My friend Melissa loves to cook and bake. She’s incredibly talented and spends a lot of time in her kitchen. Since I’m showing you how my friends organize their homes this month, I thought she would be a great person to give us some kitchen organization tips.
I believe that when I walk into someone’s kitchen I should be able to know where to find things. In my mind kitchens have a certain way they should be laid out, even though they all come in different shapes and sizes. Melissa has done a great job with her kitchen because everything is put away in a place that makes sense. For example, her water glasses and glassware are right next to the fridge where they fill up their water glasses, etc.
Their coffee stuff and mugs are also right above where they keep their coffee maker.
As I mentioned, she loves to bake so all of her bakeware and mixing bowls are very organized in the lower cabinets.
Her pots and pans are also very nicely stacked according to size and style.
On either side of her oven she has two cupboards. In one of them she keeps her spices, oils and cookbooks and on the other side of them she keeps their dinnerware.
She also keeps the blender on the counter, right next to the fruit, for making smoothies.
They have a large bar in their kitchen, which is where she keeps all of her large appliances stored. To save space she has them layered, some in front, some in the back.
Melissa’s kitchen also has very organized drawers. Next to the oven there are a set of drawers, which is where she keeps all her silverware (directly below where all the dishes are stored), cooking/baking gadgets, and all the lids to her pots and pans.
On the other side of the oven is a drawer where she keeps all her mixing spoons for stovetop cooking.
On the other side of the kitchen are two other drawers where she stores all the dish towels, wash cloths and aprons. They are all folded nicely so she can store a lot in the drawer.
It is also where they store all their baggies and kitchen wraps.
And last but not least is a glimpse at their very organized pantry. Everything in the pantry is organized by category and all of her baking ingredients are stored in glass canisters and labeled to make them easy to find. I love storing baking ingredients in clear containers so that it’s easy to see when you’re running low on something.
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE an organized kitchen! If you have any kitchen organization tips, please leave a comment below to share them with us!
Love the info! We have been in our home 20 years and I have always struggled with finding a good way to organize my kitchen! After reading this I am finally understanding most of the issue is how my kitchen was built in the first place! 🙁 For example: I have no cabinets even near fridge where everyone gets a drink of water! Closest cabinet I can fit glassware in is clear across kitchen! 🙁 Another issue: All of my drawers are very shallow…flatware trays that fit are hard to find and I only have 2 drawers wide enough for them.. I have lots of drawers 3.5″ wide and 3″ deep! Very few things fit in those drawers! Many are empty, as only a few utensils will even fit in each drawer! I have realized even the drawers my camper ate bigger! Now I need to figure out what to do…redesigning my kitchen and replacing cabinets is way out of budget! 🙁 Any ideas? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Wow, that’s crazy! What contractor would think it was a good idea to put that small of a drawer in?! Can you email me some pictures of your kitchen? I’m a visual person so I might be able to help you more if I can see pictures. My email is askannamoseley (at) hotmail (dot) com. 🙂
I planning on reorganizing and deep cleaning my kitchen next week, I would like to put contact paper down in some of my cupboards. In Canada I haven’t seem the awesome colors and patterns that I see in other kitchens. Would you know a fantastic website to buy some? Cheap would also be a bonus
Thanks
I would check Amazon.com, they sell everything! I also know Target.com has some cute ones.
Instead of big trays for your silverware, try individual trays for each type (spoons, knives, etc.). You can usually find them in different lengths, and because they’s separate, you can turn them sideways to have them fit….Tetris style. I’ve been dealing with small kitchens most of my adult life, so I’ve also invested in a decorative crock for my bigger utensils and often hang many of my other regularly used ones above my stove, using Command hooks or simple thumb tacks. I’ve also installed small hooks to hold hot pads to the side of the stove (at least a foot away to avoid fire danger!). Vertical space is my best friend in my tiny kitchen.
Dear Anna,
Love, love your ideas!!! I too am doomed with a tiny kitchen, though I do have good size cabinets. Though I have tried best to organize stuff near to areas of usage, I am still struggling to empty one cabinet for the pantry! Sigh! And am not finding enough place for my colanders and trays so I have tuck them under the kitchen. Wondering if I cud send you some pics as well of my cabinets and you could give me some tips?! I would so totally appreciate it!!:-)
Sure, no problem. Email them to me at askannamoseley (at) hotmail (dot) com. 🙂