How to Organize Kitchen Cabinets

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It's day 6 of neatntiny.com's 30-Day Spring Tidying Challenge! If you're just joining us, check out the link above explaining how it works and the links below for what we've covered so far:

Day 1: Kitchen Counters

Day 2: Under the Sink

Day 3: Dining Area

Day 4: Cutlery & Utensils Drawers

Day 5: Tupperware Drawer

We've got our work cut out for us today, tackling the remainder of the kitchen drawers, cabinets & pantry. Don't worry if you don't finish it all today, since there's some catch up time tomorrow!

If you haven't already, please subscribe for a free, printable 30-Day Spring Tidying Challenge schedule!

Below are my suggestions for how to approach each of your remaining drawers/cabinets/pantry. By now, you know the drill, so things should move a lot more quickly:

1. Empty out each remaining drawer/cabinet/pantry. I suggest doing this one or two areas at a time vs. dumping everything into one big, confusing pile.

2. Clean the inside of each area with your favorite multipurpose cleaner; sweep or vacuum the pantry floor.

3. Decide what items you'll be keeping in each drawer/cabinet/pantry. Get rid of food that's expired or that you don't see yourself consuming before its 'best before' date.

4. Divide the contents of each drawer/cabinet/pantry into four boxes/bins:

i) belongs in the drawer/cabinet/pantry

ii) belongs elsewhere in the kitchen

iii) fit to donate/sell used

iv) garbage/recycling

5. Return only the items you've decided to keep to each drawer/cabinet/pantry and organize neatly.

Some Cabinet Organization Tips from Our Home:

Don't stuff cabinets to their full depth. If it's out of sight, it's out of mind, and you may as well not have it!

Yes, that's Spam...I was tempted to take it out of the shot, but I wanted to keep it real with you guys. It's one of my guilty pleasures.

Make sure that everything is either visible or if you need to stack some things in front of others, make sure it's a duplicate or related item behind the first one:

What's behind this can of beans? Why, another can of beans, of course!

If you're stacking one item in front of another, put the one expiring first in front.

I repurposed a lidless piece of Tupperware from day 5 to group smaller items/powder mixes. A small wire shelf allows for more vertical storage:

Shop This Idea

2-Pack Stackable Kitchen Cabinet Organizer ($15.87, Amazon.com).

3-Tier Expandable Shelf Organizer ($18.87, Amazon.com). The advantage of this organizer is the ability to see things in the very back.

In this cabinet, we keep our cereal and snack foods:

We group smaller items together in little 'bins.' In this case, it's another repurposed lidless piece of Tupperware from day 5:

This is our bulk dry goods drawer. A label-maker's a must for keeping it organized:

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My trusty label maker: Dymo Label Manager 160 ($25.49, Amazon.com). I label everything, from food storage to toy bins.

Or, you can get containers that come with labels: 7-Piece BPA-Free Airtight Dry Goods Containers With Labels and Marker ($32.99, Amazon.com).

For more on how we organize the rest of our kitchen drawers and cabinets, check out this post:

Since we don't have a pantry of our own, I'm sharing this gloriously organized one, from fellow doc mom, Stephanie:

Pantry porn. Notice how everything is divided into categories and labelled. Keeping things looking this good is motivation to keep it tidy!

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Set of 110 Pantry Label Stickers ($19.99, Amazon.com).

Set of 57 Pantry Label Stickers ($12.75, Amazon.com).

6. Redistribute the items that belong elsewhere in the kitchen, or somewhere else in the home, to their appropriate spots.

7. Dispose of and/or recycle items from the designated garbage/recycling bins.

So, that's your mission for day 6, should you choose to accept it... If you don't get all of your drawers, cabinets and pantry done today, don't fret: you can catch up tomorrow! Join Us tomorrow for Day 7: Fridge/Freezer and Kitchen Catch Up!