Kitchen Organization Tips and Tools

Kitchen organization is something I’ve always struggled with. After moving to Bend, I never quite figured out how to make my kitchen feel organized and flow well. I would tidy up my pantry and then a week later it would be a mess! My drawers were overflowing with tools I rarely used. So for Christmas, […]

Kitchen organization is something I’ve always struggled with. After moving to Bend, I never quite figured out how to make my kitchen feel organized and flow well. I would tidy up my pantry and then a week later it would be a mess! My drawers were overflowing with tools I rarely used. So for Christmas, I treated myself and had a professional organizer come to my home and help me organize my kitchen. So I wanted to share a few tips and tools I learned from her and some organizational tools that saved me!

Here are a few things I took away

• Throw away any kitchen tools that you never use that are just cluttering up your drawers.

• Remove all your pantry items and throw away anything old or that you will never use.
• Organize your pantry by type of food item: grains, pasta, legumes, canned goods, snacks, flours, sweeteners, etc…and use bins or stacking shelves to optimize space.
• Throw away spices (or any perishable food item) that you have for over a year and rarely use.
• Keep the lids on your pots and your Tupperware instead of storing them separately, if you have the space. It keeps everything tidy! Lids are the hardest.
• Buy matching reusable food container sets so both the containers and lids stack easily or keep your lids on your containers. These are my favorite glass and plastic.
• Go through your reusable food containers and jars and throw any away that don’t have a matching lid.
• Put heavier items like dutch ovens in a place that is easy to reach.
• Don’t keep oils or spices above the stove because they will go rancid a lot faster when exposed to heat. I already knew this, but it was a nice reminder!

Kitchen Organization Tools

Figuring out how to organize your drawers, pantry, and cupboards can be hard. Below are some links to items that I find super useful in my kitchen to stay organized!

• 4 oz spice jars: these cute jars are the perfect size for spices and have a wide mouth, making them easier to refill. Plus they come with already-made labels!
• Spice jar rack: this is the rack that I have that fits into my cabinet!
• Tall latched jars: I use these for short pasta shapes, flour, sugar, grains, or anything else that fits!
• Jar set with bamboo wood lids: I use the tallest size for spaghetti and the other sizes for various grains and things.
• 8 oz wide-mouth mason jars and 16 oz wide-mouth mason jars: these jars are just great to have for storing any extra bits of things you have (also my favorite for freezing soups and sauces).
• Acacia Turntables: I use these in my pantry for my oils, bottles of vinegar, honey/sweeteners, etc…They are great because they spin around so you’re never reaching in the back to look for things.
• Shelf trays/organizers: these are great to keep your pantry organized. I use them to stash my extra bulk spices and other random pantry baking items.
• Stackable kitchen organizer: I use these little metal shelves to stack my canned goods, etc…in my pantry.
• Expandable utensil organizer for drawers: this is what I use for my silverware and there are larger sections where you can fit more kitchen tools.
• Interlocking drawer organizers: I use these in my large kitchen drawers to organize my kitchen tools/measuring spoons. The small ones are the perfect size for storing your rubber bands!