Over the last couple of weeks I have been sorting out and reorganising the kitchen cupboards. I have been moaning to my husband that we have no space and then realised that actually a lot of the cupboards were full of bits that we didn’t use all the time. I needed to find ways to maximise the space that we have. The cupboards then led on to re-organising the whole kitchen!
We have a large open plan kitchen/dining room/living area which has been created as a result of the extension we had built along the back of the house last year. The kitchen itself hasn’t changed in size and despite the size of the area we are fairly limited in space . We have a separate fridge (which is also quite small!) and then two of the cupboards in the kitchen are taken up with the dishwasher, boiler and pipes under the sink. All this meant that I have had to think creatively to stop the build up of any clutter and make the use of all the space available.
I thought I would share some of the ways that we have found to maximise the space that we have in the hope that some of them may be useful for you too.
1. Have a good clear out
Open the cupboards and look inside!! Do you use everything in there regularly? If not move it somewhere else or donate it. We were storing a ridiculous amount of glasses and mugs across three cupboards! Most of which we only use at Christmas or if we are having a party…so not regularly! I took them all out and put back only 6 of each type of glass (which still seems to take up a lot of space!). I then wrapped the extras in bubble wrap and put them in a big storage tub which will be kept in the shed so we can get to them easily if we need to. This opened up so much space so I could move other bits around.
2. Shelves
We had an extra wall space which was created as a result of the extension. It would have been perfect for an extra cupboard, I went to every kitchen showroom with one of the cupboard doors in hand to find a match, but had no luck! There was no way I was having a cupboard that didn’t match the others (my OCD would have gone crazy!) so the only other option was shelving. I am now really happy I couldn’t find the cupboard as I love the look of the shelves. It has helped to clear space on the counter tops by moving the bits up and off that were taking up space. I have also added some decorative pieces too which is always a winner!
3. Shelf dividers
Why I haven’t been using these in my cupboards since moving in I will never know, they are genius! The dividers help to maximise the full height of a shelf by providing an extra layer for storage as you can put things on top and underneath. I have them across the length of our main food cupboard and then running across most of the second biggest cupboard where we keep the crockery.
4. Inside of cupboard doors
Using sticky hooks on the inside of cupboard doors has been a great space saver. I mainly have them on the inside of the door under the sink to hang up and separate out the cloths I need for cleaning. I have tried all sorts of hooks, which all fell down, but finally came across these last year and they are brilliant! They stay stuck and can take some weight too which is helpful as I also have them in the utility room cupboard to hang up the washing peg bag!
On the inside another cupboard door I have a kitchen roll holder. The kitchen roll has always been on top of the work surface and constantly gets moved around as it gets in the way! The holder is sold as a wall hanger but having it on the inside of the cupboard does the same job and is hidden – so simple yet so effective to clear something else from the worktops.
5. Re-purpose odd shaped spaces
We have a very thin cupboard in the corner of our units. The cupboard originally had a tea towel hook in it…that was it…what a waste! I then just piled it high with bits and pieces which ended up a bit like playing Jenga…drove me crazy. To make the best use of the space we took a shelf out from under the sink and had it made into two shelves small enough to fit into the thin cupboard, therefore creating three layers. It has made such a difference. It is now where we keep the dishwasher tablets, kitchen roll and all the recycling bags.
6. Under sink adjustable shelving
Like a lot of people I keep most of our cleaning products under the sink. Along with the food recycling bin! I needed to find a way to make the most of this space and the adidas
7. Trays and baskets
For loose items such as packets I put them all together in a basket so that I can flick through and find the packet I am after easily. I also put a lot of bits in small trays and baskets under the shelf dividers inside the cupboards. This helps to group similar items together and also makes it easy to get to any bits lurking at the back as I just need to slide it out. For larger bits, such as bottles, tupperware etc I have bigger baskets which they are all kept in. Again, this helps to group and make it easy to get to everything. It also makes sure that bits that belong together stay together such as the lids!
8. Clear containers
Storing food in clear containers has been so useful in the kitchen. I can find it quickly and easily see how much I have left of something when writing the food shopping list! The fridge used to be a nightmare with everything piled up and fruit quickly going out of date. I wanted to transfer as much into containers as possible to help the fridge to stay organised and keep our food fresher for longer. I had a scroll on the IKEA website and found the perfect solution – clear glass containers with clip lock lids. I measured up for how many I would need of each size and went off to buy them and then spent a happy half an hour sorting and organising! The glass containers have made a huge difference in the fridge and they are also dishwasher, microwave and oven safe so perfect to use if there are any leftovers you want to heat up another day! I also have a fridge tray where I keep some of the dairy products as I found that these got in the way so putting them all together in one tray has made more room on the shelf. The cupboards also have clear containers for the cereal.
9. Pots and pans storage
There are lots of different ideas for storing pots and pans and the lids but as we stack ours in a deep pan drawer the best way for us is to turn the lip upside down and put it on the pan then stack the next one on top in the same way. Works brilliantly, they stay stacked and I can always find the lid!
10. Make use of dead space.
If you have cupboards which have spaces above them this can be such a dead dust collecting space. Instead you could buy some nice storage boxes or baskets (preferably with lids…because of the dust!) and keep things which are rarely used in them. This is one thing I am still yet to do as I need to measure the space properly and then find storage I like! If you have a free-standing fridge, the top can also be another dead space – use it! I have a basket on top of the fridge where I keep my cook books.
These are the top 10 ways that work for me but I am sure there are so many more. Head over to my Instagram and share your tips with me @acton.life.and,home.
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