Clear your counter space and organise your cupboards with these decluttering tips.
With just a few simple changes to your kitchen, you can free up your counters and organise your cupboards for a fresh and uncluttered look.
1. Use separators and organisers
Source: Family Handyman
Cupboards and drawers often don’t utilise space well.
An organiser allows you to store cutlery and utensils without a drawer’s contents becoming a mess.
Vertical dividers in cupboards make it easier to store cooking trays, cooling racks and chopping boards.
2. Create a pot rack
Source: DIY Network
A hanging pot rack above a counter or kitchen island frees up a lot of counter and cupboard space.
There are many variations, including DIY versions, and you can use the rack to hang larger kitchen utensils.
3. Put a lazy Susan in your grocery cupboard
Source: Décor Pad
A rotating lazy Susan isn’t just useful on the dinner table.
Place one in your grocery cupboard so that your spices and sauce bottles are easy to access and nothing gets forgotten at the back.
Pop one in your fridge to organise the sauce and mayo bottles.
4. Create a tea and coffee station
Source: Decoratorist
Your kettle and coffee maker can take up lots of counter space.
Consider creating a separate coffee station in an unused corner of the kitchen. It can hold the kettle, coffee maker, mugs, teaspoons and containers of tea and coffee.
5. Install a pegboard
Source: Contemporist
Boards with movable pegs offer versatility when it comes to storage space.
Rearrange them to create more shelves for cookbooks or magazines and create space to hang your aprons, ovens mitts and tea towels.
6. Utilise side-of-cupboard storage
Source: Pencil Philosophy
Utilise the side of kitchen cupboards with floating shelves or racks.
They can hold spices, fruit and veg, cookbooks, plants or glasses and mugs.
What ends up being the most practical will depend on the space and where it is in your kitchen layout.
7. Build a sliding rack for spice jars
Source: Classy Clutter
Fill an unused gap between two counters or cupboards with a narrow, wheeled shelf that holds smaller items like spices, jars and cans.
8. Hang a magnetic knife rack (and utensil holder)
Source: Home Wonders
A magnetic knife rack frees up drawer or counter space.
It’s a good way to store knives because the cutting edge is easily damaged in a drawer or knife block.
Some magnetic knife racks include hooks for cooking utensils.
9. Attach a cupboard door rack and hooks
Source: Simple Practical Beautiful
The inside of a cupboard door is often underutilised space.
Attach narrow racks or small shelves for extra storage space.
This is especially useful for spice bottles or small sachets of yeast and tomato paste.
10. Use an in-sink drainer
Source: Pinterest
We’ve all had to put the dishcloth on the counter to hold the dishes that won’t fit on the draining board.
A smaller drainer can be placed inside the sink after you’ve washed up so the dishes can drain without taking up counter space.
11. Hook up a hanging or wall-mounted fruit basket
Source: Wayfair
To move the fruit basket off the countertop, get a hanging or wall-mounted basket.
The hanging versions can be hung from the underside of a cupboard if there’s room.
A wall-mounted flower basket can be repurposed as a fruit basket.
12. Build a microwave nook
Source: homedit
A microwave sitting on a counter top takes up a lot of room.
Instead, put your microwave on a shelf, in a specially built nook or on a table.
Microwaves are heavy, so make sure the shelf or table can take the weight.
Store unused kitchen items with us
After you declutter your kitchen counters and cupboards, you might find you have space-consuming items you don’t use often but still want to keep.
At XtraSpace, we offer clean, secure self-storage units that are ideal for storing household appliances, furniture and more. Contact us for more information or browse to find a branch near you.