Have a kitchen cabinet that needs a bit of TLC?

Looking for step-by-step tips to help you get the job done?

In this post, I offer a few tips to help you organize a kitchen cabinet.

Whether you want to organize foodstuffs, kitchen utensils or other items, these essential tips will help you make a clean sweep!

Select a cabinet to organize.

Organizing a single cabinet is more doable in one sitting than trying to organize the entire contents of your kitchen cabinets. It’s really easy to tell what was inside (and what’s outside) once you start removing items. Choose a cabinet to work on and clear off a space on your kitchen counter or table for sorting materials.

Identify what you’ll store inside.

If your cabinet is currently a catch-all for various foodstuffs and utensils, you might want to streamline what you store in the cabinet. Do you want to store canned or boxed goods, bottles, spices, stemware or plates? Do you want to be able to grab a can of canned corn without cringing? How about grasping a full table setting with ease?

Remove everything from the cabinet.

That’s right, take everything out, one by one. As you remove items from the cabinet, make a decision to throw out or keep items. Dispose of well-expired foodstuffs and items you no longer need or want. Long-expired cans of baked beans, plastic storage containers without lids, a broken kitchen utensil that you can’t stand to use…it’s okay to let these things go.

Sort like materials with like.

It’s now time to place similar items with similar items. Go ahead and arrange similar items with one another on your counter or table, making sure to keep your cabinet’s function in mind.

Decide where you’ll put everything.

Let’s say you’ve decided to convert a cabinet for canned good storage. This is where you figure out specifically where you are going to put things. Take into account how frequently you use items, as well as their weight. Design your own system according to your household’s needs. Here’s a quick example: if you have three shelves, you could place the heaviest and most frequently used cans on the bottom shelf, followed by the second most used cans on the middle shelf, with the least use cans on the top.

Place everything back inside the cupboard.

Replace items back inside the cabinet one by one, making sure to turn labels facing outward so you can see them, and/or stacking dish ware carefully back inside. You might want to label the different shelves to help you keep track of what belongs on which shelf. Lastly, if you think you might benefit from having a dish, rack, mug holders, spice rack, glass or plastic food storage containers or other organizational tool, make a note to pick up items on your next grocery or shopping trip.

How about you? Do you have a particular kitchen cabinet that needs organizing? Which one is going to get a thorough clean out and reorganization? Join in the conversation and leave a comment below!