You use your kitchen every day, probably more than once, so it will likely become cluttered over time. An unorganized kitchen can make cooking chaotic and add time to busy mornings trying to get out the door. Luckily, there are kitchen organization tips and secrets to help you spend less time sifting through cluttered cabinets and more time enjoying meals with your family.
The best ways to organize your kitchen will depend on your specific setup and needs. Find ideas with these tips for getting organized in your kitchen to decrease stress and regain your time.
1. Cut the Clutter
Among the best kitchen organization tips is getting rid of what you don’t need. When you eliminate items that are broken or you no longer use, you free up space for better organizing possibilities. Thinning out what you have in your kitchen can make it look less hectic, even without reorganizing what you’re left with. Toss or donate across different categories of items in your kitchen, including:
- Tupperware: Get rid of stained or broken containers and ones you’ve lost the lids to.
- Utensils: Get rid of bent or damaged utensils to free up space in your kitchen drawers.
- Pots and pans: If you have pots and pans you don’t use, consider donating them as long as they are in decent condition.
- Glassware: Discard any chipped, cracked or broken glassware as soon as you notice it’s broken.
2. Add Storage
If after cutting the clutter you still have a lot of items filling your kitchen, add storage. Utilize wasted spaces in your kitchen or add items that provide more storage solutions, like:
- Storage furniture: If you don’t have enough cabinet or pantry space in your kitchen, consider adding storage furniture that fits the space. You can then store pantry foods or pots, pans and baking dishes in it.
- Containers: If you have open shelving in your kitchen or open shelves on an island, add baskets, bins and containers. Use them to hold smaller items that would otherwise take up too much space.
- Door storage: Add storage inside the doors of your cabinets and pantry. These unused spaces can be perfect to hold cleaning supplies, spices and smaller items. Find different container or storage solutions based on the space you have behind a door.
3. Be Creative
Whether you try DIY projects or use other items in different ways, getting creative can help you discover unique kitchen organization ideas. Repurpose items like these to help organize parts of your kitchen:
- A clean coffee canister with a slot cut into the lid to hold plastic grocery bags.
- A wine rack cabinet insert to hold reusable water bottles.
- A key hook rack to hang utensils on the wall.
4. Use Labels
One of the most useful kitchen organization tips is to use labels. Labeling containers, cabinets, shelves and more makes it easier to find what you need, especially after reorganizing. When you label parts of your kitchen, anyone else who lives in your household can know where to find everything. You’ll cut down on clutter in the future because no one will have to rummage through everything to find what they’re looking for.
Make sure to place the label on a visible part of each container. You don’t want to put labels on jar lids only to have the lids facing up in the cabinet. Use durable, water-resistant labels, too — especially since they’ll be in your kitchen. You can label:
- Canisters: If you transfer ingredients like flour and sugar into canisters, be sure to label them. Consider using chalkboard labels on the front that you can reuse after changing what’s in the container.
- Shelves: Add thin labels to the front of shelves so everything has a place. This can be useful if someone else has to put items away and they’re not sure where they go.
- Containers: Even if you use clear containers, it still helps to label them. Labeling containers is handy if you have kids or anyone in your household with allergies or specific food needs.
5. Prioritize What You Use Often
Maybe you have a favorite pan or an ingredient you use all the time. Prioritize where you put everyday items so you don’t have to dig through cabinets and create clutter. How you organize these everyday tools or ingredients will depend on your kitchen and your needs, but you could:
- Use a counter spice rack to hold commonly used seasonings, like salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Keep a utensil crock by the stove to hold your favorite cooking utensils, like a spatula, slotted spoon or whisk.
- Put everyday dishes and glassware in cabinets at eye level in front of items you bring out for special occasions.
- Store ingredients you cook with often toward the front of the pantry or refrigerator.
- Create a space for lunchboxes and snacks for your kids.
6. Go Through Your Pantry, Freezer and Fridge
Knowing what you have in your kitchen can make it easier to stay organized. Going through your pantry, freezer and refrigerator will help you cut down on food clutter and know what you have a lot of. It can also tell you what you’ll need to stock up on. Declutter and organize each area with these suggestions:
- Pantry: Get rid of anything in your pantry that’s expired, and donate what’s in date but you don’t plan on using. Put the newest items to the back and keep whatever you need to use soon toward the front. You can then organize your kitchen based on the setup of your pantry. Consider keeping jars, cans and boxes with each other to help maximize your space.
- Fridge: For the fridge, do what you did for the pantry, throwing out anything expired and putting new food toward the back. Consider using clear refrigerator containers to hold small or loose items, like yogurt cups or soda cans. You can then stack those containers to maximize your fridge space while still knowing where things are.
- Freezer: Toss anything that’s freezer burnt or expired. Lay bags of frozen fruit and veggies flat to stack on top of each other and maximize space. If you have ice packs scattered around your freezer, put them into a clear container or choose ice packs designed to stack on top of each other.
7. Stock up on Your Favorite Products
Once you’ve organized your pantry, freezer and fridge, you may find that you’re low on certain ingredients. Stocking up on your favorite products all in one trip can cut down on the grocery runs you have to make. You can then reduce the risk of buying more than you need and cluttering your kitchen again. Be sure that after you buy new products, you put them toward the back of your refrigerator or pantry. What you get will depend on what you cook often, but you may stock up on staples like:
- Meat: Stock up on meat you can easily store in the freezer. Consider Premio Foods sausage products, which you can make into plenty of delicious recipes.
- Dry goods: Pasta and rice last a while and are perfect to create side dishes or full meals. Transfer these goods to canisters if that’s part of your kitchen organization.
- Spices and seasonings: Now’s a good time to stock up on spices, especially if you transferred yours to labeled jars. Consider what you cook with more often and buy backups.
- Produce: If you’re stocking up on produce, consider buying frozen or freezing your own fresh fruit and veggies. Buying too much fresh produce risks food waste and clutter when items go bad.
Stock Your Organized Kitchen With Premio Foods
If organizing your kitchen left you extra room in your fridge or freezer, stock up with Premio Foods. We’ve been passionately creating fine Italian sausage and other varieties for over 40 years.
Find the perfect products your family will enjoy, from Premio Italian sausage to flavorful Premio breakfast sausage. Or, choose from our chicken sausage, which has 60% less fat than USDA data for beef and pork sausage. No matter what you select, you can create mouthwatering meals. Use our store locator to find Premio Foods sausage near you today!
