Clever Kitchen Storage Ideas For Small Kitchens

Sharing is caring!

How Do I Get More Storage In My Small Kitchen?

Is it time for you to finally get some organized ideas for the home? If so, you’re in the right place today! 

I’m sharing all my creative ideas for organizing the kitchen. We’re talking cute organized storage ideas in the kitchen, plus tips and tricks to keep your kitchen looking and functioning organized.   

I am a messy, right-brained clutterbug at heart, so my organized life has come out of lots of reading and learning. 

I need practical tips that are easy to apply to my own space to keep this place organized. So, if that’s you, too, you’re in good company! Keep reading.

And you don’t want to miss the last two tips. They’re absolute must-have tips you need to know if you’re going to keep an organized home. 

How do I organize my kitchen with little cabinet space?

Not enough cabinet space in the kitchen? I hear ya, girl. I’ve been there.

And the real truth is that even though my current kitchen is huuuge, it’s also old. And old cabinets must have been designed by men who never cooked because there’s barely enough storage in this whole huge kitchen for pots, pans, and the basic necessities. It’s definitely the largest kitchen I’ve had to date and holds the least because the cabinets aren’t practical. 

Imagine having all those doors and only being able to store stuff where the light falls…

So, I totally understand about not having enough cupboard space. 

And this is a judgement-free zone, even if you are out of space with a huge kitchen. 

This is the part of the story where I encourage you to make your kitchen bigger. And I don’t mean hide your crockpot under the bed (don’t ask me where I got that idea) or that you have to rip your kitchen out and blow out some walls, either. 

It’s as simple as adding a piece of furniture. 

Maybe that piece of furniture lives in the kitchen like my little coffee bar + recipe book storage + bread storage cabinet. Just adding one little piece of furniture has made my kitchen so much more practical (hellooo afternoon coffee bar!!!).

Or maybe that piece of furniture lives in the next room over.

I have been known to add huge pieces of furniture to the dining room to store my necessities. 

When we lived in the tiny house, our kitchen was the smallest little kitchen you’ve ever seen. Absolutely an afterthought for that old house. 

But after I realized there was no way I would ever have everything stored in that small kitchen, I started to search around for a large piece of furniture that would fit on a wall in the dining room. 

I eventually found one of those old entertainment center sets made of solid mahogany and packed with very practical storage. I’m talking pull out drawers and shelves galore. 

And since those aren’t the cool thing anymore, you can easily pick up a really nice piece that was originally a $2000-$3000 piece of furniture for less than $100 nowadays. 

I actually stored all our dry foods (like cereal and canned food) in that cabinet, plus my baking dishes, microwave, and storage containers. 

It was just around the corner and held so. much. stuff. It didn’t seem like any trouble at all to leave the kitchen to microwave our soup back then. 

I love these inexpensive furniture pieces to expand your kitchen storage.

And these are great if you have a little bigger budget, but not quite ready to rip out the rest of the kitchen. 

And I actually have this piece (below). It’s so versatile. It’s been in my dining room, office, and now it’s my bathroom storage in the master bathroom. I have the doors covered with a long piece of white paper, so you can’t see the mess it’s hiding. And, insider tip: it’s made by the exact same factory that makes the ones from Restoration Hardware. Love it.

The Best Ways To Organize A Kitchen: Containers

Keeping an organized home does require some specific items for organizing. You’re going to need some boxes, baskets or some type of container to keep all that stuff organized in its proper place. 

Organizers don’t have to be expensive (some of my favorites were really cheap plastic basket things from Walmart years ago), but they do need to be cute enough to bring you that peaceful organized feeling if you’re already going to all the trouble to increase storage and organize your kitchen.

I’ve found that shopping around will get me a cute storage piece for not much more than an ugly utilitarian piece for organizing, so why not pick the cute one?!! 

And if you have boring storage or organizing containers, why not dress them up with a few stickers? I found these super cute pantry stickers on Amazon and think I need to upgrade my storage containers with some cute stickers that will bring a smile to my face whenever I pull the flour out of the pantry. 

I’ve also seen some adorable ways to organize cookbooks lately. I tend to store my recipes and cookbooks either in my coffee bar (above) or right in a kitchen cabinet above the stove (let’s be honest…I’m too short to use those cabinets for much else!!). 

But, keeping cookbooks in a cute basket on the counter is an adorable way to keep those recipes handy, especially during the holidays or whenever you know you have recipes you need to peek at often (like for those healthy recipes coming with New Year’s resolutions). 

I really like these baskets/organizers for storing cookbooks in the kitchen.

Think Outside The Box (or Basket!)

Cute baskets and cabinet organizers are awesome. And I’m totally on board with that idea. But experience has taught me that you can get a double whammy on keeping your home awesome by using unconventional storage items for storage. 

I had a season of my life where I started hoarding primitives. We’re talking milk glass vases, enamel stockpots, wooden cheese boxes, and galvanized buckets. What I bought as decorative items have really turned into some of the cutest and most useful storage containers that I have now. 

While packing the kitchen during one of our moves, I stashed a bunch of spices and sauces into those old enamel stockpots to keep them safe, and guess what? They still live in those stockpots in a decorative shelf in my kitchen. Voila! Practical decorative storage. 

So, don’t be afraid to think outside the basket and save some money on kitchen organizers.

How Do You Organize Kitchen Cupboards?

Moving like a military family has introduced me to lots of ideas, some conventional and some not-so-conventional ideas. Well, thankfully, the last home we lived in had a very conventionally organized lady living there previously.

Most rooms had a cabinet door shelf on every cabinet with a sink, even the bathrooms. 

