Hey y’all! I may be a home decor blogger, but I still SWOON every time I see one of those gorgeous, HGTV worthy, large chef kitchens. You know the kind… marble counters, large island, custom cabinets, POT FILLER! Oh one day I’ll have a pot filler! But today is not that day – and that’s a-ok with me, because the memories we are creating in our small kitchen, as (basically still) newlyweds, are the kind you can never recreate. So while I may one day have a pot filler, and maybe even some marble countertops, for now, I’m working with what we’ve got – a teeny tiny kitchen! So for those of you who also have small kitchens, or maybe who just love a good organization hack, this blog post is for you – 5 small kitchen organization hacks to help you ENJOY your kitchen even more!
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1. Build Up Your Cabinets to the Ceiling
Unless you custom built your cabinets, it’s very likely that your cabinets do not extend to the ceiling, leaving a lot of unused space. If you build them up to the ceiling, your cabinets will not only look more custom, but you’ll gain a ton of storage as well!
Here I have them styled, but for everyday use, I also use a few baskets from the container store in order to hold some of our less used items – i.e. seasonal plates and cups, etc.
You can also learn how I DIYed these cabinet extensions in my blog post HERE. Below you can see the extensions in progress during our full kitchen renovation in Spring 2018! Boy, that one was a doozy!
2. Utilize Wallspace for Storage (that you make pretty!)
One of the best things you can do in a small kitchen is make use of your wall space for *pretty* storage! I’ve done this in a couple of ways – first, with a mug rack, and now, with open shelving and wall rods and hooks from Ikea! Both options have given us extra space to store larger items that don’t fit in our cabinets.
Here you can see our mug rack! It was perfect for all our fun Rae Dunn mugs! But recently, I decided to add open shelving, and I think it has given us even more storage and an even more custom look! It also really warmed up the kitchen as well.
And with the open shelving, I also added some rods and hooks on the perpendicular wall. I plan to use these for my copper pots and pans collection, to open up even more space in our panty (see below)! Okay, I don’t actually have a copper pot and pan collection, but I’m working on it! Essentially though, this functions not only as storage, but also as something that is beautiful to look at – win win!
3. If Possible, Remove any Large Countertop Appliances
If you can, remove any countertop appliances and move them elsewhere. For us, that mainly meant moving our toaster oven into our pantry, which made the entire kitchen feel bigger. It was a small change, but it made a huge impact! You could also try moving your coffee maker, mixer, blender, or anything else you have sitting out. Even one less item sitting out, will make your kitchen feel more spacious!
In the photo above, our toaster oven used to sit where the lovely copper stock pot is now. While I ultimately placed another large-ish item in that corner, it is much nicer and more decorative than an ugly ole’ toaster oven!
4. Organize Your Pantry or Food Storage Cabinet
Something that was a complete game changer for us was organizing our pantry. For a small kitchen, we are lucky enough to have a pretty sizable pantry. If you don’t, you likely have some kind of dry food storage cabinet, and this tip applies to that space as well. Organization is key here!
I purchased inexpensive bins from Target and used a dymo label maker to label everything, and nearly a year later, our organization game is still going strong!
Here you can see our toaster oven, happily living in our pantry now!
I just love how our pantry looks, but I love how it functions even more! Everything has a home, which also helps us shop smarter at the grocery store. The buffalo check contact paper made everything look a little more neat and put together, too!
5. Create a Spice Drawer
My last tip is to create a spice drawer. I was a bit hesitant to “waste” an entire drawer on this, but now that its done, I’d never go back! Hear me out here… by using a drawer, and organizing all of your spices into clear jars with labels (also using the dymo label maker), you’ll actually be able to SEE what spices you have! Which means you will actually use what you have instead of sticking spices all the way in the back of a cabinet, never to be seen or used again!
Truly though, does this sight make anyone else’s organization loving heart sing?! No? Just me? Okay then… moving on. Anywho, while you ARE using a drawer, all the above organization tips should help you recoup the space you’re “losing” here, and having the spices organized in this way will make them actually function better for you when you cook!
And there you have it!
A short and easy blog post, with small kitchen organization hacks to help you LIVE better in your kitchen so you can make the BEST memories possible!
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See ya next time, friends!
So many great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Micheala! Glad you enjoyed!
Such helpful tips!! Thanks for sharing 😍💕