No matter how hard we try, there never seems to be enough space for everything that belongs in our kitchens. They are the hubs of our homes, and the busiest area of the house. It’s no wonder we have a hard time keeping them neat and tidy! What helps to keep our kitchens organized is being able to find a practical place for everything we use on a regular basis when it comes to cooking for our families and ourselves.

The first step in organizing your kitchen is coming to the realization that our countertops and cabinets will no longer be a dumping ground for things that should have a permanent home within the space. Finding the proper place for everything in our kitchen will help open up the room, make it appear cleaner and neater, and will cut down on time lost looking for thing that may be buried beneath clutter.

To help you get started, we’ve put together 10 easy ways to help get your kitchen organized!

1. Wire Baskets

Wire baskets are so versatile and can be used to solve any number of problems associated with storage in the kitchen. We like wire baskets to clean up under your sink. Get some wire baskets and put them under the kitchen sink so that you don’t have to reach back to find what you need.

2. Spice Racks

Who even has spice racks anymore? If you have any spices at all, they need a place to call home. If you don’t want your spices hanging off the wall, then opt for something a little more modern and get a spice drawer inlay. These are available at most home stores and easily fit into standard size drawers. They make it easy to read the labels so you’re no longer pulling every spice container out of the cabinet in order to find the one you’re looking for.

3. Hooks and Hangers

Hooks and hangers are a great storage solution for things like your oven mitts, dishtowels, and aprons. Keeping them within arms reach of the sink and oven make them easily accessible when you need them. These can be placed inside cabinet doors, or even on empty walls if it fits with your décor.

4. Plate Racks

Plate racks are a great solution for adding space to your existing cupboard space. These are wire racks that break up the space in your cupboards so you can place your plates below the rack and then have new space on top of the rack for bowls or other plates. Plate racks quickly and cheaply double your storage space in each and every cupboard. These are also good for storing canned goods in pantries as well.

5. Clear Storage Bins/Jars

Whether you go out and invest in actual Tupperware ® or you buy some plastic food storage containers at the local department store, having clear storage bins for dry food items makes organizing your pantry so much easier. When you can clearly see how much of a dry food item you have, you can prepare for shopping trips better, and you don’t have half empty boxes of cereal hanging around your house.

6. Shoe Rack

If you have a small house, you might not have a proper closet to store your shoes and coats. Remember those hooks we mentioned before? They are also great for hanging coats and sweaters when you enter and exit your house. If you need to get the pile of shoes off your floor, get a shoe rack and place it in the corner near the door. The last thing you want to do is to trip over a pair of shoes while carrying a hot casserole.

7. Wicker Baskets

Like wire baskets, wicker baskets are good for storing items out in the open. They are great for keeping fruit fresh on the counter, putting keys and other small items in, and they are really great collecting small items that may otherwise clutter up your counter space. Containing these small items in these wicker baskets keeps them all in one place, while maintaining a more aesthetically pleasing look and feel.

8. Towel Racks

When you finish washing or drying dishes, you can hang your dishtowels to dry, so they don’t get stinky. Installing a towel rack near your sink can be a great way to store your drying dishtowels.

9. Book Shelves

Repurpose that bookshelf from your office space, and you’ll suddenly find yourself with all kinds of open storage for everything from cookbooks to serving platters you want to display. It can be hard to store oversized dishes, and an open bookshelf is a great solution for all the odds and ends you find in a kitchen.

10. Cork Board

If you need a system for organizing your receipts and important papers that have found their way into your kitchen, installing a corkboard is a great idea. This helps you keep your calendar, important notices, and bills all in one place, instead of in a pile in the corner.

Once you start to get the clutter under control in your kitchen, you’ll find yourself enjoying your time there more. You might also find that once you get your kitchen organized, you’ll want to take on other parts of your home. Remember to get rid of anything you don’t actually need and you’ll be on your way to a cleaner, more organized kitchen in no time.

Author Bio:

Livible is a leader in the next generation, on demand or full service storage. Instead of spending time and effort driving back and forth from self-storage facilities, Livible customers spend 2 minutes and let us do all the work for them.