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More Kitchen Storage: How to Re-claim Space You Already Have!

More Kitchen Storage: How to Re-claim Space You Already Have!

15 Feb

This post was most recently updated on January 1st, 2020

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but I did start 2014 with some home organization goals, the biggest one being more kitchen storage space!  If I had to take a wild guess, I’d say we were operating at 50% capacity of what started out as perfectly adequate kitchen 5 years ago. Half of it: poof, gone!

More Kitchen storage space - 5 tips

Funny how that happens, isn’t it? It creeps up on you. You don’t really notice it until, one morning, when you reach for a ziploc bag while making school lunch, you’re greeted by an avalanche of Born-Free baby bottles, tupperware lids, and more plastic divided plates than a hospital cafeteria. (The Pottery Barn Kids’ ones are my fave, just sayin’.)  For awhile, you manage to stuff it all back in and shut the doors, hoping the kitchen organizer fairy will visit some night. But she doesn’t come (booo), and pretty soon, even the idea of unloading the dishwasher or unpacking the groceries is exhausting.

Now I’m not one to place blame, but coincidentally, our kitchen chaos seemed to begin with the arrival of these two munchkins 4 years ago…

babies

I know. They’re cute. (And, sweet too!) But don’t let them fool you.  They took over our house, especially our kitchen! But considering they are now in preschool, I decided it was time to finally attack Operation “More Kitchen Storage” head on.  Over the course of a few days, I reorganized the entire kitchen. Besides getting rid of the baby bottles (it was time, lol), I did some super simple, totally-not-rocket-science, things to reclaim more kitchen storage from the space we have.

More Kitchen Storage: 5 Easy Tips

 

1. Nix the ‘junk drawer.

The legendary kitchen ‘junk drawer’. Seems innocent enough – but it’s evil! In our case, an entire kitchen drawer right next to the stove was taken up with useless gadgets I hadn’t looked for in years, while I had to stand on my tippy toes across the kitchen just to reach the spices.  So, I nixed our junk drawer completely by throwing out/recycling most of its contents. (I mean, how many egg slicers and apple corers does one girl need?!?) This freed up a full drawer for spices and baking supplies that had been barely accessible before. I invested in some glass jars from the dollar store so all the spices would fit the height of the drawer.  Now everything’s all pretty and organized, and our food is tasting a whole lot spicier!


  2. Lose the packaging.

There’s nothing more frustrating when putting groceries away than negotiating with clunky boxes that won’t fit in a cabinet. Now, when I’m unpacking my groceries, I get rid of the boxes right away.

reclaim more kitchen storage - remove packaging

The loose food (like rice, pasta, goldfish crackers, raisins, etc) goes in glass jars which fit better in my cabinets than the original packaging.

more kitchen storage - glass jars

Removing all the packaging from fresh foods right away also saves storage space in the fridge, and it motivates me to eat healthier (um, most days!).  On grocery day, I wash and chop the fruits and vegetables which makes them (a) easier to store and (b) easier to eat!  It only takes a half an hour, and then it’s all done for the whole week – woot, woot.

more kitchen storage tips fruit and veggies

3. Create a snack basket / snack drawer.

For the kids’ packaged snacks – like granola bars, fruit cups, etc. – I recycle the outer boxes and throw all of the loose snacks down in one big basket. I can’t tell you how much storage space this saves! The snack basket fits perfectly inside one of my deep kitchen ‘pot drawers’, along with juice boxes and more.  I find that this is a great way to store the kids’ snacks without wasting valuable cabinet space.

more kitchen storage tips snack drawer

 4.  Think outside the box: or, in this case, the pantry cupboard.

If you’ve ever designed a kitchen, you know that there’s all kinds of labels for cabinets – there’s the ‘pot drawer’, the ‘pantry cupboard’, and more.  In my experience, these labels have been useless.  I could never understand how piling up your pots in a drawer could be convenient. Eventually chose to hang our pots instead. (I now use the ‘pot drawer’ for snacks, as mentioned.)  And, helloooo: how is a pantry cupboard that’s 2-feet deep an easy way to store food?  When I recently found a package of instant noodles that expired in 2008 (in case, you’re counting, it’s now 2014), I decided it could be put to a better use.

