How to Declutter and Organize Your Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers

Decluttering and organizing a kitchen, whether big or small, can be overwhelming. 

For this reason, it’s best to break it down into smaller tasks.

In this post, the focus will be to declutter and organize your kitchen cabinets and drawers.

Hopefully, this will also help clear counters as we make space for appliances and other kitchen needs.

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Declutter and Organize Your Kitchen

As I break down the following steps, remember to do a little at a time.

I like to start from the top and work my way down.

So I would start with the upper cabinets, then, drawers, and finally the lower cabinets.

Now, let’s organize your kitchen!

Empty and Clean your Kitchen Spaces

Empty the space you are working on.

Place items on a table/island sorting them into like items.

Then, clean the space.

After you have finished cleaning them, you can lay down a liner or decorative paper.

This is optional, of course, and there are some pros and cons to using liners.

I personally don’t use liners in my upper cabinets since they are only exposed to some minor dusting.

However, liners are great for wiping down your cabinets and can protect the wood from warping if there is any exposure to moisture.

Now, the not-so-good part.

Most liners use some sort of adhesive that can attract roaches.

So if your home is prone to these creatures, then forgo the liner.

Just make sure that your dishes are thoroughly dried before putting them away.

Assess These Spaces for Function

Now, look at your space.

Are you short or tall?

Think about the items you use often.

These should be kept within reach as much as possible.

Being short, I need all my everyday dishes and glasses on the lowest shelf possible.

Items I don’t use often go on upper shelves.

If you are tall, then avoid putting items you use every day in lower cabinets.

When dealing with drawers, you want to keep food prep tools nearest to where you do most of your food prep.

For me, this is my island.

Purging Your Kitchen Spaces

Before you put anything back, let’s take a look at the items you have laid out.

When it comes to food items, check expiration dates and toss if expired.

For appliances and cookware, separate out any that you have not used in over a year.

Looking at this pile, further, separate any items that you have not used in over two years.

If you have such a pile then it’s time to make a donation.

Now, for those items that you have used within 2 years, consider storing them elsewhere including those hard-to-reach areas of your kitchen.

You know, like those top cabinets above the refrigerator. 

Next year, if those items remain unused, then they need to go.

Needing Kitchen Organizers

If you want to purchase baskets, bins, and other organizing helpers for your cabinets, first make neat piles of your ‘like’ items.

Then take pictures and measure them.

Take note of their height and how much of the item you have.

This way, you can buy the right size and amount of things to make your cabinets more functional and prettier.

Also, if you don’t want to spend money on those items above, check out Pinterest for more organizing hacks that you can do with items around the home.

Suggestions for Your Kitchen Organization

Making Room

Hopefully, the above steps have provided you with some empty spaces where perhaps you can fit a small appliance.

If this is the case, store as many counter items in your cabinets and drawers as you can.

Your counters will look less cluttered.

Organize Your Kitchen Junk Drawers

For junk drawers, only put items that you absolutely need there like pencils or bandages.

Relocate all other items.

I use small baskets to corral little items. I also keep toothpicks, matches, and filters in this drawer.

Organizing Pots and Pans

One way to keep your pots and pans organized and handy is to hang them up.

Right now, I keep them stacked in the bottom cabinet just until our kitchen is renovated.

But I am very much considering a pot/pan rack that hangs from the ceiling.

Also, I put lids in a wire basket which lets me stack my cookware and helps keep this space from looking like a big mess.

Update: After renovating our kitchen we installed the Rev-A-Shelf organizer (recommended by some of our Facebook group members).

We absolutely love it and I also highly recommend it if you keep your cookware in cabinets.

I’ll post photos soon.

Organize your Kitchen Food Prep Station

I do most of my food prep on my island so I keep my spices in one of its drawers.

It’s easier for me to get the spices this way rather than reaching into an upper cabinet.

Using different colored markers, I write the name of the spice on the bottle lid so that finding them is not a hassle.

If you don’t have a drawer for your spices, there are plenty of spice racks and organizers on Amazon.

If you purchase the containers only, look for spice labels on Etsy to pretty them up.

Organize Your Kitchen Food Storageware

I don’t know about you, but I hate having to dig around for these items.

This is another reason I love my island.

It has two pull-out drawers so that I don’t have to rummage around looking for these items.

If you have slide-out drawers similar to those below, consider putting your glass/plasticware in these.

Another decision I made was to do away with plasticware. 

After many uses, they kinda get gunky and warped from microwaving and dishwashing.

So, now I only keep glassware.

It has freed up space and my glassware is a better-looking alternative.

By the way, I got my island from Target a few years ago because I had very, very little counter space for food prep.

It’s pretty versatile and light when I have to move it out of the way to clean it underneath.

Unfortunately, this product is out of stock.

So, here are some similar islands I found on Amazon.

Under the Sink Organization

There are many organizers out there to help keep this area organized.

Since I only keep the bare minimum in this space, simple bins can help keep smaller items corraled.

Check out Pinterest for some inexpensive hacks for organizing this spot.

Organize Your Kitchen Cooking Utensils

Cooking utensils such as spatulas, slotted spoons, etc. can take up a lot of room in drawers.

Try keeping them in large jars.

I found these two jars at Michael’s.

This has kept my drawers from looking cluttered and the jars add a little decor to my kitchen.

Maintenance of Your Kitchen Organization

Now that your kitchen has some order, it’s time to make sure it stays that way.

• organize your cabinets and drawers at least once a year, twice is better
• always return items to their designated spots
• dust and clean cabinets and drawers as needed
• haven’t used an item in over 2 years? donate it!

For more organization in the kitchen, click the following posts:

• organize your refrigerator
• organize your pantry

If you’d like to place a beverage station in your kitchen, click here to read how to organize a beverage station.