13 Best Kitchen and Pantry Organization Ideas

May 02,2024

Everything you need to organize your kitchen and pantry, according to professional organizers, including the best kitchen-cabinet organizers, the best kitchen-drawer organizers, and the best kitchen-pantry organizers..
“Rather than stacking frying pans and baking sheets, flip them on their side and store them vertically, like files. So that way, you can pull one out without having to move a whole stack, and there are pot and pan organizers that hold them vertically, so they don’t all topple and slide around. That’s a great way to make your stuff more accessible and also maximize your space. But for big pots, like a stockpot, most often, people have to stack them. If you do have to stack things, put the ones that you use more often on the top.” —Zaslow .
“One of my fave kitchen space-saving organizers are wrap racks, which utilize the wasted space on the inside of a lower cabinet door to store wraps — like plastic wrap, aluminum foil — and plastic bags, freeing up drawer space. You can also use them for cutting boards or under the sink for cleaning products.” —Zaslow .
“We do lots of pantries for people because they’re on Instagram or Pinterest, and they go, ‘I want the million-dollar look.’ But we always say to them that we don’t want to leave you and have you be aggravated, because life is hard enough. So one of the things we always say to people is if it’s something you know how to use — let’s say flour — put it in the clear bins. You could put Doritos in the clear bins, that’s sort of fun. The containers we always use for those are the OXO ones that have the pushdown button, so I think it probably does stay fresher than flour in a paper bag, and in that way, it works. But anything that’s in a box with an expiration date or directions, don’t put that in a separate container. You can put them into bins by groups, you can have all your rices together, instead.” —Lightfoot .
“The first thing is to give each drawer kind of a function, so you have a sense of what is in which drawer, because that will also reduce the time you spend hunting for something. Every kitchen is different, but usually, there’s some drawer relatively close to the stove, and I like to use that for gadgets that are used at the stove. (It sounds obvious, but you’d be amazed.) So when you’re standing at the stove, you can open the drawer and grab a spatula, a wooden spoon, a slotted spoon. Most of those things are usually long with a handle, so to be honest, if those are just neatly arranged in a drawer, you often don’t need any kind of organizer. But one thing that I do love in organizing a drawer, because it takes up almost no space, are these customized drawer dividers that you cut with an X-Acto knife. You can cut them to the exact size that you want, and then they’ve got slots that stick on to the edge of the drawer, and you just slide them in.” —Zaslow .
“One thing that I really like is these clear bins; they’re made by InterDesign and they’re called Binz. And they have ones specifically for the fridge, which are called Fridge Binz. The thing that’s great about them is that fridge shelves are really deep, so stuff does tend to get pushed to the back. With these bins, it makes the shelf into a drawer, so you can put a whole bunch of small things into the bin and then pull the whole thing out. So if you have tons of condiment jars that don’t fit on the shelves on the door, those are great to contain them. Or if you’ve got things like anchovy paste in a tube, that’s just going to fall down and get lost from the door, those are great in a bin.” —Zaslow .
“Depending on how the fridge is laid out, a lazy Susan can make a huge difference. It, of course, doesn’t use the corners, but because it turns, it means you’re not getting the black holes in the back where things are lost. And then you’re not wasting money on things that spoil.” —Lightfoot .
“I am in love with this turntable, I keep coming back for more of them — I have five so far, and I’m not done. They are great in kitchen cabinets and in the fridge, and I would like to add some in under-sink areas around the house. Why is this so awesome? It has a nice lip so items don’t fall off of it. The lip goes straight up and doesn’t take away from flat storage area, and it spins very very nicely. There are some cheap turntables out there that can make you think all turntables don’t work at all, but this is not one of those. This spins perfectly every time and is evenly balanced. Very pleased.” .
“Clear is great because you can see what’s inside. For those I actually like glass because that’s easier to clean than plastic, and things like tomato sauce are not going to stain glass. Rubbermaid makes some nice ones where the containers nest, and the tops stick together. The bottom is glass, but the top is a rubbery plastic. They’re airtight, square. Square is always better; it’s more of a space-saving shape than a circle. I think it’s really good also to have one shelf, usually the top shelf, where you put your leftovers, so you see them and remember to use them.” —Zaslow .
“What I prefer for produce savers, because they save more space, are these Debbie Meyer GreenBags. They really work. You just use that and a chip clip. They’re great for carrots, lettuce, celery, any kind of produce. It really does make them last longer. The thing about these, as you eat your lettuce, it takes up less and less space, which is what I love about plastic bags, in general. They don’t look cute on Instagram, but they really work.” —Zaslow .
“I’m obsessed with these clips; they’re called Twixit. They’re Swedish, and they come in all different sizes. They have big ones you can use right on a bag of chips. You just use them over and over again; they can go in the freezer. I buy a lot of frozen berries and fruit; those things come in plastic bags, so I just use these to keep them closed. They’re also great for those inner plastic bags inside of boxes of crackers or cereal.” —Zaslow