more kitchen storage tips - pantry

 Instead of using it to store food, I moved all my casserole dishes, nesting bowls, and mini appliances over there.The deep and high shelves are perfect for stacking them.  I purchased some of these awesome things (not sure what you’d call them?) to give  double storage space on each shelf.

kitchen storage tips - casserole dishes

kitchen storage tips - nesting bowls

  5. Baskets, baskets, baskets.

I love baskets.  Not only do they look pretty by adding texture to a kitchen, but they’re a great way to get things out of your kitchen cabinets, saving much needed space in there.  I now store my table linens in a basket under a console table in the kitchen.

kitchen storage tips - baskets

I’ve also used baskets on my counter for bread, Keurig cups, and on top of my cabinets to store things like party supplies.

kitchen storage tips - baskets2

These are such easy ways to create more kitchen storage that I wish I’d thought of them before! Just being more organized in the kitchen makes me feel so much calmer. Plus, unloading the dishwasher and putting away the groceries are now at least tolerable.

So, do you have any tips for creating more kitchen storage from the space you have?  I’d love to hear them!

Enjoy your weekend, peeps!

K.

 

 

 

By Kerri, February 15, 2014, Filed Under: Kitchen, Organizing, Renovation, Remodelling + Building, Room by Room: Renovations & Inspiration, Tips

About Kerri

Kerri Roche is the voice behind A Pop of Pretty, a Canadian-based home decorating blog, where she shares her love of modern cottage and coastal style, from the island of Newfoundland. Kerri is a lifelong interiors lover and an avid home enthusiast. She holds an MBA and Bachelor degree in Commerce (Marketing). Her blog is a creative outlet where she loves to inspire other style seeking home lovers with design and renovation ideas, DIY home decor tutorials, and shopping tips as she decorates her suburban family home and coastal cottage - all while juggling a busy young family, including a globe-trotting husband, 3 busy kids (including twins), and two energetic dogs named Finny and Winnie.

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Comments

  1. Lana says

    February 18, 2014 at 5:18 am

    Hi Kerri!Very practical tips for kitchen real estate!I use the same approach,when it comes to my kitchen.I like to use teams as well.The “Coffee and creativity” cupboard in my kitchen is close to the coffee machine and stores all kinds of coffee,tea,hot chocolate,coffee filters,different types of sugar and sweeteners that we use ,as well as all the little things that can be use for garnish ( chocolate syrup,marshmallows,chocolate chips) and last but not least my RP book(well organized into sections with pretty images). I believe in the practicality and beauty of the clear jars,that stores beautiful products,considering colors,shapes and texture.When I open that cupboard everything is very appealing,inspiring and bust up my creativity.
    Lana

    • Kerri says

      February 18, 2014 at 3:04 pm

      I love these ideas Lana…especially your “coffee and creativity” cupboard…that’s a brilliant name! My two favorite things! ~Kerri

  2. Denise says

    February 16, 2014 at 3:02 pm

    Awesome Kerri! Can you pop over and do mine now too. I’ve picked up some tips and need to take on this task soon myself!

    Denise

    • Kerri says

      February 17, 2014 at 2:00 pm

      Haha! You’re a lucky duck-you have way more kitchen storage than me, and were smart enough to create a real pantry! Good luck with it. xo

  3. Sheila S. says

    February 16, 2014 at 2:53 pm

    What sweet little munchkins and great ideas in your kitchen re-org .. Makes me want to get into mine & start clearing out the excess! Thanks for the tips!

    • Kerri says

      February 17, 2014 at 1:59 pm

      So happy these tips were motivating, Sheila. Good luck! ~Kerri

  4. Jamie @milestohomestead says

    February 16, 2014 at 11:50 am

    These are great storage ideas! I also have the resolution to tackle some organization projects and I started in my kitchen. I was taking one section of the kitchen at a time. I love the idea of the glass containers and the basket storage for table linens!

    • Kerri says

      February 17, 2014 at 1:58 pm

      Thanks Jamie. Those few ideas really made a big difference! Good luck with your organization project!

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Welcome! I'm Kerri. I love pretty modern cottage and coastal home decorating style. I aim to inspire style seeking home lovers to decorate with confidence, by sharing decorating ideas, shopping tips, tutorials + inspiration. Read More…

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