If you’ve missed anything on the tour START HERE. Welcome, everyone! I am so excited to share lots of kitchen organization tips with you today!
Let me start by telling you that my kitchen is very small. We live in an older home and have a galley style kitchen. However the great thing about a small space is that organization is the key to it’s success! So without further ado let me show you my kitchen.
When you first walk in you see two open cabinets. My husband tried to tell me that taking the doors off would make the kitchen look more messy and I laughed. I love open shelves because they scream organization! I love being able to see organized dishes and I think glass is so beautiful, so why not display it! I also love to host/throw parties so it comes in handy having the glasses on an open shelf, plus they are just so pretty!
Moving down to the pots & pans. I think pots and pans can be one of the toughest things to store. In my kitchen I don’t have a lot of cabinet space but I have very deep cabinets so I have all my pots and pans stacked and then layered {some in front, some in back}. This makes it easy to access the pots in the front and the back. I store my baking dishes in the back of the cupboard because I don’t use them as often.
In the drawer above the pots & pans is where I store my cooking utensils. I have a separate drawer for other random utensils but these are the ones that I use on a daily basis.
In the cupboard directly above the pots & pans and cooking utensils is where I store my seasonings, baking spices, prep work ramekins, etc. Each category has it’s own shelf space and all of my seasonings and spices are stored in alphabetical order.
This section {zone} of the kitchen is devoted to everything that has to do with cooking and baking. All of the items in these cabinets have been intentionally placed close to each other to make cooking an easy experience. You can also see my menu for the week on the inside of the spice cabinet. I have it clipped to the cabinet for easy referencing.
The next space I want to show you is that funny cupboard most of us have above our stoves. As you can see I have a huge vent that runs through mine! I use this awkward space to store my cookbooks and recipe boxes. It’s the perfect size to fit all of them!
To the left of the oven is where I store all of Malea’s dishes, the coffee cups, my shakers and my collection of wine corks {just waiting to be crafted into something}. All of my shakers are stored in a basket which makes them easy to access without knocking them all over {I’ll talk about that a little later}.
The cupboard below that is where I store all of my appliances, my husband’s coffee stuff and the tupperware. Using the layering technique, appliances are stored in the back of the cupboard and items we use on a daily basis are stored in front.
Every morning my husband uses the toaster, the Pyrex measuring cup and his coffee grinder for his morning routine. The vitamins stored in the Pyrex are my way of reminding him to take his vitamins every day. This is his little cubby and everything he needs is there in front and easily accessible each morning.
This is my junk drawer. It is right below the counter as you walk into the kitchen so that “junk” can get organized right away and not end up all over my kitchen. We also store our oven mitts in this drawer because it is right next to the oven.
Moving on to the pantry. My pantry is very tall, very narrow and has deep cabinets. The keys to organizing a pantry that is narrow and deep are: #1 use baskets, and #2 layer the baskets. {Do you see a theme with layering in a small kitchen?}
Here is what my pantry looks like when it’s fully stocked…
If you move a few things from the front, you’ll see that lots of other items are also being stored in the back!
I’ve actually had to empty our pantry a couple of times {when we had “the flood” and when we painted our cabinets} and both times it was so easy because almost everything in the pantry is stored in baskets, which makes it easy to grab and move things off the shelves. I also like storing items in baskets because they are easy to pull out and sort through items every few months to make sure that you aren’t storing any expired foods.
Have you ever reached in to grab a water bottle, accidentally hit another one with your hand, which then sent all of them crashing over? {I’ve SO done it!} Well to save you from the frustration, another great way to use baskets is to store those loose items in them. They are great for organizing water bottles, TO GO mugs/cups, tupperware, etc. The baskets keep the items from falling over and they are easy to pull out to reach even the bottles in the back!
Because we don’t have a lot of cupboards in the kitchen I also use this Pier 1 jewelry cabinet for storage. I purchased it years ago and it has always been so handy for storing extra little things.
