Our kitchen is fairly small at 11ft x 12ft! It feels larger because of the open floor plan, but the cabinetry space is limited so we maximize every square inch! Read on for our ideas on the best ways to organize a small kitchen!
Here’s a look inside our kitchen cupboards and an overview of where we keep everything and what we use to organize it all!
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
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Table of Contents
Pantry
My favourite organizational feature in our kitchen is a 15” pull-out pantry cupboard that houses a lot of our dry goods. I love that you can access it from both sides! Because all the items are easily accessible you can store a lot more things efficiently in a smaller space. This pull-out replaced an entire pantry cupboard! Check out these free pantry organization worksheets and favourite pantry organization supplies.
Cooking Space
We store cookie sheets and cooling racks etc… vertically in the cupboard above the wall ovens. I love that it keeps them up and out of the way and that I can see everything easily. Much better than digging through a stacked drawer!
Glass storage containers and kids’ dishes are kept in drawers that are easily reached as they are some of the most used items in the kitchen. The kids’ dishes are in the bottom drawer so that they can access them themselves. When they were babies, playing with the plastic cups and spoons would keep them entertained for hours lol!
I keep all our medications separated into containers for adults and kids on a high shelf. The kids can’t reach this shelf, even with a stool. Most of the storage containers in my cupboards are from Ikea and I label them all with my label maker.
Flours, oils, baking supplies, spices etc…are all housed in the cupboards and drawers surrounding the cooktop, I have items grouped into separate containers that I can lift down if I’m looking for something. For example, I have oils in one bin and bottles of vinegar in another.
This is especially handy for spices. I keep jars of spices that we use every day in the top drawer by the stove. The extras are organized in the cupboard above along with salt, pepper, rubs etc..
I love to decant kitchen staples into clear labelled containers. It makes everything so much more aesthetically pleasing and easy to find! It’s a bit of an investment to buy enough containers for everything. I just buy a few at a time and I am always on the lookout for good sales!
The drawer under the cooktop is actually a hidden warming drawer, but the bottom drawer houses large fry pans and bakeware!
Fridge/Freezer
I use lots of containers to organize the fridge as well. I like to use product containers with filters for fresh produce to help it keep longer! Above the fridge we keep all our supplements, protein powders etc… and yes we have a lot
The fridge/freezer in the kitchen is counter depth. This means that although it looks sleek, it actually has less interior space than a traditional fridge. So when we designed our mudroom we added a built-in freezer. There is also an extra pantry cupboard beside the freezer where we keep staples like canned foods, pasta and grains.
Cleaning Space
The garbage is tucked away in a pull-out cupboard, and recycling gets offloaded to the mudroom to cut down on clutter. The paneled dishwasher is right beside the garbage, which makes scraping dishes and loading convenient!
Cleaning supplies, extra bags, and a dish drain etc.. are all kept under the kitchen sink along with dishwasher tabs, and other miscellaneous items.
The glass upper cabinet to the right of the sink houses dishes and glassware. I stick to white dishes and plain glasses and barware to keep the look clean and uncluttered. It’s also easy to put away dishes as the cupboard is right above the dishwasher!
Prep Space
The island is our main prep space and we also use it as a breakfast bar!
We have large sets of drawers in the island where we keep pots and pans, commonly used items like mixing bowls and measuring cups, as well as cutlery and utensils. My number one organizational tip to organize a small kitchen is to incorporate as many drawers as possible! It’s so much easier to see and get at everything compared to reaching into the back of a cupboard!
I hope this peek into our cupboards and how we’ve organized our small kitchen is useful in decluttering and organizing your own spaces!
We gutted and renovated this kitchen in 2011. If you want to see the details of the renovation you can check it out here: 10 Ways to Design a Custom Kitchen on a Budget.
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