How To Organize Kitchen Drawers Instead of Cabinets!

Do you have kitchen drawers instead of kitchen cabinets? And you don’t really have the slightest idea on how to actually organize kitchen drawers?

Then be sure to have a look at how I like to organize my kitchen drawers! Continue reading and find out what’s my favorite tips for actually keeping the drawers organized!

Kitchen organization challenges

Organizing your kitchen can often prove to be quite the challenge. I know that many people (me included!) look at the kitchen as one of the most difficult places to organize. AND what’s even harder, is how to KEEP THE KITCHEN ORGANIZED.

It doesn’t really matter if you have a large or a small kitchen. To have an organized kitchen can be a challenge for everyone.

Your typical kitchen often includes food and pantry items, glassware, utensils, baking sheets, pots and lids, and small and large kitchen appliances and more. It doesn’t really have much to say if you only have small cabinets, narrow drawers, or you just lack some much-needed storage space, there are just so many things to take into consideration when you’re trying to keep your kitchen organized and tidy.

Why Kitchen Drawers can be Better than Kitchen Cabinets

Whether you have a kitchen remodel coming up, or you’re just curious if kitchen drawers actually are better than kitchen cabinets. Here’s my two main reasons for choosing drawers over cabinets.

Easier to access and full overview

With your typical kitchen cabinet, it’s so easy for things to get lost in the back of the cabinet. And if you need something in the back of the cabinet, you often have to pull out everything just to get to that one item.

With kitchen drawers you easily solve this problem! Just pull out your drawer, and you’ll have easy access to everything in the drawer and a full overview of what’s inside the kitchen drawer.

Kitchen drawers are more space efficient 

The space inside a typical cabinet can be very difficult to organize efficiently. But with drawers its much easier to use every square inch of the drawer. And you’ll also be able to fit a lot more into a drawer than your average cabinet. Drawers also make it a lot easier to add dividers, containers and bins that can help you to fit everything neatly into its own spot.

Do you want to know how to easily Organize Kitchen Drawers?

Kitchen drawers can easily end up as an easy way to hide all our kitchen mess, but trust me it doesn’t have to be that way! With a little decluttering and organizing your organized kitchen drawers will be a helpful everyday tool helping you find what you need when you need it.

We actually moved into our current home over a year ago, but it has taken quite some time to find the best kitchen storage solutions and get the right systems in place. I’ve had to declutter, sort, re-arrange, move, re-order,(declutter some more) and come up with better options for making the kitchen drawer organization work for our kitchen.

And now that it’s finally done, I can’t even begin to describe how awesome it is to be able to pull out my kitchen drawers and actually being able to see and find everything so easily!

My very favorite thing about having kitchen drawers instead of kitchen cabinets is that when your kitchen drawer is perfectly organized, you have a perfect view of everything that’s actually inside the drawer.

Now that our kitchen drawers are looking more organized than ever, I thought I would give you a little tour of some of my favorite organized kitchen drawers, and also share my best tips and drawer ideas so that you can get those perfectly organized kitchen drawers as well!

Tip # 1. Declutter and get rid of unnecessary items

Over time we often end up collecting more and more things we actually don’t really need or use. So before you can start to organize your kitchen drawers you should start with decluttering. If you know you don’t use or need an item in your kitchen, you might consider giving it away, donating it or give away to your friends or family.

Ideas for what you should declutter before you start organizing your kitchen :

• Kitchen items that are broken or has missing parts.

• Items that you don’t use anymore.

• Unused large kitchen appliances that take up much space and that you never use. Get rid of it, or store it somewhere else.

• Glassware – Be honest about what’s a realistic amount for your family needs and get rid of the extras. Get rid of any glasses that are chipped, or that you don’t like or never really use.

• If you have multiple of the same item, you might consider keeping only your favorite ones. Get rid of any duplicates you might find.

