliance garage that’s ideal otherwise, storing kitchen appliances below the counter space you’ll use them is the best place.

Pots + Pans: The most ideal location for pots + pans is a lower cabinet closest to the stove. You can nest pots + pans inside of one another to save space in these cabinets or you can utilize a pot rack inside the cabinet.

Baking Pans: As an interior designer when we’re designing a custom kitchen we’re thinking about all the things we need to store + where we want to store them. Baking pans are fantastic right next to the oven. If you don’t have a custom kitchen cabinet fit for storing baking pans you can retrofit any kitchen cabinet — this way they’re not stacked on top of each other #wompwomp

Cleaning Supplies: Depending on how much kitchen storage you have + how far your cleaning closet is — you might want to utilize a lower cabinet (like under the sink) for kitchen cleaning supplies. Be mindful that pets + children don’t make their way into these cabinets which is why depending on the layout we often elect for cleaning supplies to be in another location — like an upper shelf or cabinet in a laundry or mudroom.

Benefits Of Kitchen Organizing

FEWER DUPLICATES (OR BUYING THINGS YOU ALREADY OWN)

We’ve all at one point in our past bought doubles (or even triplets) of things because you couldn’t ever seem to find what you were looking for in the pantry or those darn kitchen cabinets. It often can feel like exactly what you’re looking for has mastered the game of hide-n-seek, ugggh.

By organizing the shelves in your kitchen pantry, the upper + lower kitchen cabinets + your kitchen countertops you're less likely to waste money buying things you already own. Why? Because you’re able to find what you need + use what you have. Long story short, if something is useful + there’s actually a place to store it… it’s no longer considered clutter. 

COOKING IS FUN

Simply because you’ve thoroughly categorized + intentionally decided where things will live in your kitchen you’ll always know exactly where to find things right when you need them…say the rubber paddle that goes to your kitchen-aid mixer or the matching lid to your food storage containers. 

This makes cooking a lot more fun. Psst... when you know where grandma’s recipe book is (+ it’s easy to grab) it’s easier to figure out which recipes you want to make + the ingredients you need to pull out to cook them like ol’ times sake :) 

But it’s not just the cooking that's fun… when you have an organized kitchen with a place for everything, the clean-ups are easier too.

CLEAN-UP GETS EASIER

Spoiler Alert –– wiping surfaces down every couple of days or after every meal becomes routine because:

• you're not having to relocate piles of clutter in order to wipe down the counters

• you know exactly where to put everything as you unload the dishwasher

• You feel a sense of pride + accomplishment in cleaning up + restoring your kitchen 

As you can imagine, from our perspective, kitchen organizing ideas at Elegant Simplicity are a lot more functionality-driven then eye-catching roundups or gimmicky gadgets + that has a lot to do with our belief that home is everything you need + nothing more.

So… from exactly how to organize your kitchen to kitchen counter organization + every nitty gritty detail about organizing kitchen cabinets — we’re not shy when it comes to dishing out plenty of organizing ideas. 

Hands down we love containerizing, creating custom cabinetry or even beautifully lined drawers for our design + organizing clients BUT the driving motivation behind change has to be contextualized by purpose –– in a way that justifies why it’s right for you! Even good organizing ideas that don’t work for you are meaningless (regardless of how functional they may be for someone else). 

And my friend, if you loved this blog post you’re absolutely going to go nuts for our FREE 4-Days To A More Beautiful + Functional Home video course. You can also check out our amazing FREE resource library + if you’re looking to start your kitchen organizing journey, book a FREE 30min. Clarity Call and… lets chat!