It’s been a few months since one of the most trying experiences of my entire life ;-)…organizing my kitchen cabinets. I am not a natural organizer, I don’t enjoy it, and if you search for “organization” on my blog, generally you get a bunch of whining about how much I don’t like organizing, but I do like an organized home. So I’ve been trying really hard to make sure that when I do tackle an organization project, I get it right the first time.
The kitchen cabinet organization project has gotten a ton of views since I posted it, and so I thought a check-in was in order. I’ll just tell you up front; these cabinets continue to function really well for us! In fact, they look pretty much exactly the same today as they did when I took these pics on reveal day in September. Which I think means, I got this one right. But I was thinking about how well they function the other day, and I thought I’d break down the main reasons why they function so well for anyone who is thinking about tackling this project.
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Kitchen cabinet organization ideas
Lighten up
If you read the original post, you saw that I painted the entire insides of the cabinets and changed out the shelf liner. Those cabinets were so dark that the corners were like black holes. Painting made them instantly brighter and the marble shelf liner is just so pretty. It just makes me, and the boys, so much more inspired to want to keep the cabinets neat and organized. Plus, just practically, it is so much easier to see the contents than it was before.
The marble shelf liner has been holding up extremely well. It hasn’t stained, ripped, or torn since we’ve had it, and we’re definitely not easy on it. We take those baskets out, slide them around, etc, and it’s held up nicely.
Know your space, and plan it well
When you are planning to really get down with organizing your kitchen cabinets, really thoughtfully consider the space that you are dealing with.
Our cabinets are “custom” which I think just means that someone hired their cousin to come build them. They are rock solid, but the dimensions are weird, and there are all kinds of odd supports and what-not in places that make even some of the door placement questionable. So honestly, I had to think really hard about what would work for the space.
If you read the original post and look at those heinous before pics, you can tell I was initially overwhelmed with this. For example, I had just shoved a lot of stuff in the unusable really dark corners of the cabinets and it had just multiplied. When I organized the space, I made a conscious effort to be more thoughtful and very intentional.
Which goes right along with my third kitchen cabinet organization idea…
Make sure that your storage items are what you need for the job
So when I was planning our storage, I knew that it would involve a lot of baskets to corral stuff.
I’ve bragged on these baskets that we used for our cabinets before, but I just LOVE them. They’ve turned out to be an amazing purchase.
They are lightweight but heavy duty. So far in the time that we’ve had them, they haven’t been damaged at all. The one that we use for tools, we pick it up and carry it all over the house, plus outside, and it’s held up great. Plus- the best part- they come in lots of different sizes! Which was terrific for my odd sized cabinets! I ended up using three different sizes to organize my space.
The small little cabinet doors? Those baskets come in small sizes that just fit that space, and so I grouped like items in them. Just last night when Michael asked, “where’s the pineapple cutter?” I was able to just pull out that basket and give it to him. Never would have happened this time last year…we would have been searching for who knows how long for it!
So there you have it. My top three kitchen cabinet organization ideas: Use light to your advantage, know your space and plan it well, and make sure that your storage items work for you. If you do those three things, your kitchen cabinet organization project will work for you too!
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