Kitchen organization?

[SM23Mama21]

I've been keeping my flour, sugar and the like in large glass containers on my counter in the kitchen, but my kitchen is small and the counter clutter is driving me insane! So, where do you keep items like this and what do you keep them in?

What about pasta?

Would love any kitchen organizing advice and/or websites that you use for good ideas.

I'm already a huge fan of organizing junkie, but haven't seen any solution over there.

Thanks!

[cono0507]

I don't like having much at all on the counters. We just moved to a new city and are renting this year and the kitchen in our rental is much smaller than our old kitchen. All I have on the counters is a bread box and a toaster oven. Even in our large kitchen I kept flour, sugar, etc, in air-tight rubbermaid canisters in the pantry or cabinet. I always kept all appliances except the toaster oven in a bottom cabinet. Less on the counters = less to keep clean! :)

[kmillini]

Have you thought about the oxo pop containers? I have had them for about a year and I love them. Macy's is having a friends and family sale right now. They are 25% and you get free shipping above $99. Just use the code MACYSFF.

[salsah]

i don't have much counter space so everything is in the pantry -- which is just a regular cabinet.

[fumofu]

All my dry goods (sugar, flour, cornmeal, etc) are in those plastic containers I get from takeout. They're labeled and stacked in a cabinet.

I recently moved all my spices that were stacked willy nilly in the cupboard to a drawer all lying flat, organized alphabetically. I don't know why I never thought of it sooner.

We moved to a house with a bigger kitchen, so I haven't been very wise in terms of placing dinnerware, drinkware in a better cupboard space.

On our counter is the dish rack, knife block, salt & pepper mills, toaster oven, stand mixer, coffee machine, electric water kettle, wine bottles that won't fit inside the cupboards. It's a lot...but good thing I have the space for it.

[niccig]

Have you thought about the oxo pop containers? I have had them for about a year and I love them. Macy's is having a friends and family sale right now. They are 25% and you get free shipping above $99. Just use the code MACYSFF.

Oh, I'm going to use that code.

I have the Oxo pop containers and other cannisters for all my dried goods. Most of them are in the pantry. I do keep the cannisters of rice/pasta/quinoa in the cabinet over the range hood as my pantry is pretty full. I have one shelf in the pantry that are baking items - different flours, sugars, baking powder etc. One shelf is all cereal, another shelf is all canned items, another is all snack items - granola bars, crackers, dried fruit etc. What I do have trouble with are bags of chips etc - They are in the very top of the pantry and I'm short, so we often end up with 3 half-eaten open bags, as I can't see what else is up there.

If you have a big enough kitchen, some people organize by centers eg a baking center would have things like flour, sugar, measuring cups, bowls, mixer etc. I've also seen some kitchens where people put all the breakfast items in a cabinet, so the kids can get their own breakfasts etc. My kitchen is too small for that.

[WatchingThemGrow]

If you have a big enough kitchen, some people organize by centers eg a baking center would have things like flour, sugar, measuring cups, bowls, mixer etc. I've also seen some kitchens where people put all the breakfast items in a cabinet, so the kids can get their own breakfasts etc. My kitchen is too small for that.
I do this for organization. Baking/seasoning stuff goes in one cabinet. I have the Oxo pop stuff for some of the items (need another 10pc set- so thanks for the code) but the really old Tupperware I got 2nd hand (rectangular, with red lids) seem to get more in them for the space they take up. The Pop lids are kinda big.

Spices are alphabetized on a plastic two tier lazy susan.
Random boxes of small pasta are driving me crazy. They're getting ready to go into Pop containers also. Large bags of pasta/rice go into the pan drawers where the pots and pans are b/c they always get used together. Breakfast items are together. The 8pks of cans of stewed/diced tomatoes, green beans, paste, etc go way in the back behind stuff b/c we don't need to look at them for inspiration or stocking reasons. DH's coffee stuff is right above the coffee pot, as is his peanut butter, sandwich bags, etc. I arrange it all by purpose so we can see what we need for that one meal by opening one cabinet, if that makes sense.

[salsah]

If you have a big enough kitchen, some people organize by centers eg a baking center would have things like flour, sugar, measuring cups, bowls, mixer etc. I've also seen some kitchens where people put all the breakfast items in a cabinet, so the kids can get their own breakfasts etc. My kitchen is too small for that.

my kitchen is small, but i still do that. i can't dedicate an entire cabinet or sometimes not even an entire shelf to one category, but generally things are stored in groups. i have two tiny shelves (half the depth of the cabinet), one is for teas/hot cocoa/honey, etc. and the other is for medicine. i have one shelf for cereals and snacks. one for savory type stuff (rice, pasta, oil, vinegar, jarred pasta sauce, tuna cans, etc.) and two for baking supplies. that is my entire pantry cabinet. (and those shelves are only 1' wide by 2' deep.)

[jjordan]

I love the book "Organizing from the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern for inspiration. :)

Our food is generally grouped by type and put into appropriately-sized sterilite baskets in the pantry. So there's a pasta/rice basket, two baking baskets (salt, baking soda, vanilla, etc), several small spice baskets (A-B spices, C spices, etc.), a "salty" snacks basket and a "sweet" snacks basket, etc. etc. The things NOT kept in baskets are flour/sugar bins, cereal boxes, and in general the larger food items.

It is great for me because I can just pull out the basket I need and get the food out from the top. Whereas without the baskets, it would be hard to get to the food in the back of the shelf, and it would involve a lot of time moving stuff around to try to find what I'm looking for.

[Melaine]

I love the book "Organizing from the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern for inspiration. :)
.

Thanks. I'm adding that to my library list!

[sarahsthreads]

I love the book "Organizing from the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern for inspiration. :)

This is a great thread! And I just wanted to say that I have this book but haven't read it yet. DH thought it was hilarious when he found it in the middle of a pile of papers and books one day - he wondered if I put it there thinking it might organize the pile for me?

Now I'll have to go find it and read it. My kitchen is desperate for some organization!

Sarah :)