I had never used those cheap little metal shelves before, but let me tell you. They were awesome!!! 

I don’t like keeping dish soap on the sink counter and often keep it below the sink (along with the scrubbie pads, steel wood pads, and cleaning brushes). Well, these simple little $3 shelves were strong and amazing at containing the everyday kitchen clutter and keeping my kitchen counters uncluttered!!

I was so impressed. 

She also had an amazing spice rack on the pantry door. It was metal, too, and super strong. I still had to use some extra shelf spice rack organizers like these (spice hoarding problem, anyone??), but that big pantry door spice rack was so great that I bought one for our new house (and some of those under sink organizing shelves, too). 

I also really like these spice rack organizers. 

That lady also used vertical organizers in her pots and pans cabinet. I was so impressed with how much those vertical organizers helped keep everything orderly in that cabinet that is prone to get pretty crazy or to be a huge space waster with stacked pans. 

I’ve also had kitchens with drawer storage. And let me tell you, drawer storage in the kitchen is so. So. much better than plain ‘ol shelf storage. Everything is more accessible and you can actually reach the back of the cabinet, meaning you can actually store stuff back there without losing it. If we end up staying in the home much longer, I’m adding drawers to my most often used cabinets so I can double my storage (since right now I can only store things at the very front of the cabinet). I’ve seen some bloggers building their own cabinet drawers, but who has time for that?? I’m planning on getting these babies. 

I also love lazy susans for kitchens. If you have a corner cabinet that’s eating up your storage space, you need one of these bad boys. This little lazy susan can hold (almost) my entire baking cabinet which has a full set of conventional ingredients (sugar, flour, oatmeal, etc) and my keto/health nut ingredients (4 types of alternative sweeteners, almond flour, psyllium husks, etc). That’s a ton of stuff, y’all. 

Now, for these next two, you’ll have to let me know what you think about them in the comments. 

I’ve always wanted a can organizer for canned foods, but I’m not sure I would actually keep them stocked good enough so that the rows didn’t get mixed up?? Do you have one you like? This one has rave reviews, so it’s really tempting for me to try! I’m also interested in this expandable version of a can organizer.

I know pot and pan lids are a problem, and this organizer looks promising, especially for those of you with more modern kitchens. Our old cabinets have a middle shelf that goes all the way to the front, so I don’t think these will work in our space, but if I had different cabinets, I’d be giving this thing a try, too to solve that lid problem!

How To Organize Inside Cupboards and Drawers With Organizers

It isn’t enough to keep things tucked away into cabinets and drawers. The items need to have a home inside those cabinets and drawers. That’s where organizers come in handy. 

They’re a cheap solution to keeping things where they belong. Some of my favorite drawer organizers are just a few bucks from Amazon. 

You’ll be amazed at how much more stuff you can fit into drawers if it’s organized. 

The worst part about drawer organizers is that they’re never the exact right size and they rarely use your space the best way. I love this organizer because it’s expandable and even has a second-level slider. So smart. 

Did you know that the utensil tray is totally wasting precious space inside your drawer? That’s right. There’s a smarter solution on the block and it saves tons of space in your kitchen drawers. 

And if storing utensils isn’t your issue, those dangerous knives floating around in the drawer probably are. Get those knives secured with one of these amazing space savers. 

While those big lazy susans can be lifesavers, let’s not overlook the smaller versions. Small lazy susans can make the entire depth of your shelf accessible with the twirl of your hand. 

I really love these small lazy susans:

And can we just take a moment of silence for the glorious thing that is clear organizing bins??? I absolutely adore these things. My fridge is full of them to keep things organized and efficient (not to mention spills or gross things that happen in the fridge aren’t a deal anymore since I can just rinse these little babies out without taking the entire fridge apart to clean it). 

But did you know you can use clear organizing bins in your cabinets to keep the warmer stuff organized, too? And clear isn’t your only option, either!! I’m really liking these shelf organizers for their practicality. 

Okay, one last pantry organizer. What if you could add a little drawer to your shelf? I’m talking keeping your most-used spices handy, right next to the foods you use them for. Or tucking away those little things that are just too awkward for their own space. And what if it could be tucked out of the way without taking up a ton of room? Plus, it’s totally affordable. Gotta see what I’m talking about?? Check out this pantry shelf-mounted drawer here. 

How to save space in a small kitchen?

When we lived in a camper for 6 months, I discovered Joseph Joseph. Now, they aren’t paying me to say this, but they’re absolutely small space organizing geniuses!!! 

The key to saving space in a small kitchen is to use smart kitchen tools. 

Almost all their products are made for keeping small spaces organized and stylish. 

They helped make my teeny tiny camper kitchen totally workable. 

But their products aren’t just for tiny homes or camper kitchens. Nope, they make normal stuff for everyone’s kitchens. 

I absolutely adore their nesting measuring cups + spoons and cooking/serving spoons. They’re great colors and so so practical. I took the big spoons off the stand and keep them nested together in one of my kitchen drawers and have plenty more space in that tiny drawer for other necessities. And that spoon set has almost everything you need for cooking a full dinner. 

If you’re needing a diverse set of space-saving kitchen tools, this set is your best bet. You could almost send this off to college with your kid and half their kitchen is taken care of. 

How To Organize A Small Kitchen

I hope you found all these kitchen storage ideas helpful. They’ll help you organize everything from your pantry, to drawers, cupboards and everything in between. And if you don’t have enough space in those places, I’ve given you some easy solutions to gain enough space in your kitchen to keep your kitchen counters uncluttered and the rest of the room organized.