When it comes to the organization systems in my home, no room is more dialed in than my kitchen. This is especially important to me since I love cooking in this space and do it nearly every single day. Over time, I’ve developed a kitchen organization system that isn’t necessarily pretty but that works really well for me.

Today I’m sharing the three rules that help me keep our kitchen organization system in place.

3 Kitchen Organization Rules I Swear By

1. Everything has a dedicated place.

Every single ingredient and piece of cookware in our kitchen has a dedicated place. This includes small appliances, pots and pans, lids, food storage containers, and more. I don’t focus on perfection or making sure every single cabinet and drawer is perfectly organized—I simply make sure everything fits and goes back to its spot once I’m done using it. Things do get a bit unorganized after a couple of months (partially because I’m not the only one using this space), but it takes less than half an hour to fix. In my mind, that means this is a winning organization solution for our family. 

2. Everything is easy to find.

This rule is most noticeable in our kitchen’s large pantry cabinet. Here, I organize every ingredient we have by how I cook. Similar items stay together, such as beans and rice, noodles, cooking oils, and baking ingredients. I also store almost everything in clear containers that allow me to easily see what we have on hand (and know when it’s time to refill ingredients). These containers are my favorite! I like to cook through most of what we have in the pantry before restocking, which means every month or two I wipe down the containers, refill them, and clean out whatever has expired. 

Shop Some of My Favorite Kitchen Organization Products

• ClearSpace Storage Bins – These have fixed 70% of the organization issues in our home.
• SpaceAid Wrap Organizer – The best product for organizing plastic wrap, tin foil, etc.
• GOLIYEAN Storage Bins With Lids – I use these bins in my fridge.
• Seseno Stackable Storage Bins – I use these in my fridge too.
• Totally Kitchen Egg Storage Container – This makes it easy to see how many eggs we have on hand.
• mDesign Divided Storage Bins – I use these to store snacks and tea.
• mDesign Storage Bins – I love these for storing items in the freezer and narrow cabinets.
• Veckle Under-Shelf Baskets – These are great for making use of empty space in cabinets!
• yaenoei Storage Shelf Racks – I also use these to maximize storage in cabinets.
• OXO Good Grips POP Containers – I keep almost all of our dry pantry goods in these.

Find more details on all of my favorite organization products in this post.

3. Everything is easy to reset.

We have a baseline level of cleanliness we try to maintain in the kitchen. Even when life is chaotic, it’s very easy to get our kitchen back to a clean and organized state at the end of each day. These are the non-negotiable tasks we do every night (or most nights):

• Load the dishes in the dishwasher.
• Wipe down the counters.
• Clear the island of personal items.
• Put any items that don’t have an obvious place into a designated bowl on the counter to be sorted the next day. 

We don’t have a perfect track record of completing all of these things every single night—and that’s okay. But I know from experience that if we get at least two or three of them done, it makes a huge difference the next morning when we’re getting out the door for school dropoff. 

If you liked this kitchen organization article, read these posts next:

15 Useful Home Organization Products I Love, Starting at $8
My Fridge Organization System and How It Helps Me Cook Off the Cuff
3 Books That Help Me Better Organize My Home, Time, and Life

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Kate Arends

Kate is currently learning to play the Ukulele, much to the despair of her husband, kids, and dogs. Follow her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.