How to Organize Your Kitchen Cabinet Drawers This Weekend

Not all kitchen items and tools are created equal. There are items that you use often or every day and those you rarely use or even remove from your kitchen cabinet drawers in the first place. Yet, most of us let our kitchen cabinet drawers become a mix of any and all items, regardless of how important they are or how often we need them.

It’s time to get your kitchen cabinet drawers organized. Take a day to declutter and organize your kitchen drawers by following the tips below.

Photo by Nicole De Khors from Burst

1. Think about how you use your kitchen

Before jumping into the task of organizing kitchen cabinet drawers, start by recalling the functions of your kitchen. That way, you'll know how to organize your drawers and cabinets. For this first step, think of how you used your kitchen over the last week to determine its functions.

Keep these functions in mind as you work toward organizing your kitchen cabinet drawers, Home Storage Solutions 101 suggests, as they will help you know what to declutter completely, what to store in other spots of your home, and how to arrange the goods you need to keep in your drawers.

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2. Declutter kitchen cabinet drawers

Once you’ve determined the many functions of your kitchen and what you do and use the most in your kitchen, the next step is to declutter. Decluttering means removing excess things from your kitchen cabinets and drawers that you don’t use, so there is room left for what you want to store and be able to access easily.

The main goal for a kitchen drawer should be for it to open and close smoothly, instead of the drawer getting caught on excess items crammed into it. You should be able to grab what you need from your drawers and kitchen cabinets and cupboards easily and quickly.

Try to be ruthless with removing items and try to remove a good amount. Decluttering drawers may need to be done in several rounds until you’ve gotten rid of enough to reorganize your kitchen cabinet drawers.

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3. Sort things out

The next step in organizing messy kitchen cabinet drawers is to sort the items you haven’t weeded out. Although you’re keeping these items, it doesn’t mean they all need to stay in the kitchen. Sort your items into those you use every day, those you use often (about every couple of days or weeks), and those items that are rarely used.

The items used rarely or less often can be moved out of the kitchen altogether if you find there’s not enough room for everything in your drawers.

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4. Strategically store items

Since your kitchens drawers have a limited amount of space, it must be used wisely. For this final step of drawer organization, you’ll need to place everything in drawers according to their “zones.” The main goal of this step is to place items where they would logically go or where it is easiest to find and grab when you need it. To do this, consider the different “zones” or areas of use in your kitchen. Then, place your items used in those zones accordingly and strategically.

Some examples of kitchen zones include:

• Food preparation zone where you’ll likely want to keep things like knives and measuring ups in your drawer(s)
• Cooking zone where you’ll need potholders and cooking utensils
• Dishes and dishwashing zone where dishcloths, kitchen towels, and utensils will likely go
• Eating zone with napkins and/or tablecloths
• Food storage zone where you’ll need items such as plastic bags, aluminum foil or plastic wrap

When storing your items in the drawers and kitchen cabinets, follow some of the tips below:

Tips for Drawer and Cabinet Storage

• Add pull out drawers to give you easy access to pans in kitchen cabinets.
• Use dowels to keep plastic containers under control. Simply strategically place the wooden pegs to keep similar sized items stacked in place.
• For Tupperware lids, separate them by sizes as well and store them in their own boxes.
• Use drawer organizers or small bins in your “junk drawer.”
• Place flatware like utensils in different dividers, keeping like utensils together.
• Have clear organizers or acrylic dividers in your drawers so you can see everything while also keeping it from feeling too crowded.
• Use a built-in knife box in your drawer to hold all your kitchen knives.
• Layer multiple trays to expand your space in deeper drawers, The Kitchn recommends.
• Have a charging drawer, which you dedicate to keep tech items such as phone chargers.
• If you’re upgrading your kitchen on a budget, use small cardboard boxes from around your house to separate items.

Now that you know how to have the most organized kitchen cabinet drawers, head to a Kitchen & Bath Classics showroom to find the rest of your kitchen and bath needs.

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