• Take-out menus/ flyers/coupons or other paper clutter. Our intention for keeping these is often that we will need it again soon, but honestly they often just get thrown in a drawer and forgotten about. Luckily you can find most take-out information online. If there’s a coupon or offer you actually want to use. You’re most likely better off placing it in your wallet for immediate use.

Even More Items you might want to declutter

• Get rid of the dishtowels and dishcloths, that are worn out or torn. Be realistic about how many you think you actually need. Keep only your favorites ones, and let the rest go.

• Have a look at the cleaning products you have and get rid of anything you don’t like or use. Plan to use up any partially used products before you buy any more.
• Take some time and go through all your small kitchen appliances and gadgets. This category tends to pile up in a typical kitchen, and can take up some much space in your kitchen. Firstly, you should have a look at the small appliances/gadgets that might have duplicate functions. If this is the case, you can get rid of the duplicates.

• Food that has expired, and you know that you won’t be eating. It’s also a good idea to go through your spice collection and get rid of spices that are expired. And also any spices that you don’t use or don’t even know what they are! You might also want to have a look at all the bottles with half-used sauces that you don’t actually like, but hope you might like.. someday! Be honest, if you were ever going to use it, you would have by now.

Tip # 2. Select a theme for each of your kitchen drawers

Now that you’re done with the decluttering part, lets move on to organizing kitchen drawers! The next thing you should decide is what type of items should go in each specific drawer. Try to keep similar items together in the same drawer. Ideally, also think of where it’s natural to have that specific drawer.

For example, if you want to organize your glasses in a drawer. It would be natural to choose a drawer near the sink and so on. For instance in the picture below you can see how I like to organize m drawers in a logical order. Since I always start my mornings taking my vitamins and then I’ll prepare breakfast. For me it then feels natural to have these two drawers close to each other.

I also like to organize kitchen drawers by organizing similar items into small containers or bins. For example, this is how I keep my vitamins and supplements neatly organized in the kitchen drawer. Underneath this drawer, I’ve also organized all my breakfast essentials.

I love these versatile, clean and white bins. I have these bins in several different sizes and they’re great for grouping items together. Choosing the right kitchen storage can really help you create that clean and organized look in your kitchen drawers.

Tip # 3. Organize your small kitchen appliances in a drawer

All those large kitchen appliances can take up so much space in your kitchen, so you might want to consider storing them somewhere else.The kitchen appliances that you only use once a year can be stored in your pantry, or somewhere else you have some extra storage available.

My Favorite Affordable Kitchen Drawer Organization Products

For smaller appliances that you use on a regular basis, store them in a kitchen drawer that’s nearby. That way they are easy to locate when you actually need to use them.

I like to store my coffee machine in a drawer, along with some coffee cups and coffee pods. I love that it’s easy to find when I need it, but it’s not taking up space and creating visual clutter on my kitchen counters.

Tip# 4. Plan your kitchen drawer and find the right products

Let’s face it, organizing your home can easily turn out to be quite expensive. If you have many drawers you need to organize, the cost of all the bins, boxes and drawers dividers can quickly add up. So one of the best investments you can make is actually to plan, before you decide to purchase anything for your kitchen drawers.

Make sure to properly measure the drawer before you buy any containers, to make sure that the containers will actually fit in your drawer.

I always like to make a simple drawing of the kitchen drawer I’m organizing.And you can easily do the same! Just write down all your drawers measurements, and compare these measurements with the containers or bins you’re looking to purchase.

If you’re smart about actually planning your kitchen drawer purchases, it can save you both time and money. When your kitchen drawers are perfectly planned, you don’t have to re-organize them anytime soon. And it will also save you money, not having to buy new containers.

Planning is also great for taking full advantage of the space you have available, making sure you don’t waste any storage potential.

Click here to read: How To Organize Your Kitchen Drawer

Click here to read: How to Get an Organized Spice Drawer

There you have it, my 4 very best tips on how to organize kitchen drawers!

I truly hope you enjoyed this post, and that you found some kitchen drawer ideas you want to try yourself.