In the top drawer I store napkin rings, a lighter and a few other what-nots.
I use one of the larger drawers for storing wine items.
Another drawer for cloth and decorative napkins, as well as my ceramic food labels.
And last but not least is my brain our chalkboard message center. I don’t know how I would survive without it because it’s where we keep track of each week’s schedule, items we need to get at the store, etc. You can see how I made it here.
I hope that you enjoyed my organized kitchen tour and that you learned a few things about how to organize in a small space.
Here are some of my other organized spaces:
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Click the button below to head over to DaNita’s organized Space!
Click the button below to head over to DaNita’s organized Space!
I have a small galley kitchen in an apartment AND I have three sons between 10 yrs and 18 months. I think this is going to be VERY helpful. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! I’m so glad. Have fun organizing! 🙂
Anna
Pretty kitchen! I like your organization. Hint- I too used to store my cookbooks above my stove, until my sister told me a friend of hers had a house fire. Fire started on the stove, reaching the cookbooks above which worked as fuel for the house fire. Hence, I moved my cookbooks. Just thought you might like to know. I now store my seldom used holiday bowls above the stove.
That’s a good tip, thank you. I definitely don’t want to be giving fuel to the fire! 🙂
Anna
Is that shelf paper or something else that you’ve got in your cabinets? It’s a nice touch!
It’s shelf liner from Target. They still have it if you live near one. 🙂
Anna
LOVE THIS!! I have a galley kitchen JUST like yours. Organizing it has been a nightmare. Thanks for posting this!! Organized it all today 🙂 You rock!
Awesome, I love hearing that! I’m so glad I could help. 🙂
I have a small kitchen as well and a deep pantry. Based on what i see of yours my problem is just too much stuff. Too many glasses, too many can, etc
Hi Anna! I was going through my FB feed today and found this! I’ve been planning for months to tackle my kitchen cupboards. I’m normally very organized but things slide…you know. Your post inspired me to do a major switch around…..here I go! ( rolling up sleeves 🙂
Awesome! I would LOVE to see before and after pictures if it’s not too late for the befores! 🙂
I don’t put books above the stove because of the fire hazard, but my bread maker fits up there. I look for less often used small appliances or baking pans to put there.
What color did you use for the kitchen walls? It’s so pretty!
The color is by Valspar (Lowe’s) and it’s called Belle Grove Aloe Green. It is such a pretty color, every day I loved it more! 🙂
Thank you for inspiring me to revisit the chaos of my pantry. It needs something to make it work better and I think this might be just what I need to make it happen.
Great job thanks for sharing!
The water bottle/cocktail shaker/ travel mug thing… yes, yes, and yes: always crashing down! I’ve found I need to purge through all my travel bottles/coffee mugs every so often as they tend to collect (free “swag” at events, or from the office).
Love your organization tips. I believe that my galley kitchen is smaller than yours!
I stack my pots & pans also but I place paper plates in between each to protect the interior surface. Just sayin’…
Could a galley kitchen get any smaller…? I too have a smaller one than Anna. Anna you have more storage options. I have two brothers who renovate with an artistic flare, carpenters by trade. I think they are with the Plumber:) My wish would to be on Bath & Kitchen Crashers. Add me to your prayer list! This is really quite fun! The “Galley”Girls.
Hi Anna! I have a small outdated 1952 Galley Kitchen and find I have no prep room and so unorganized, but looking at your kitchen gave me hope…I married a contractor and Plumber-hello! Have you seen him? If the cabinet door opens, it works! I so enjoyed your website and that you Love The Lord Jesus Christ-he is my Best friend! God Bless you and for helping with awesome simple idesas.
Such a great post. I am about to restock my kitchen as soon as the remodel is done. I got some great ideas here to be much more intentional as I bring the items back in. One thing in particular is I am going to create a “baking station” since I will have the room. Your ideas got me out of my chair and I totally was able to see where that would be. Now for the rest of the kitchen. THANKS!