How to Effectively Organize & Declutter Your Kitchen

Cupboard over the sink 

I am starting by clearing out the items in my cabinet, especially the ones I cannot reach from the ground. I left the cups and plates and the bowls where they originally were, as this has worked really well for us.

Now let's go through the rest of the items, figure out which ones we want to keep and which ones we do not, and start getting rid of things and reorganizing them back into the shelves.

I used to have my bowls on the lower shelf and my cups on the shelf above, and I think I will switch those up. That way, I hope the cups will be less likely to break, and the shorter people in the family won’t have to reach towards the back to get them. Next to the bowls, I am putting some of the baby cups, as well as some of the less used plastic cups.

I'm going to organize my appliances by their urgency and use in our daily life: the more we use it, the lower it is placed. Therefore, the top shelves will house the appliances that we do not use that often, such as the blender that I use for smoothies or sauces and the Ninja food processor (by the way, that is my favorite kitchen gadget, great for chopping, making salsas, etc).

My popcorn popper also goes here, because it is light and I'm not worried about it breaking or hurting anybody getting it down from the top shelf. Finally, my Brita filters are joining the top shelf. By the way, if you have a Brita, this is your reminder to replace the filter.

I think we are done with these cabinets; I left some space for the cups that are dirty or in the dishwasher. I got rid of so many things, some I’m gonna donate, and some I’m gonna dispose of. There are some knives, canning jars, and leaky sippy cups.

I also took out some of the food items that we use quite regularly but that belong elsewhere. Now that I have cleared the cabinet out, there is so much more room here, and I have tons of extra storage in case we get more items.

Silverware drawer

My silverware drawer is a mess. I brought some bins from Dollar Tree to help sort it, but I am scared that they might not be enough.

It took me a while to figure out the configuration of all of the bins in the drawer, but I finally made it. I am placing blue sticky tacks on the bottom of the bins to stop them from sliding around.

Let me show you what else we are getting rid of. We had two potato peelers which we rarely use, so I am only keeping one. The kiwi spoons we have not used for ages, so I am throwing those out, too. Finally, we do not need the bottle cleaner anymore, because our baby girl is big now and does not use bottles.

Some items I am keeping but reallocating to their proper place. One is going in our utensil crock, the knife belongs in the sushi-making kit, and another one is the missing piece to one of our pots.

Appliances drawer

This drawer is not too bad. I am getting rid of this garlic press because I do not like cleaning it, so I just buy pre-minced garlic. A Christmas tree mold came from a Christmas cookie kit, and we do not make cookies anymore, so I will get rid of it.

The cheese grater and the rolling pin are staying, as we do use them from time to time. The napkin stack is also staying in this drawer.

Lower cabinets

This is where I keep some of my appliances, pots and pans, and lids. I am going to switch these around for the sake of convenience: whatever we use more is going to be more accessible, which means in the front rather than the back and on the top shelf rather than the bottom.

With this in mind, I am moving the pot lids and cutting boards up, and the bulky appliances down. The big crock pot is going in the back to make space for my new one from Target. It is smaller, which makes sense for my small family. The rice cooker is staying in the back.

I am not going to mess with the pots and pans too much, as it is working fine for now. However, I am sure there is a better way to organize them, so if you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments below.

I moved the shelf up to fit all of the big appliances on the bottom shelf. For the cutting boards and lids, I want to get some paper organizers to make it even more convenient, but this will have to do for now.

I am so happy with the results! I got a lot of counter space back, and all the cabinets look so much better and are easier to use. I hope this has been helpful for you and has inspired you to declutter your home, too.

Kitchen declutter

What are the most problematic areas in your kitchen? How do you think you could organize them better? Share your ideas in the comments!