The 40 Most Brilliant Kitchen Organization Hacks of All Time

There are few things I love more than a great kitchen organizing idea that makes you wonder how you’ve ever lived without it. Whether it requires a little elbow grease or can be done in a snap, there’s no satisfaction greater than saving space or finding the perfect trick for an otherwise underused space in your fridge or pantry. The Kitchn editors cover these sorts of ideas on a regular basis, and I’ve rounded up some of the very best ones editors ever found.

Here are 40 of the smartest kitchen organization tips and hacks to help you (and your kitchen) get tidier effortlessly.

Often used in restaurants and grocery stores, the first in, first out method (aka FIFO) , organizes the food in your fridge in order of when they were bought. Newer items go in the back, while older items are pushed forward. This way, you’ll be less likely to forget about those berries you bought at the farmers market before they turn moldy, and less food will go to waste. You can use this method in the pantry too. Got a few canned goods that are getting close to their expiration date? Put them front and center!

Organize your kitchen tools and appliances based on what you use them for, or by type. Create a station with all of your baking supplies, for example, or dedicate a cabinet just for appliances. That way when you go to bake a cake, you’re not rummaging around your kitchen for the measuring bowls and spoons — everything will be in one place.

A sleek kitchen island not only amps up the amount of counter space you have to work with, but can provide some much needed extra storage, too. (Plus, if things aren’t neat and tidy in there, no one will know once you close the door.) Find The Kitchn editors’ favorite kitchen islands with storage here.

How many times have you tried to find an item wedged way in the back of your pantry? Or forgotten about it altogether only to find it once its gone bad? Say goodbye to that issue by installing some pull-out shelves. They’ll allow you to reach everything with ease and see exactly what you’ve got in stock.

Feeling like things are cluttered and you don’t have enough space for all your dishes, cookware, and glassware? Turn to stacking shelves! With this simple tool, you’ll easily double the amount of storage in an instant. Plus, it’ll look nice and neat, too!

Chip bags can be annoyingly difficult to wrangle. Instead of letting them flop around on your pantry shelves (risking breakage!), hang them up with some pants hangers. The clips will keep the chips fresh, too!

Speaking of things that are hard to wrangle! Make your own lid organizer by setting a cooling rack over a shallow plastic container and sliding your container lids between the rungs. You can slip the whole thing in a drawer or on a shelf in a cabinet, and the lids are easy to grab when you need them.

The next time you take the trash out, put a few bags at the bottom of the can before you line it with a new one. This way, you have no excuse not to refresh the bag right away.

Marie Kondo is the queen of organization, so trust us (and her) when I say this method for storing kitchen towels is life-changing. Folding your towels so they stand up in a drawer or basket eliminates a leaning tower situation and lets you see all of them at once.

Prepare to have your mind blown: Did you know that the ridges at the bottom of your freezer can act as a built-in organizer?! They hold trays in place so that you can pull one out without sending things tumbling.

Add more space to a spice cabinet by installing a tension rod towards the top. It won’t interfere with any of the storage on the bottom and will create even more space for little jars.

An avalanche of pot lids is never fun. Keep them all in place, and out of the way, by using Command hooks. Simply stick a few, hang your pot lids, and voila. This hack is quick and easy to do, and it’s a totally customizable.

I saw this in a recent drawer makeover and was blown away. Place Mason jars on their sides, and they’ll fit in most drawers to help keep utensils nice and tidy.

These little boxes don’t take up a ton of space, but there’s also no reason to waste drawer space on them. Instead, hang them up on a cabinet door or a pantry wall. (Bonus: It’ll make pulling off a piece a million times easier.)

If you have a pantry door or even a nearby closet, consider hanging a shoe organizer and using it to hold water bottles, cleaning supplies, or even pantry staples.

Everyone has things that never (ever) make it off the counter — salt and pepper, olive oil, maybe sugar or honey for your morning tea — and end up hogging precious space. Here’s what to do: gather all your most used items on a lazy Susan, and you’ve got a neat solution to countertop clutter. If you want something more decorative, try a cake stand; it won’t turn, but it sure will look pretty.

Another smart use for a turntable? In your pantry, especially in awkward corners, where it’s hard to reach. Or if your “pantry” is actually your kitchen cabinet and you’re trying to make sure you can get to your cinnamon without taking out all of the spices. While you’re at it, pop one in your fridge too for all your condiments and sauces.

Install hooks on the walls, inside cabinets, under shelves — anywhere you can find a spot. You’ll instantly create space out of thin air and make a home for items that would otherwise take up drawer or cabinet space.

​

When you’re done with an egg carton, take a page from Alton Brown’s book and separate the top and bottom. Use one to line the bottom of the shelf on your fridge’s door, then store condiments mouth-side down.

