Organizing a kitchen can already be challenging and overwhelming, but organizing a small kitchen can be downright impossible without a little creative planning. To find these creative areas in a small kitchen, you first need to do a little research to determine which items go where. This post will share Small Kitchen Organizing Tips.
To start this journey, we must determine the items needed to make a creative home in the small kitchen. Start by placing the things you regularly use in the appropriate areas (zones). Read more about kitchen zone organizing here. Store items around the areas you will often use, such as the dishwasher, the stove, the refrigerator, and the command (paper management) area.
Oh no, you ran out of space. No worries; the next step requires a little creativity. Look for places to store your belongings, such as bare walls, behind doors and cabinets, ceilings, and under counters. All these areas are useful places to store your belongings. Below are ten small kitchen organizing tips to help you make your kitchen more functional.
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- Always use multipurpose appliances and tools in your kitchen.
- Hang things from the ceiling like pot racks.
- Hang things on the back of the cabinet doors.
- Hang organizers on the back of the pantry closet door.
- Where possible, use pull-out drawers.
- Store baking pans vertically.
- Use the side of cabinets and refrigerators to hold items.
- Maximize storage in every drawer.
- Use decorative pegboards to hang items that are easily accessible.
- Open up the cabinets, and feel free to adjust the shelves in the upper cabinet.
Always use multipurpose appliances and tools in your kitchen.
Sorry to say, no unitaskers are allowed. Everything should have two or more purposes. A mixture can have attachments that help you make spaghetti instead of having a spaghetti maker. An Instant Pot 
(Amazon (affiliate) affiliate link) has at least six different settings and will replace several other counter appliances like a slow cooker (affiliate), yogurt maker, and electric skillet.
Hang things from the ceiling like pot racks.
Some pot racks have a covered top, so you can store some small pots on top. Others are very streamlined and can be hung over the sink so they can dry after cleaned. These pot racks can also hang from the wall to use unique wall space. Whichever one you want for your kitchen, make sure you measure the space to make sure it will work. Below is an example of pot racks that hang from the wall.
Buy Now → (affiliate)
Measure the depth of your largest skillet to determine its width in the area. If you have low ceilings, you may want to place the item closer to a side wall where you are not standing.
Hang things on the back of the cabinet doors.
Don't forget the inside of cabinet doors. You can fit small items like these, which I found to organize your small. Smalls can consist of spices (affiliate), herbs, measuring spoons (affiliate), etc... Here is an example from Amazon (affiliate).
Over the Door Organizer Heavy Duty 55x14x6.7,
Buy Now →(affiliate)
Hang organizers on the back of the pantry closet door.
If you are lucky to have a small pantry (affiliate) in or near your small kitchen, utilizing the back of the pantry door is also a handy place to organize your kitchen. There is a variety of options. Some over-the-door (affiliate) organizers have plastic bins; others are all metal. Some are white, some are black, and some have larger bins on the bottom and small ones on the top. Below is one I found on Amazon (affiliate) (affiliate).
Over the Door wall mount Pantry Organizer by POKIPO, 6-Tier
Buy Now →(affiliate)
Where possible, use pull-out drawers.
If you have cabinets that have only a shelf inside, you can get pull-out organizers to make it easier for you. It does limit about 2 inches of space (1 inch on each side of the pull-out), so consider that. Some look like metal racks. Others are solid wood. Some are small for smaller cabinets, and others are two tiers. Below are options from Amazon (affiliate). Note: plan what you can use the pull-out for before purchasing. Make sure you measure the opening twice before ordering.
Buy Now → (affiliate)
Store baking pans vertically.
If you have a lot of rectangular cookware, storing it vertically will prevent it from getting beat up when lying on each other. Visit our DIY post here (DIY Small Baking Cabinet Organization Idea) for step-by-step instructions on how I did this. Note: The glass pans can handle being on their side, and they do not fall out. (This is a big question for everyone.)
Use the side of cabinets and refrigerators to hold items.
The next one of my Small Kitchen Organizing Tips is to use heavy-duty magnet hooks, which are great for the side of the refrigerator. You can also use 3M Command hooks for the ends of the cabinets. Items you can store in these areas are tea towels, plate drying mats, cooking utensils (affiliate) with holes in the handles, and calendars.
Buy Now → (affiliate)
Maximize storage in every drawer.
When organizing drawers, take measurements of the inside of the drawers to maximize the available space. If you purchase a smaller drawer organizer, you may be limiting yourself. If you're willing to do some work, you can purchase a customized drawer organizer (affiliate) like the one below.
This post shows you step-by-step instructions on how to make a silverware drawer. It uses wood.
This post shows you how to make a small spice drawer.
In this post shares how I used premade customized drawer organizers and where you can buy them.
This post shows how to organize a drawer in the refrigerator.
Use decorative pegboards to hang items that are easily accessible.
If you have a wall that is not usable for anything else, you can easily make it a place to hang your utensils (affiliate) and pans. Here is an example of decorative pegboards and accessories you can add. I found these on Amazon (affiliate).
Kitchen Pegboard Organizer Pots and Pans Pegboard Pack Storage and Organization Kit
Buy Now →(affiliate)
Open up the cabinets, and feel free to adjust the shelves in the upper cabinet.
Did you know you can adjust the shelves (affiliate) in the cabinets? It's amazing, but many people think the cabinet shelves (affiliate) are affixed. They are not. You can remove the shelf holders and adjust the shelves (affiliate) to minimize the open space between one shelf and the other. Place the items on the shelf. Is there space above them before the next shelf? If there is space, move the shelf down to allow for only a little clearance, enough to pull out the items. By doing this, it will allow for taller items on a shelf in the cabinet.
I hope these tips help maximize your small kitchen. If you need help being creative in your kitchen, feel free to contact a Professional Organizer. If you want ideas on your particular situation, I offer virtual consultations. Let's continue the conversation. Do you have any tips on organizing a small kitchen? Please leave a comment below.
Visit our other small home organizing tips!
Below are some additional posts to help you organize your small kitchen; feel free to check them out.
31 Insanely Clever Ways To Organize Your Tiny Kitchen
20 Sneaky Storage Tricks for a Tiny Kitchen
Linda Samuels says
What excellent tips! The funny thing is that a small kitchen can be just as challenging to organize as a large one. When there's too much space, it can be harder to edit, and you end up having more than you need. I've never seen the YouCopia spice liners for drawers. Those look great! And I love that you can easily cut them to fit the drawer.
Sarah Soboleski says
Your posts are always so "pin-worthy," Sabrina! And I love the last tip about adjusting your shelves - we forget that sometimes, don't we?!
Hazel Thornton says
Thanks for the handy list of kitchen organizing tips, Sabrina! #10 (adjust the shelves) made me laugh, because it's so true! Sometimes we overlook the obvious and need someone else to point it out to us.
Seana Turner says
Such great tips here. You really do need to use every inch and eliminate anything that isn't earning its real estate! This makes me think of another new product idea I had that I didn't add to last week's post. I think kitchen cabinets should come with shallow pockets and maybe hooks build into the back side of the door. Wouldn't that make it easy to store recipes or low-profile items?
Sabrina Quairoli says
That would be awesome! People don't realize the unlimited options you can do with the back of the cabinet doors. Thanks for sharing, Seana.