Kitchen Cabinet Organization: 17 Ideas to Get More Storage Space

Have a tiny kitchen? Running out of kitchen storage? Here are my favourite kitchen cabinet organization ideas to juice every inch of cabinet space!

My husband has a problem with pots and pans.

Yes, you read that right.

He just loves buying a woks he will use for a week, cast iron pans he absolutely needed but are gathering dust now.

I on the other have a tiny little problem with pretty crockery.

Not on the level of my husband though. Obviously.

Anyhow – we ALWAYS need more cabinet space for our kitchen spoils.

Which is why I embarked upon finding the best ways to optimize kitchen storage.

An Amazon-spree-rabbit-hole-later – I found the best kitchen cabinet organizers and ended up organizing all my kitchen cabinets.

And so, I am proud to present… *drum roll*… my very favourite, rather clever – kitchen cabinet organization ideas.

Organize Pans Vertically

I used these 2 slotted adjustable pan racks to arrange all my pans horizontally.

I was sick of bending and reaching inside cabinets to find the pan I need. This system made all my pans visible, and super easy to pull out.

Works great for a wide cabinet. And if you have a taller cabinet, you could actually place this rack vertically instead.

For more ways to organize your pots and pans according to your cabinet type – you may want to check out my detailed post here.

Use Shelf Risers To Double Space

Adding shelf risers for my shorter tumblers is how I literally doubled my space while organizing my glassware cabinet.

Use Under Shelf Space

If you have tall shelves and some extra space left above each, you may want to consider adding an under shelf storage rack.

You could also use this spot to add a hanging mug organizer and keep your cups organized and easy to grab.

Use a Pull Out Organizer for Storage Boxes

For the longest time, I had one cabinet shelf dedicated to plastic storage containers.
But it kept turning into a dumping ground of take-out containers and I could never ever find the container I really need.

The lids would never fit and if I needed something from the back I’d have to take everything out. It literally was the part of my kitchen that would stress me out the most.

So I spent a lot of time thinking of a better solution.

First I decluttered and threw away about 80% of plastic containers. I kept only the ones I need, separated the lids and stacked like sizes & shapes together.

I then added a pull out shirt organizer into the cabinet.

This had two tiers and could early slide in and out – so I didn’t have to reach into the back of the cabinet to search for what I need.

Add a Slotted Rack for Lids

I arranged all the lids from my storage containers using an adjustable lid organizer.

This had adjustable slots so I kept the same kinds of lids together in one slot – segrating it by category.

If you’re looking for more ideas to organize lids in your kitchen – I have quite a few more in this post here.

Add a Lazy Susan For Pantry Condiments

Adding a lazy susan in your cabinet is a simple way to keep your sauces and condiments organized, visible and easy to reach.

Add Shelf Dividers to Create Sections

I wanted to create sections inside my pantry cabinet to keep stuff from mixing up into each other.

This was something that kept happening in the past because I have deep cabinets and things would just get mixed up at the back.

This is where a shelf divider can really help. You can keep stuff separated into categories and avoid things getting muddled up.

If you want to know more about how I transformed my humble kitchen cabinet into a pantry – check out my step-by-step guide on pantry cabinet organization.

Use Cabinet Doors for Lids

Hooking up a lid organizer or a lid holder to the inside of a cabinet door is another clever kitchen cabinet organization method that actually saves tons of space.

Hook Up with Command Hooks

There’s just so much you can do with the humble command hook – whether it’s organizing your measuring cups or ladles, your foil and cling film rolls or even pot lids.

Use a Pegboard in Drawers

Inserting a pegboard is a great way to keep dishes in place in deep drawers so they don’t slide around and chip.

It also nicely keeps things separated and is fully customizable.

Slot Platters & Trays Vertically

Adding a file holder to a cabinet is a super clever hack to organize your baking trays and serving platters.

Add a Cutlery Organizer

My drawer came with a built in cutlery organizer but you can insert one as per the size of your drawer.

This bamboo cutlery organizer is actually expandable so it gives you more flexibility.

Use a Plate Rack to Save Space

A plate rack in a cabinet is really a no brainer because it makes your dishes look more organized and super easy to access.

Get a Tiered Rack For Taller Pots & Pans

This double-sided vertical rack with adjustable slots is great to store your deeper pots along with pans.

Add Pull Out Racks For Easy Access

These adhesive pull out cabinet shelves are a real game changer when it comes to kitchen cabinet organization, because they don’t require any drilling.

Plus, these are heavy duty so you can even place your appliances and heavier utensils on them – and simply slide stuff out when you need to access anything.

Use Drawer Dividers To Keep Stuff From Rolling Around

Clever drawer organizers can help create sections in deep kitchen drawers and keep stuff from rolling around.

Label Away To Make Stuff Easy to Find

When I was organizing my Indian spice drawer – I labelled everything using stickers and a cute chalk pen.

Now, you can even opt for minimal and boujee kitchen labels to keep your cabinets and drawers looking neat and satisfyingly organized.

So those are my favourite kitchen cabinet organization ideas. Hope you could find a few that could help you!

If you’re setting up your kitchen from scratch or looking to rearrange your kitchen cabinets – check out my how-to guide here.

Want to make your kitchen more efficient? Learn to organize by kitchen zones here.