Efficient Kitchen Organization Ideas to Maximize Space

Welcome to Week 4 of my month-long organizational challenge! Today, I’m excited to be sharing efficient kitchen organization ideas to maximize your space. These tips should be helpful, regardless of the size of your kitchen!

Get more ideas for home organization here.

If you would like to catch up on all of the organization that’s been going on this month:

• Week 1: 5 Week Organizational Challenge for Your Entire Home
• Week 2: Declutter Your Desk and Mind to be More Productive
• Have You Joined the KonMari Bandwagon?
• Week 3: Real Life Closet Organization Ideas

Now you are up to date and ready to dive into the decluttering and organization of your kitchen!

This most contains affiliate links, which means should you make a purchase after clicking through one of my links I might make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure.

Efficient Kitchen Organization Ideas:

So let me confess that I’m a person that loves systems. I firmly believe that if things are set up well from the very beginning, we can be so much more efficient in our day to day routines.

Throughout this organizational challenge, a few things have become clear to me.

Many of the spaces in my home were failing from an organizational stand point.

This is because many areas were not set up to be easy to maintain long term. Although I thought I had a system in place, the system was not well thought out!

If something isn’t convenient, chances are good we won’t use it.

When unloading the dishwasher, things would often get shoved in  the wrong drawer or cabinet. THEN, of course, next time it was needed, no one could find it!

Please tell me that our family isn’t the only ones that struggles with cluttered cabinets and drawers!

If you can relate, even a little, I know you will benefit from some of these ways to make your kitchen more efficient!

RELATED: How to Clean Your Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink

1. Determine your kitchen work zone and organize items accordingly

The work zone for most kitchens is considered the triangle connecting the refrigerator, oven/range, and sink.

You’ll often find that the counter space that is within this zone gets the most use, as do the drawers and cabinets within this “triangle”.

This is simply because it is most convenient. So, it makes sense that you put your most used items in easy to reach locations within this space.

2. Group Like-Items Together

Our utensil drawers were jammed full! By corralling items of similar size and use together, we can now actually see what we are reaching in the drawer to get!

Before:

After:

When organizing the drawers, it is also the time to declutter! I noted over 10 spatulas that we had. Many of these were in bad condition, so I purged them. If things were still good quality, I donated them!

Definitely find some charitable organizations in your area that accept donations.  When going through a house wide organization process, you are bound to find items that someone else can use. It’s great to know your extras are going to a good cause!

Just by purging and donating un-needed items, I was able to free up another drawer for utensils. Now I can see our items so much easier.

No more searching!

RELATED: How to Organize a Medicine Cabinet

3. Use Lazy Susans – efficient kitchen organization ideas:

I’m a big fan of the lazy susan turntables! We have one sitting on our kitchen table that makes it really convenient for everyone to access the salt, pepper, sugar, etc.

Lazy susans are also wonderful to help make items more accessible in the refrigerator, hard to reach pantry shelves, or under the kitchen sink for cleaning supplies!

For a variety of lazy susan options, click here.

4. Ensure kitchen items are in cabinets or drawers you can actually reach!

I am fairly tall at 5′ 8″. However, my daughter is petite and was having a hard time reaching many of our pantry items.

But, she is in the kitchen almost as much as me. So it only seemed fair that I rearrange a few things to make them easier for her to access.

Keep the items you use most at a height that the majority of the individuals in your home can access easily.

It makes me smile now to watch her fix her lunch in the morning. No more scooting a kitchen chair to the pantry. She can reach the items she needs quickly AND safely!

5. Use drawer dividers to maximize space in  the drawers

You might have noted a theme in many of the above “after” photos: Drawer dividers!

These make such a difference at corralling items together for easier access. Talk about efficient kitchen organization!

If everything has a specific home, it makes everything easier!

6. Use Clear Storage in the pantry

Abby from Just a Girl and Her Blog has organized her kitchen pantry with clear storage bins from IKEA and created pretty labels as well.

By using the clear storage containers, you can quickly see when you are running low on a specific item. Using sealed containers is also great way to keep these staples fresh!

7. Organized Coffee and Tea Station

Keeping all of the coffee and tea items together can make your morning run so much more smoothly. Designate a space that is efficient to the layout of your kitchen.

Gather up the condiments you love for your coffee and store them here as well!

RELATED: Tips to Clean Hard Water Stains on Granite

8. Use vertical spaces to maximize kitchen space

Making use of vertical space is a great way to add storage for items. Our current home has vertical dividers above the microwave/stove area.

Now, I can’t imagine NOT having this space.

This space is wonderful for cookie sheets, cutting boards, etc.

Take a moment to visit some of my blogging friends for their spin on how to better organize your kitchen! You are going to love their ideas, too!

• Jenny from Single Girl’s DIY: Eight Weird Ways to Organize Your Kitchen
• Pam from Busy Lifestyle Gal: My Favorite Kitchen Organizing Tools and Tips 
• Jennifer from Sunflower Mom: An Organized Kitchen You Can Be Proud Of!
• Renee from Busy Creative Living: Budget Friendly Kitchen Organization

Thanks for joining me for this organization and decluttering challenge. It feels so good to get rid of the clutter!