In this post: Looking to add a little organization to your kitchen? I’m sharing quick and simple ideas to make your kitchen organized and clutter-free!
When we moved to Connecticut, our plan was to be here for just two years before moving back to Cincinnati so even though my kitchen had no organization to it whatsoever, I decided to just live with it as it was. I knew those two years would fly by (and they did!). Fast forward 2 1/2 years – our plans have changed so it’s looking like we’re in this house to stay for another 5-6 years.
And all of the sudden my disorganized kitchen that didn’t bother me a bit when I knew I’d soon be leaving it, started to drive me crazy. You guys have already seen a few small projects I’ve done to whip this baby into shape including the fabric-covered bulletin board I recently created and a build-out of our kitchen island to accommodate our microwave (more on that project {here}):
This week I tackled a bunch of small kitchen organization issues and now I’m wondering why the heck I didn’t just do it when we moved in – for not very much money and just a few hours of time, I officially knocked out a bunch of the little things that were driving me crazy. And since we’re getting into the season of spring cleaning and organizing, I thought you might like taking a peek and getting a few ideas for quick things to do to your own kitchen (post includes affiliate links – see my full disclosure statement {here}).
One of the simplest is {this grocery bag dispenser} – we had one of these in our old house and loved it so it was a no-brainer purchase. It beats a piled up mess of bags in the cabinet and makes it easy to grab one or two on the way out the door to walk Hope.
Another super simple addition is {this suction cup sponge holder} – it keeps my sponge from cluttering up the countertop and it also dries faster this way:
On the cabinet door underneath the sink, I put an idea I saw in Martha Stewart Living into action by adding {grommets} to a pair of kitchen gloves and hanging them on a {Command hook}:
And in the cabinet under my cooktop, I added a simple metal rack that’s solved the avalanche issue with my cookie sheets (mine is no longer available but {this one} looks similar):
And finally…the biggie. We have a storage closet at the far end of our kitchen (across from my baker’s rack) that’s the only closet on our first floor other than the small one in our bedroom. It was a mess of cleaning and painting products, sunscreen, flashlights, and a zillion other things (none of which I could find when I needed them).
And after just an hour and a half’s work, this baby is looking more organized that it has since the day we moved in:
The key to organizing my closet was {these woven storage baskets}:
I bought {these mini chalkboards}, labeled them with {chalk pens}, and adhered them to the baskets with a hot glue gun so everything is super easy to find and I can grab a basket (like the one with my bathroom cleaners) to bring to another room of the house with me:
I also organized our most-used water bottles with {these two magazine holders} flipped on their backs (an idea from Better Homes & Gardens):
I’ve still got plenty of kitchen projects to tackle, both big (I’m thinking about adding open shelving) and small (replacing the granny-style shelving paper in my cabinets) but this was a good start to making it more livable. Below is the kitchen organization shopping guide below with all of specific products I used:
Kitchen Organization Shopping Guide
Wall-mount grocery bag dispenser
Grommet kit for gloves | Command hooks
Chrome Cabinet Organizer (similar to mine but not exact match)
Woven seagrass baskets | Mini chalkboard signs (I clipped off the loop hangers) | Super Chalks pen {note: using chalk pens to write on these mini chalkboards is permanent – the chalkboards cannot be erased and reused}
I hope you all enjoy your weekend!
We’ve lived in our “new to us” house now for 5 months and I think this post has finally given me the kick in the pants I need to get to organizing my kitchen (and the dreaded pantry closet! yikes!).
I really want to thank you for the presentation of your links at the bottom of the post. So many bloggers these days are sprinkling affiliate links throughout, and I understand a blogger has to make money, but doing it your way makes your post seem more like a resource, as opposed to an ad.
Thanks again!
It’s so hard to get organized after recently moving, isn’t it? I still had boxes that I hadn’t unpacked at the 5 month stage! Thanks for your input about the links – it’s a really tough balance because using affiliate links for products I would be linking to anyway helps bring a little money it that allows me to spend more time on the blog than I’d be able to otherwise but I want to keep my posts focused on the content and not the links. Have a great weekend Allyson!
these are all great ideas and your kitchen is just beautiful. i really love that floor!
Thanks Cassie! I have a serious love-hate relationship with that floor. Unfortunately it’s not in the best of shape (there are several cracked tiles but I can’t get an exact match to replace them) so redoing it is on the maybe-someday-to-do list!
Kris, I love your kitchen and the organizational tips! Would you mind telling me the brand of your refrigerator? I love the style of it and the handles. Thanks!
Sure Gail – it’s a Liebherr which I believe is a European company (the fridge was here when we bought the house so I don’t know a ton about it). I think the previous owners chose it because we have an unusually small opening for a fridge and this one is under 30″ wide which is a tough size to find. I love the look of it but don’t love that it’s so small – unfortunately with the wacky way our kitchen is laid out there’s not much I can do to change that without a total remodel (which isn’t happening!). Have a great weekend!
I use a lot of the same items in my kitchen. Rather than the grommet for the gloves I just use a command adhesive clip. Your closet look super organized now!
That’s such a smart idea Lauren (and probably easier than the grommets!).
Great projects! Your kitchen looks great 🙂
Thank you so much Casey!
Love this post Kris. Simple ideas that make a big impact! I feel the same way about our home we just purchased after renting for 3 years. Things that I didn’t worry about now drive me crazy and I want to fix it all at once!!!
I know, it’s like you get to a critical mass point and then you want to cut loose on everything at once, right?!
It’s always easier to tolerate less than perfect rooms when we think we won’t be there long. You did a great idea with the organizing.
xo,
Karen
That’s so true Karen – it’s a completely different perspective to know that you’ll be somewhere two years vs. 5-10!
All great ideas Kris, but I will steal your water bottle organizer idea! Genius!
Thanks Vel – I’m loving the new water bottle organization – we had water bottle avalanches all of the time before 🙂
Wonderfully organized! Fantastic idea to organize water bottles with magazine holders. Thanks for your great blog!
Thanks so much Cara!
These are all great recommendations for kitchen organization. I need to get one of those plastic bag thingys. Your kitchen looks so tidy and warm!
Thanks Lisa – I’m far away from this space being our dream kitchen but I’m baby stepping my way there 🙂
Love your neat organization! Thanks for the ideas.
Glad you enjoyed the post Mary!
I love your organizational posts! I’ve adopted quite a few or your ideas along the way, thank you for sharing 😉 I’m a sucker for presentation and am super visual, and very much dislike almost all original packaging; laundry detergent was one of them. I did exactly that with the liquid laundry detergent and softener, I use drink dispensers and it looks so pretty. I must admit it is not always the most functional, it will clump sometimes and so the streaming will vary (make sense?) The one I have the detergent in does leak a bit, but it is right after I’ve used it, meaning it doesn’t leak constantly, so it is doable and totally worth it.
Great blog!
Thanks so much for sharing that JoAnne! I’m like you and am willing to sacrifice a little on function if it’s big on pretty 🙂