8 Practical Tips to Organize a Small Kitchen

When your kitchen is on the smaller side, it is important to maximize the space to the fullest and also be very intentional about what should be in the space. Here I will share some helpful tips and products to use when organizing a small kitchen on a budget.

1.) First, Declutter

If you are short on space in your kitchen it is more important than ever to be intentional about what items should stay in the space. I recommend starting the decluttering process with a single category/items that are used for similar purposes, like all of your pots and pans for example. Pull out all of these items from where they are stored in various cabinets so you can look at everything you own all together. Then weed out and let go of pots/pans that are old/charred/duplicates/etc. Consider how many pots/pans can actually fit on your stove at one time and set a limit on quantity you can keep. Determine the most important and useful items that earn a spot in your kitchen. Decluttering -determining what kitchen items are most frequently used & helpful to mealtime- is the most beneficial thing you can do to maximize space in your small kitchen.

2.) Use Multi-Use Tools/Appliances

To help make decisions easier in step 1, determine if you have any tools or appliances that really only have a single use or purpose. Could another tool/appliance do the same job? Do you have a rice cooker when just a pot would do? Or a special tool just to core apples when a pairing knife could do the job just as well? Free up space in your kitchen by letting go of specialty tools/appliances when another kitchen item could do the same job.

3.) Store Infrequently Used Items Elsewhere

Do you have entertaining items from your wedding registry that you only occasionally use? Or that spare crockpot you only breakout for the SuperBowl party? These infrequently used items take up valuable space in a small kitchen. Ask yourself what you only use once or twice a year and determine another space where these items can be stored together (such as on a dedicated shelf in the basement or in a laundry room cabinet).

4.) Use Risers Everywhere

A shelf riser is one of my favorite products. It can instantly give you an extra “shelf” inside your cabinet, in your pantry, or even on the counter. Use a shelf riser to separate plates from bowls or glasses from cups. Container Store has a medium and long option wire option I like to use (I also use these to make an extra “shelf” for shoe storage).

5.) Put the Inside of your Cabinets to Work

Command hooks, self adhesive caddies, over the door hooks or baskets are all ways to utilize the extra space inside your cabinet. I like to use hooks to hang oven mitts inside of cabinets and self adhesive caddies under the sink for extra sponges/brushes or dishwasher pods. Small hooks are a great option for measuring spoons/cups or smaller kitchen items that might get lost in a drawer.

6.) Hang it from your Walls

Use the space in between your counter and cabinets to hang frequently used cooking utensils or small pans. The HULTARP line from IKEA comes in a black/nickel, and gold version with either hooks to hang items from or buckets to group a collection of similar cooking tools together.

7.) Use the Back of your Door

Have a pantry door in your kitchen? Maximize the space on the back of the door with an Elfa Over the Door Rack from the Container Store. This adds instant space for pantry items, spices, condiments or even to find a home for Ziploc bag/plastic wrap storage.

8.) Add Shelves or Stackable Drawers Inside Cabinets

Often times where the shelf was initially placed in a cabinet by a previous homeowner or builder is not the ideal spot. In many cases shelves can be adjusted inside of a cabinet to accommodate the appropriate height of items to be stored inside. Also an extra shelf could be cut to size at a Hardware store and added to the cabinet to maximize the entire vertical space. If you have a lower cabinet without holes for shelves, consider using clear stackable drawers inside cabinets to create your own “shelves”.

I hope these 8 tips inspire you to try ways to maximize space in your kitchen. Let me know in the comments if you have any tips to share or share what has worked in your kitchen!