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Step 1 to Organize Your Small Kitchen: Contain the Paper

If you’re anything like me, you have a serious amount of paper coming in your home on any given day. Between the mail (bills), kid-related paperwork (report cards, parent signature forms), and work-related information for you or your spouse (medical, 401k), it’s hard to keep track of everything and can easily take over the top of most counters or tables very quickly. Get yourself some kind of organization system.

I like this one best because it hangs over the door, so it’s not taking up space in any room. You can even hang it in a closet, so it’s out of the way. Use one of the upper pockets for mail, since it’s too high for the kids. Then give each kid their own pocket to put school papers in for your review.

Step 2 to Organize Your Small Kitchen: Corral Those Small Appliances

If you’re not using an appliance often, and it will fit in your cupboard, store it away to make a cleaner looking space. We want the appliances that must remain on the counter to be less distracting and allow you to make the most of that valuable counter space. Get a cover for your mixer, so it stays clean and is out of the way. Get an expandable shelf for over your microwave to allow for more space for other small appliances. Use a corner shelf to organize your coffee area.

Step 3 to Organize Your Small Kitchen: Make the Sink Work for You

If you have a small kitchen, odds are you don’t have much counter space. The space around your sink might be limited, and even if you have the room, keeping a drying rack on your counter can make it look crowded. Use an over the sink dish drying rack to free up space, keep your soaps and dish cloths within reach, and let the dishes dry off into the sink. This one is adjustable to fit multiple sink sizes, and it can be assembled four different ways to your liking.

Step 4 to Organize Your Small Kitchen: Straighten Up Those Drawers

You should already have an organization for your everyday utensils. If not, let’s start there. Get this expandable silverware organizer so it fits any size drawer you have. And for all the other kitchen drawers, get this expandable drawer organizer. It comes with removable dividers, so you can use it any way you see fit. While it’s perfect for kitchen utensils, it also works great for tools, makeup, crafts, office supplies, and kids toys. (Of course, not all of those items are in your very organized kitchen.)

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Step 5 to Organize Your Small Kitchen: Make Good Use of Those Cupboards

Make Room for Pots and Pans

I know how it goes; I’ve been there. You start out with all the pots and pans stacked nice and neat inside of each other. The lids are neatly lined up waiting to be used. A week or two goes by, and you come back to a messy cupboard. Save yourself time and a headache, and store pots, pans and lids easily with this cabinet organizer. It works two different ways, so you can keep you lids matched to your pots or turn the pots on their sides for more room.

Store Baking Items

If you’d rather not store your baking pans in the drawer under your stove, I suggest making more room in your cupboards by turning the pans on their side, using an adjustable storage rack. It keeps your pans upright, so they no longer collect dust. Just move the dividers to create space for metal baking tins, glass casserole dishes, or even cutting boards (of all sizes).

Keep Food Fresh

If products, such as pasta, flour, sugar, and cereal, are kept too long in their own packaging, little bugs, called weevils, can get in them. Those bugs can infest everything in your cupboards that is not well sealed.

To keep the bugs away, make more space in your cupboards, and keep your food fresher longer, try these airtight food containers. These are nice because they come with labels, so you never have to guess what is in your cupboards. They’re great for storing pasta. I know if I don’t use all the pasta in the box, there’s a 99% chance of it ending up on the floor. They’re also great for flour and sugar. (I suggest getting a brown sugar saver, as well, to keep the sugar from clumping.) With these food containers, there is less waste and that is money saved.

To save even more money on food, you also need to get your canned goods in order. Use this rotating can organizer to store your canned goods and keep them from expiring.

Wrangle Those Storage Containers (and Lids)

To save money, you want to keep food fresh as long as possible. Trying to track down lids that match containers not only wastes time, it wastes space. Get this nested set of storage containers with lids that attach, so you can always find a match set.

If you don’t need new storage containers, consider a lid organizer and stack the containers nearby.

Utilize the Space Under the Sink Well

Keep the space under your sink for dish washing items and cleaning supplies. Use an under the sink organizer to double your space. Keep the cleaning supplies from leaking all over your cupboards by storing them in these plastic bins. Keep items together for whatever room they’ll be used; kitchen cleaners in one, bathroom cleaners in another. You can easily transport all the supplies when you clean that room.

Step 6 to Organize Your Small Kitchen: Tackle the Refrigerator and Freezer

On the Outside

I don’t suggest chore charts, to do lists, or grocery lists on the refrigerator. If you have a small space, all that writing and scheduling is going to make the kitchen look smaller. Leave the refrigerator available for those kid art projects and A+ papers. Give each kid a special spot that is all their own to display whatever they want for one week, then file away the old papers. Get some motivational magnets to keep your family (and yourself) inspired.

If you need to use the top of the refrigerator for storage, I would keep those airtight food containers up there, with cereal or pasta. I use the top of my refrigerator to display decorative cups and store wine.

And on the Inside

Keep items sorted in the refrigerator and especially the freezer, with these clear bins. And keep leftovers from getting lost in the refrigerator with this set of Pyrex storage containers.

One Last Tip

So there you have it. The six easy steps to organize your small kitchen: contain the paper, corral the appliances, put the sink to work, straighten the drawers, use the cupboards wisely, and tackle the refrigerator/freezer.

You certainly do not need to purchase the items above to organize your small kitchen. However, it is much easier to keep your small kitchen clean if it is well organized. The most important part is making your kitchen work for you. Store items logically as to where they are needed. Keep cooking utensils near the stove. Keep all dishware together. Keep the silverware near the dishwasher (if you have one). Your kitchen should be organized in a way that cuts down on the number of steps you take to complete your task.

Organizing can be just as hard as decluttering. So to stay motivated, take it one step at a time. If you got through the paper or the cupboards, take a step back and look at what you accomplished, then save the rest for another day. Just be sure that since you now have a place for everything, those items always get returned to that place. It makes cleaning your kitchen that much easier.

Were you able to successfully organize your small kitchen? Let us know in the comments what products worked best for you.