Be honest: Do you keep those condiment packets you get with your takeout? Here’s the solution to your tiny-packet storage woes. Put a sponge holder on the inside of your fridge (or your cabinet works, too — condiments don’t need to be cold) and put your packets in, ideally organized by type.

The only problem with making a casserole or a big salad is that they take up so much room in the fridge! Create a temporary organizing solution by placing a baking sheet (or even chopsticks) on top. You’ll be able to stack way more stuff in there until it’s time to serve.

Fact: The attachments from your stand mixer are not going to fit into any sort of normal organizer. They’re too big, bulky, and awkward. The best spot for them? Right in the mixer bowl! They fit perfectly without taking up extra storage space, plus they’re right there in the bowl when you want to use your mixer — no hunting around for where, oh where, you put them. I like to throw a clean dish towel in the bowl to protect both the bowl and the attachments.

Speaking of stand mixers, even the best-looking ones have a glaring problem: the cord! Keep your kitchen looking more organized by sticking a cord bundler on the back of it and wrapping the cord around it. This also works with other appliances!

It’s amazing how much space goes wasted when you stop to really look at your kitchen. If you have cabinets with exposed sides, use them! Add a rail, hooks, or even shelves.

It’s kind of a mystery to us why so many kitchens have that wasted space between the upper cabinets and the ceiling. Why not have the cabinets go all the way up? Instead of letting it collect dust, make use of it. Turn it into storage for bulky (and not-often-used) pots, the cookbooks you pull out every once in a while, extra ingredients, or even a spot to show off a collection.

Visual clutter can be just as bad as regular ol’ clutter. And half-empty bags of flour, crushed boxes of pasta, and twist tie-closed bags of rice can all create visual clutter. To cut down on that, decant your ingredients into pretty containers. Even if you’re stashing it all away in a pantry, these containers will make a big difference to keep everything neat and tidy.

I always think about stacking things, but sometimes the best way to store something to is to file it on its side. Tension rods (super cheap and easy to install!) turn a cabinet into a file cabinet of sorts.

There are a million ways to use a cart in the home to add extra storage from turning it into a mobile bar cart to wrangling canned goods. The Kitchn editors love this one from IKEA.

So you don’t have the walk-in pantry of your dreams — I don’t, either! But, even tiny kitchens need to stock basic staples. So think vertical and use whatever wall space you have. If there’s room for it, I love a pegboard pantry, but you can also just hang some regular old shelves, which come in all sizes and can fit in any kitchen.

Fact: Drawers are almost always better than cabinets. Add rolling racks to your existing cabinets so you can easily pull out what you have and see everything without having to crane your neck. If you can’t do anything with actual hardware, try adding some baskets, which essentially work the same way.

Similar to that hook idea mentioned earlier, you can use magnets under your cabinets, too. They’re great for keeping your go-to spices within arm’s reach. Just install a magnetic knife rack and stick ’em on.

If you weren’t already hip to shelf risers, this is your wakeup call. Small, cheap, and virtually foolproof, you can place them inside your kitchen cabinets to score double the storage space, or on your countertop to hold your frequently used items.

Before you run out to buy special drawer organizers, look around your house to see what you can use. That old box from notecards? Use it! Changes are, you have plenty of makeshift organizers already that’ll revamp that junk drawer in no time.

As you’ve probably picked up by now, it’s always nice to hang things! And my very favorite way to hang things is probably on a pot rail. In my humble opinion, the pot rail is the MVP of kitchen storage as it hardly takes up any space and can look quite beautiful too.

Working on the diagonal, instead of right angles, gives you much more flexibility in terms of how you use the space inside your drawers. And while you can buy a diagonal organizer, making one is relatively simple and is guaranteed to fit, no matter what size or shape your drawer is.

Freezers are often messier than fridges. They’re just frozen tundras where leftovers go to be forgotten about, right? Use binder clips to help restore some sort of order. Simply mark what goes where.

Most people think visually. So when you think of your favorite cookbook, you can likely picture its color. Which means sorting your cookbooks by color might make sense for you. Not only can doing so help you find a book more quickly, but it also makes for a striking bookshelf display.

Anyone who has amassed a random collection of kiddie plates and bowls knows that they don’t always stack up nice and neatly. So use a wire dish rack to hold everything in a cabinet. This way, you can pull out a plate without sending everything tumbling.

A plastic bag dispenser, (yes, the thing you buy to store your used grocery bags) can be used for so much more. There are plenty of ways to utilize it, but I especially like this one of storing cleaning products in some horizontally hung ones.

Remember that spice idea with the knife rack from above? A magnetic knife strip is also a great tool for storing food processor attachments, pot lids, and so many other things.

Got any of your own tips to add? Let us know in the comments below!