Small Kitchen Organization Ideas That Will Make Your Life Easier

 In Kitchen cabinets

While sprawling, chef-style kitchens may seem to be all the rage, small kitchens can have many advantages. In a smaller space, everything can be at your fingertips, from ingredients out of the fridge, to your stovetop and your sink to clean. This easy access can be a big time-saver. A small kitchen can make your planning, cleaning, and set-up easier, with less sprawl. Lastly, a smaller kitchen forces you to make choices and only include what you truly need – which is better than having huge pantries full of expired products or masses of appliances that never see use. Smaller kitchens are also easier to clean!

That being said, the other side of the coin is that you do have to be organized in a smaller kitchen! This post will give you some great tips to make a smaller kitchen work for you.

Organizing Space In A Small Kitchen

Organizing your small kitchen is a combination of planning, being creative, and using the right combination of space-saving solutions to hold everything you’ll need.

Whether you’re planning your kitchen from scratch or simply doing a re-organization, the first step to keeping your kitchen organized is to step back and itemize the contents. Make a list of all the appliances, pots and pans, utensils, and other items that you’ll need to be using on a regular basis. It helps to group like with like for a coherent storage approach.

In a small kitchen, you might need to get creative with your storage. Vertical storage can be a great choice for keeping otherwise bulky or unwieldy items from taking up too much space. Baking trays, chopping boards, knives, and other utensils all have vertical storage solutions available that can free up much needed cabinet and other storage space. Depending on the dimensions and kitchen layout design, you might have other options, such as a ceiling-mounted rack for your pots or a storage area on top of the fridge.

Be sure to make use of every nook and cranny, including corners. A Lazy Susan cabinet can be a fantastic way to pack efficient storage into an otherwise awkward corner. Or, use the corner as the spot of choice for bulkier items, such as food processors, pasta pots, and other bigger items.

Next, you’ll need to look at your countertops. Especially in a smaller kitchen, it’s important to keep your counter space free of clutter, which can build up quickly! A good rule of thumb is that any appliance you won’t be using daily needs its own place to live. A spice rack is a great investment for keeping your spices and condiments off your counters. Finding a vertical storage space for a cutting board is also a great idea.

Tips For Organizing Kitchen Cabinets

Your cabinets and cupboards are what allow you to keep everything that calls your kitchen home – pots, pans, appliances, dry goods, glasses, – out of sight and store away.

Keeping your kitchen storage cabinets organized and uncluttered is an important part of keeping any kitchen usable, but it’s particularly important in a small kitchen, where space is at a premium.

If you find yourself needing to declutter, the best way to start is by categorizing. While this can feel like a big job, it’s worth it to finally get your kitchen under control. Make sure you stick to whatever organizational scheme you decide on so you don’t get cluttered again!

First, you’ll need to remove everything from your cabinets. Then, start by removing the items you don’t want or need – separate them into piles for the garbage and for donation. Once you’ve figured out what you don’t want, you can start organizing what you want to keep.

Then, start sorting and storing based on whatever scheme makes the most sense to you. Most people opt to group like with like, so that their pans are stored in one place and tableware like glasses and plates in another. Pick a scheme that works for you, and stick to it. Here are some other common-sense rules that can help you out:

  • Keep your friends close: Items that you use every day should be given prime cabinet real estate for convenience, and less frequently used items can be placed further out of reach
  • Mind the reach: Heavy or cumbersome items should be placed as close as possible to where you’ll be using them. Items like pots and pans are best stored low, close to the ground instead of high up
  • Store with care: If you have young children, be careful that any dangerous objects or products are kept safely out of reach

Summary

A small kitchen, properly planned, can be just as useful as a big one. In fact, a smaller working space can be more efficient, and easier to clean and organize. Just be sure to make proper use of all your space available, and keep those cabinets clean!

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