(How to) Organization Tips for Your Small Kitchen

Join me as I take you through the process of organizing our small rental cottage kitchen. See how I turn these cluttered kitchen cabinets into a practical, well thought out space. The best part? Everything is organized, easy to find, and easy to use!

This weekend I finally took the plunge. After months of proclaiming my next home organization project, I decided to get to work, and just started pulling things out of the cabinets in my kitchen. To be honest, I just told myself I was going to start with one cabinet, and then it was all downhill from there.

Full disclosure, before taking on this project our kitchen cabinets had not been organized since we moved in, in the Fall of 2019. But, I do recommend taking on this reorganization project once a year at the very least. I mean, as life changes so do our needs…

For instance, when we moved into our rental cottage I had plans for this one area, the perfect set up -white cabinets with butcher block countertops. The area next to the dutch door that goes out to our patio. Well, I wanted to make this one particular spot my coffee station.

So, imagine my surprise when I realized that said spot had absolutely zero electrical outlets when we moved in…good feelings gone. I blame it on the excitement of new possibilities. I may have lost my head a little bit.

But, let’s just say, the flow of our kitchen was off to a rocky start. One that we just rolled with until this past weekend.

TIPS

Organize your cabinets before your next grocery haul. Chances are there’s more room in your cabinets at this time.
Do NOT start this project when your spouse is grocery shopping. Imagine coming home with a ton of groceries only to see your entire kitchen a mess (sorry Justin!).
Make note of the placement of your electrical outlets, this may alter your organizational layout.
Consider how you move through your kitchen. How do you want to flow in the space to make it more practical, and functional?

The Best Way to Organize Your Kitchen Cabinets

First things first, pull everything out of every cabinet. Yes, things will feel a little crazy, and you’ll have a gigantic mess on your hands. Unless…you start organizing now. At this point, you can go through your first round of decluttering.

Get rid of chipped plates or cups, tupperware tops that don’t match up anymore with your current collection, expired vitamins, etc. And, start making a list of the items you would like to replace if need be, Finally, as your pulling items from your cabinets, try to pair items that go together, i.e. – mixing bowls, baking goods, spices, etc.

Next, wipe down the cabinet surfaces.

Before restocking those cabinet shelves, think about how you use your space. Since I started cooking from scratch (say hello to my little friend), I’ve been using my stand mixer more often each week.

So, I moved my stand mixer to an easy to reach spot, along with what seems like a lifetime supply of flour. In addition to decluttering a precarious junk cabinet (don’t judge me!) into a junk drawer. Baby steps. Not to mention, I am totally convinced that everyone has a junk drawer at home. Right?

I also moved our glasses + cups from one end of the kitchen to another. They are now housed in the cabinet right by our Berkey, instead of by that dutch door I mentioned earlier.

The point is, your kitchen layout, along with your daily rhythm is unique to you and your needs. Now is the time to see what makes the most sense to you. But, what I can do is share some kitchen organization ideas to make this project a little easier.