I’m sharing seven quick and simple budget-friendly kitchen organization ideas to whip your kitchen cabinets and drawers into shape and keep them clutter-free!
It seems like you can never have enough cabinet and drawer space in a kitchen, right?! But storing everything in your kitchen in an organized way helps so much in being able to maximize your space and make everything easy to find too. I’ve had homes with some super small kitchens over the years and have figured out several ways to organize them without spending a lot of time or money. Today I’m sharing seven kitchen organization ideas that all take less than 20 minutes and $20 to do. Let’s get to it… (post includes affiliate links – see my full disclosure statement {here}).
1. Divide & Conquer Your Food Storage Containers
Ready to whip your teetering stacks of food storage containers into shape? First make sure you have a matching food container top for every bottom – get rid of any loners. Then to organize them, the best way I’ve found is to stack the tops separately from the bottoms. Just doing that alone can free up a surprising amount of space with zero money and hardly any time spent! If you keep your food storage containers in a drawer like I do and want to take things next-level, dividing your drawer into sections using expandable drawer dividers like {these dividers that I have} works beautifully to keep everything neat and in its place:
Scroll & Click/ Tap Images Below to Shop My Kitchen:
If your drawers are deeper than this one, you can stand the lids upright and save even more space. And if instead you keep your food storage containers in cabinets, a lid organizer like {this} that stands them upright can be a big organizational help!
2.Install a Grocery Bag Dispenser
I bring reusable bags for my groceries most of the time but when I forget them, I like to keep the plastic bags for future use. To tame the chaos, I installed {this grocery bag dispenser} on the inside of one of our cabinets (this pic is a little blast from the past from before our kitchen remodel!):
It beats a piled up mess of bags in the cabinet and makes room for storage of other more important things.
3. Keep Your Sponge Tucked Away
Just like making your bed in the morning has been shown to motivate people to keep the rest of their bedroom clean, I feel the same way about our kitchen sink. Having a clean, clutter-free sinks motivates me to keep the rest of our kitchen that way. For me, having a home for your sponge is a must! One option is {this suction cup sponge holder} which keeps your sponge from cluttering up the countertop (and it also dries faster this way):
and another option is to keep your sponge and soap on a tray next to the sink like this:
My striped tray is no longer available but {this kitchen sink organizer tray} is a well reviewed option.
4. Go Vertical With Your Pans
If you have mostly cabinets instead of drawers in your kitchen, take advantage of every inch of your vertical space with smart organizers! One of my favorites is this stand-alone pan organizer found {here} that allows you to stack your pans but still be easy to grab:
You can also use it horizontally in cabinets and deep drawers if that better fits your space:
5. Get Your Cookie Sheets & Baking Pans in Line
Avoid a cookie sheet & baking pan avalanche by adding a simple metal rack such as {this one} I used in my old kitchen:
Simple, inexpensive and makes a world of difference! You can also put permanent rack dividers in your cabinets spaced at the exact distance apart that you want them – that takes a lot more time to do and more money too but is one of the features I put in our newly remodeled kitchen that you can see {here}.
6. Rack Up Your Cans!
Keeping your food and drink cans organized and taking up the least amount of space is as simple as racking them up! As I recently shared in {this pantry organization post}, a stackable can rack organizer like {this one} is a huge organizational help:
7. Magazine Holders Work Great for Water Bottle Storage
If you’ve got extra magazine holders laying around like I did, you already have what you need to store your water bottles without spending a dime! Simply flip them on their back and take advantage of the vertical storage space by stacking your bottles up:
You can use several individual magazine holders side by side like I did above or a single three-section holder like {this one}:
That wraps up my 7 favorite tips – do you have a favorite?! If you’d like to see more storage and organizational ideas for you kitchen, check out{this post} where I walk you through our remodel kitchen to share all of the built-in features packed inside:
Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!
Allyson says
March 5, 2016 at 8:13 amWe’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!
Kris Jarrett says
March 5, 2016 at 10:07 amIt’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!
cassie @ primitive & proper says
March 5, 2016 at 8:21 amthese are all great ideas and your kitchen is just beautiful. i really love that floor!
Kris Jarrett says
March 5, 2016 at 10:08 amThanks 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!
Gail says
March 5, 2016 at 9:05 amKris, 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!
