6 Best Kitchen Organizing Tips

Our kitchens get lots of use and abuse! For most of us, our kitchens are really “the heart of the home”. Here are 6 best tips of organize your kitchen and make it not only functional but pretty too!

Most of us would say that our kitchens are the heart of our homes. And they can get used hard! Today let’s talk about the best kitchen organizing tips and ideas. We are not talking about organizing the cabinets or shelves but how to create effective, attractive, areas in your kitchen that work for you and others. I can’t wait to share this today!

If you are a cook like me and your kitchen is a busy hub for breakfasts or lunches or dinners or entertaining then you know that cooking and prep space is at a premium!

And if you are like me you also want your kitchen to be not only functional but a bit fabulous too! There is a way to balance having a working kitchen and a pretty one. Here are a few tips and ideas that will help!

Today’s post is more of a reminder than sharing something new. We all probably know these tips but it is good to be reminded of smart ideas, right?

So here are 6 best kitchen organizing tips.

I love to decorate so I have to curb my desire to fill up my kitchen with only pretty things because sometimes decor gets in the way of kitchen function! Knowing that about myself I’ve been thinking about the best way to organize my kitchen and to find the sweet spot where function meets fabulous in the kitchen.

My all-white kitchen offers lots of cabinet and counter space. But it does suffer from not having enough space for all our small kitchen appliances. All kitchens have their good features and ones we wish we could change. But because most of our kitchens aren’t perfect we need to make the best of what we have!

No matter what your style or space these tips just might help you too!

Best Kitchen Organizing Tip- Keep Clutter Away

Of all the best kitchen organizing tips this one is THE best!

I think my kitchen can look pretty utilitarian! I don’t like kitchen clutter. Especially when I’m cooking. My counters are never a dumping ground for papers or book bags or purses or piles! And if something gets mislaid on them I’m quick to put things where they belong.

If your kitchen gets cluttered with things that don’t belong there don’t fret! There’s such an easy fix for this!

Clean off ALL SURFACES in your kitchen. Even if you have to put the clutter in a box or trash bag. Just do it! And NEVER put things on your counter that don’t belong there!!!! Make this a hard and fast rule for you and your family!

Keep your counters sparkling clean. It’s harder to clutter them up when they are clean!

When my kids were growing up the island was a favorite place to do homework and I loved it. But when homework was done EVERYTHING was put away right away!!!

Now my little granddaughter is using the island to color and do sticker art and I’m teaching her the importance of putting things away.

We put baskets under the banquette in the kitchen that are now filled with small toys, books, coloring books, crayons, watercolors, and more! These were originally going to stash cookbooks and other things like placemats and napkins but they found a much better use.

Clearing off all kitchen surfaces will make the biggest difference in how your counters look and how you feel!

What To Do With Small Appliances

I love love love the look of Ina Garten’s kitchen. Her appliances look stellar in her HUGE kitchen. And what about that outrageous kitchen in the movie It’s Complicated… sigh!  

Unfortunately, I don’t have the area these amazing kitchens have and can’t afford the counter space to keep out all my gleaming appliances!

Appliance clutter can make a kitchen look crowded and take up precious counter space.  Put any appliances out of sight that you don’t use almost every day!!! And better yet, ask yourself if you really need all those appliances.  

I just got rid of a toaster oven. Yes, I really liked it but I didn’t use it that often and it just was not worth the room to store it. And for goodness sake no duplicate appliances! We don’t need a spare!!!!

I keep my overflow appliances in the pantry off my kitchen and the overflow of the overflow in the garage. It does take a couple of steps to retrieve them and put them away but the exercise is good for me!

Create Kitchen Stations

I think of all the best kitchen organizing tips this one is almost as important as keeping a clutter-free kitchen.

Create areas in your kitchen that perform a special function! Keep everything in that area you need to do a task. Don’t overcomplicate these “stations”. Keep them simple and pretty. Simple is the most important thing to remember.

Do you like to bake? Create a baking station keeping everything you need close at hand. This saves time, and steps and keeps your kitchen organized.

We use our coffee maker many times daily, so I have a coffee station. I keep my cups in the cupboard above the coffee maker. The coffee pods are in a white-lidded container and the sugar is in a decorative container with a lid right by the coffee maker. Thank goodness the refrigerator is next to the coffee station. I can grab the milk out of it easily.

Oil, salt, and pepper, and a big crock of wooden spoons are stored next to the stove so they are ready to be used when I’m cooking on the stovetop.

I used to keep a big galvanized tray filled with oils and salts and other culinary things next to my stove. But over the years I really paired this area down to just the very basics that I use every day. 

Add creating pretty kitchen stations to the best kitchen organizing tips.

Have One Big Designated Work Area

Cooks need a workspace! And the bigger the better. If you have an island that’s probably the best surface to work on. But if you don’t you need to be ruthless in following tips 1… 2… and 3!

The more cleared counter space you have the more area you have to prep and cook!!!!

I’ve designated the middle of our U-shaped kitchen as my work area. It’s large and bare! Perfect to prepare meals and other food.

The big bottom drawer under my workstation houses the trash. I can push the garbage right off the cutting board I use there and right into the trash! 

My knives, measuring spoons, knife sharpener, zester, kitchen scissors, garlic press, and lemon reamer are in the top drawers in front of the workspace.

I keep storage bags, foil, plastic wrap, and parchment paper in the middle drawer. The bottom drawer holds a vacuum bag sealer and bags.

Bowls, measuring cups, mason jars, and more are in the turntable to the left of the workstation, and most used cooking supplies like oils, sugar, flour, and other things are in the bottom turntable to the right of the workstation.

I would never have thought about having a U-shaped kitchen in a million years. But I just love it! Everything is so convenient and there is lots of counter space in this kitchen.

Create A Focal Point Or Vignette

Now we’re talking my decor love language!!!

Pick one or two areas in your kitchen to decorate just for the sake of having something pretty.

Keep all non-kitchen functioning decorations corralled to one or two areas away from where I cook.

Enjoy Things You Love

You probably spend a lot of time in your kitchen, just as I do, so you want to surround yourself with things you love.

Make your kitchen a working sanctuary of culinary creativity!!  Surround yourself with beautiful things and great fresh food! It’s important to have a space that inspires you!

Having pretty fresh herbs on my island is important to me. They speak to my soul and are wonderful to cook with too!

I hope you will take stock of your kitchen and implement these 6 best kitchen organizing tips! Create a functional and organized and clutter-free kitchen. And make it fabulous!!!!

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