5 Steps for Kitchen Cabinet Organization on a Budget
The kitchen is the heart of the home. Having an organized kitchen is a must for a smooth-running household. Check out these 5 steps for kitchen cabinet organization on a budget.
Organizing is not only so rewarding for easy access but it makes for simple cleaning. Now, I know we all just want to hire a professional organizer and have the perfect kitchen when we walk back in, but you and I both know, probably most of our budgets probably will not allow that, and that’s okay 😉 These 5 steps for kitchen cabinet organization on a budget will help you out!
Here are some ideas to get your kitchen just the way you need it to be. A great way to start is by cleaning and decluttering your countertop.
1. Declutter Your Kitchen
The best way to declutter is to start with visuals. Start with what you can see right away.
Start with clearing the countertops
Do you have stacks of mail you’ve been meaning to go through? Put your bills on e-statements, and get rid of that extra clutter. You are going to want as much cabinet space as you can get. Next, you’ll want to pull everything away and wash them off.
Get rid of duplicates you don’t use
Do you ever use two can openers at the same time or two pizza cutters? Your cookie sheets or glass spray bottles, on the other hand, you are probably going to want to hang on to multiple of those. Use your best judgment. You know what you use the most in your kitchen.
Throw out expired items
When I decided to do some kitchen decluttering and organization I could not believe the random items I found expired. *NOTE TO SELF*, don’t buy things you think you are going to branch out and try, because I never do. I am 100% plain Jane in the kitchen.
2. Clean Your Kitchen
Cleaning will be an ongoing process throughout the organization process. You will want to pull-out shelves, Pull-out drawers and clean them out. For storing clean dishes, some of these can get pretty gross. Oh and don’t forget the very back of your cabinets, some of those little corners seem to suck up whatever they can and can get pretty crumby back there.
3. Group Similar Kitchen Items Together
Grouping items together makes cooking, baking, and preparing foods so much easier in lots of ways.
Baking Supplies:
Water Bottles:
- Lids
- Straws
- Bottoms
- Seals
Cooking Utensils
Pots and Pans
- pans
- pots
- lids
- dutch oven
Baking Pans
Serving Dishes
- platters
- porcelain
- serving bowls
Preserving
4. Utilize What You Already Have
Looking around your kitchen, regrouping, and rearranging what is already in your kitchen is definitely the best way to go. Sometimes that means pulling out cabinets and making open shelving out of them. Other times it simply just means pouring that bag of beans that keeps wanting to fall out into a jar you have sitting in your upper cabinets that aren’t being used. The easiest way of organizing is when you don’t bring more items in. I think we can get carried away with all of these organizational items we see on social media and that really just makes extra unnecessary clutter.
Consider if you have:
- Open Shelving
- Lazy Susans
- Kitchen Sink
- Deep Cabinet
- Back of Your Cabinet Door
- counter space
- kitchen island
5. Dive into organizing your kitchen cabinets!
Now that you’ve decluttered, cleaned, grouped, and utilized your kitchen cabinets let’s get to it!
Start With your Base Cabinets
I like to put my pots and pans, as well as my small appliances, such as a food processor, down in these cabinets. For me I have vertical storage space down in one of my cabinets I put all my cutting boards and cookie sheets in that one. In my base cabinets, I also put the jars I buy or keep in a base cabinet with a child-proof lock (hello, toddlers! They are the real challenge with organizing). Bulk dry goods or heavier items also fit well in base cabinets because they are so heavy. I am able to fit them comfortably in my pantry right now, but in the past when I didn’t own a pantry, that is what worked for me.
I do have some extra space in my base cabinets I leave empty for my toddler. Here is your encouragement to tell you that it is okay to have empty cabinets. Just because you have the space, doesn’t mean you have to fill them all. I think oftentimes we think that it’s the easiest way to have every kitchen tool under the sun and that our “kitchen essentials” aren’t really essentials anymore.
Upper Cabinets
Most of your cabinet shelves will more than likely be filled with dinnerware and spices, and I like to keep my serving dishes high as well. This is pretty straightforward on how these will fit.
Kitchen Cabinet Doors
The back of a cabinet door is a very neat way to organize and minimize space, not to mention a super convenient way to store knives, measuring spoons, or maybe even measuring cups. Hanging bamboo spoons would also be a good thing to put on the back of a cabinet door.
Kitchen Cabinet Drawers
Pull-out drawer is a very nice place to put storage containers or lids, hand towels, silverware, hot pads, and cooking wraps. Drawers are not my personal preference for storage organization, most of mine are empty but maybe over time that will change.
Open Shelving
Sometimes having things in plain sight is the best method for frequently used items in your kitchen. Don’t be afraid to display those pretty items. If they aren’t such pretty items (like my bread flour bag I used every day to feed my sourdough starter) I decided to add it to a half-gallon glass jar. This makes it look nicer on my shelf and more convenient for me to use every day. Did I mention homemade granola and oatmeal? Sometimes displaying certain foods gives your kitchen a cozy, homey feel to your kitchen.
Countertops
Countertops…I can very much pull the Minimalist card on my countertops. I absolutely love a nice, clean, empty counter! I love to be able to use them whenever I need to and not have to move things back and forth out of my way. However, having my knife block right next to the stove, or my cooking utensils within reach of where I am preparing or cooking food is almost a necessity for me.
Having a clean, decluttered, organized, and functioning kitchen will start and end your day so much better, I promise!
*EXTRA* Items to consider buying
Here are some kitchen cabinet organization ideas to purchase.
- Food storage containers
- shelf riser
- clear containers
- storage bins
- Kitchen Island
- Glass Jars
- Drawer organizers
- Door Organizer
- Lid Organizer
- tension rod
- blank labels
- kitchen cabinet organizers
Last thing, I hope these 5 steps for Kitchen Cabinet Organization on a Budget have helped you get some kitchen organization ideas in your home and I hope you can keep tidy kitchen cabinets from here on out. Follow along for more posts about motherhood and simple homemaking. Drop your email address below to get notified with simple living inspiration.
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