Kris Jarrett says
March 5, 2016 at 10:11 amSure 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!
[email protected] says
March 5, 2016 at 11:54 amI 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!
Kris Jarrett says
March 8, 2016 at 11:35 pmThat’s such a smart idea Lauren (and probably easier than the grommets!).
Casey says
March 5, 2016 at 6:24 pmGreat projects! Your kitchen looks great 🙂
Kris Jarrett says
March 8, 2016 at 11:36 pmThank you so much Casey!
[email protected] says
March 5, 2016 at 8:03 pmLove 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!!!
Kris Jarrett says
March 8, 2016 at 11:37 pmI know, it’s like you get to a critical mass point and then you want to cut loose on everything at once, right?!
Garden, Home and Party says
March 5, 2016 at 8:44 pmIt’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
Kris Jarrett says
March 8, 2016 at 11:38 pmThat’s so true Karen – it’s a completely different perspective to know that you’ll be somewhere two years vs. 5-10!
Vel says
March 7, 2016 at 12:56 pmAll great ideas Kris, but I will steal your water bottle organizer idea! Genius!
Kris Jarrett says
March 8, 2016 at 11:39 pmThanks Vel – I’m loving the new water bottle organization – we had water bottle avalanches all of the time before 🙂
Cara says
March 7, 2016 at 3:32 pmWonderfully organized! Fantastic idea to organize water bottles with magazine holders. Thanks for your great blog!
Kris Jarrett says
March 8, 2016 at 11:40 pmThanks so much Cara!
Lisa @ Shine Your Light says
March 7, 2016 at 5:04 pmThese are all great recommendations for kitchen organization. I need to get one of those plastic bag thingys. Your kitchen looks so tidy and warm!
Kris Jarrett says
March 8, 2016 at 11:40 pmThanks Lisa – I’m far away from this space being our dream kitchen but I’m baby stepping my way there 🙂
Mary says
January 7, 2017 at 8:38 pmLove your neat organization! Thanks for the ideas.
Kris Jarrett says
January 8, 2017 at 10:21 pmGlad you enjoyed the post Mary!
JoAnne says
January 11, 2018 at 9:45 amI 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!
Kris Jarrett says
January 15, 2018 at 10:04 pmThanks 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 🙂
Natalie says
April 10, 2019 at 10:53 amWow these are so great!! We’re about to move and have limited storage space so these tips will definitely be helpful. Thank you!!!
MumSMR says
February 10, 2020 at 5:52 amSumple ideas for clean and clear organised kitchen. Great job on the microwave house.
Gina says
February 23, 2020 at 4:20 pmGreat tips! I love the corner drawer in your remodel…..so unique.
Karen B. says
February 23, 2020 at 5:53 pmSuch great ideas for kitchens. I find there’s always room for more organization in the kitchen. I like and will order the sheet pan organizer. Our rental has space for organizers and will make my life in the kitchen easier. Thank you. 🙂
Karen
Paul says
February 23, 2020 at 9:31 pmWe love in-drawer outlets but then again we are biased.
Margot says
February 24, 2020 at 3:26 pmI use the magazine holders for storing anything that needs to be corralled that I don’t want creating visual clutter – reusable bags, lightbulbs & extension cords are some items I hide. The other thing I do is collect like items together in decor-coordinated binders. For instance my laundry is in a closet next to my kitchen and is visible sometimes (hence the lightbulbs in magazine holders) I keep my appliance (Washer, dryer, iron, etc.) manuals, their receipts in a pretty binder along with stain removal tips and a chart showing the clothing care symbols and their definitions. It’s compact and nice to have that info at my fingertips.
Nippon says
February 27, 2020 at 5:38 amKeep growing!! You are doing great Job.
C says
March 17, 2020 at 4:08 amI LOVE your beautiful kitchen!! Wondered if you have an update on how your cabinet hardware is holding up? I purchased the same exact pulls and handles for our mini kitchen update and noticed some scratches and dings on them even before install! Would love to know how yours seem to be wearing!! Thank you!
Kris Jarrett says
March 23, 2020 at 10:39 pmThat’s really surprising to me unless they switched how they’re making them. I’ve had ours for about 1 1/2 years now and they don’t have a scratch on them!