5 Clever DIY Kitchen Organization Hacks

A neat, orderly kitchen is the key to making meal preparation an enjoyable experience for you and your family. Below are five motivating DIY kitchen organization ideas to help you achieve a clutter-free noshing spot.

Easily Store Big Bulky Cutting Boards

If you’re limited on kitchen cabinet space, try innovative storage ideas such as a cutting board storage organizer that keeps those unwieldy cutting boards in order. Cutting boards can take up a lot of valuable shelf space in the kitchen, so take advantage of the unused space on the back of your cabinet doors.

Add a wire kitchen wrap organizer to store your cutting boards. An inexpensive wire organizer can be purchased at the dollar store. To make this handy DIY kitchen organization cutting board project, you’ll need:

• Wire plastic wrap organizer
• Zip ties
• Small screws
• Screwdriver

Tip: Place the storage organizer low enough to accommodate your tallest cutting board. Check the placement of the organizer by opening and closing the kitchen cabinet door.

See full DIY cutting board storage instructions here.

Simple Pantry Redesign

This quick DIY kitchen organization idea will spiff up your stuffed-to-the-gills food stash by making it neat, orderly, and new! First, remove everything from the kitchen pantry, including the shelf liners.

This is the perfect time to toss food items past their expiration date. Clean the kitchen pantry shelves before changing organization. If the paint is stained, nicked, or chipped, you may want to repaint the interior.

White, stain-resistant paint works great too. Add new shelf liners.

Optional but fun: Jazz up your pantry walls with (amazingly enough) peel and stick shelf liner! Just measure, cut, and stick to add a creative touch to the perfect organization in the pantry.

Add a few kitchen storage products:

• Lidded glass containers
• White stacking baskets
• Front stacking bins
• Wire basket
• Wire shelving
• Lazy Susan

And you’ll have a fresh and organized kitchen pantry you’ll love!

DIY Canvas Pantry Baskets

These DIY kitchen pantry baskets are perfect for storing pasta, bulk spices, and baking extras. They’re also durable and machine washable.  Supplies you’ll need:

• Fabric: Strong canvas or heavyweight duck cloth
• Furring sticks (find these at home improvement stores)
• Wood stain
• Brad nail gun
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Black cardstock and a white chalk marker to make the labels

The square-shaped fabric basket is easy to sew, even for beginners. The “X” wood frame is simple to assemble with a brad nail gun. Sew four straps per basket so you can attach the fabric pantry basket to the wood frame.

Cut circles from black cardstock to make the basket labels. Punch a small hole on one side of the label and thread a length of twine through the hole.  Mark what’s inside the basket with a chalk marker and tie the label to the frame.

Fill the baskets, and you’re done! See detailed DIY kitchen pantry basket instructions here.

DIY Recipe Binder

Try this easy DIY organization tip for those printed recipes and magazine clippings that never made it to the recipe box. Make your DIY recipe binder with coordinating dividers to find what you’re looking for easily.

Supplies you’ll need:

• Attractive 1-inch binders
• Plastic sleeves
• Cardstock
• Clear packing tape

First, sort through your recipes. Toss out any recipes you’re not interested in making or no longer sound appetizing. Sort any recipes you have collected on your computer, and print out the ones you want to keep.

Take a look at what types of dishes you prepare the most. Include specific recipes you have saved for holidays and special events.

Use divider pages, cover sheets, and tabs to sort your binders by type. Decide on the food categories you want to use to organize your recipes. Appetizers, main dishes, sides, desserts, breakfast, soups & stews, slow cooker, holidays, and make ahead are just a few suggestions.

The dividers will help keep everything grouped into separate sections, similar to a kitchen cookbook.

DIY your own recipe binder filled with your favorite dishes, which may become your family’s favorite kitchen cookbook!

Use the Bottom of Your Cabinets for Extra Storage

If you have extra space on the underside of a cabinet, there are several ways to get the most organization out of it.

Consider adding a DIY magnetic spice rack to utilize the unused kitchen cabinet space. For this kitchen spice rack project, you’ll need:

• Small adhesive magnets
• Adhesive magnetic strip

Attach a magnetic strip to the underside of a cabinet. You will also need to attach small adhesive magnets to the tops of your spice containers so they can stick to the magnetic strip. This is a simple way to organize your spices and easily see what you have on hand.

Another great way to use the space on the bottom of your kitchen cabinet is to attach small hooks. The hooks can hold mugs and other small kitchen tools you might have lying around waiting for organization.

These ingenious DIY kitchen organization ideas will help you get your kitchen in ship-shape in no time.

Discover more DIY home organization ideas here.

(Photo Courtesy of Make It & Love It)