Keeping your kitchen neat can feel more like rocket science than a simple chore, especially if you own cooking tools you shouldn’t waste your money on or bartending items you don’t really need. If your drawers and shelves are suffering from shopping overload, the last thing you should do is spend more money on organization gadgets, like magnetic knife strips and little wire racks for holding spatulas. Something many people don’t realize is that you can tidy your kitchen for free without specialized gizmos.
There are many genius tricks to organize cooking utensils that cost zero bucks. An obvious move is to repurpose boxes, containers, and jars you already have instead of buying special holders and organizers. Shoe boxes, metal cookie tins, and wicker baskets are great for storing spice shakers, measuring cups, kitchen towels, and blender or mixer attachments. Put your most-used utensils in a big clean pickle jar by the stove, or fill jam and pasta sauce jars with loose grains and other dry ingredients instead of using fancy dispensers.
Moving on to more creative tricks, use a weighted bookend or two to hold cutting boards, baking mats, and sheet pans vertically in a neat row, just like a shelf of books. It’s more space-efficient than laying them flat and more cost-effective than buying a rack. And if you’ve got magazine holders on hand, they can store canned food.
More tricks to organize your kitchen using little to no money
Beyond repurposing household items, it’s vital to take advantage of storage spaces you might be ignoring in your kitchen. The areas under your sink or on top of your fridge come free, of course, but the walls are the most underutilized space of them all. If you’re going to buy anything in the name of organization, it should be adhesive hooks and wall strips. These let you hang up pots, pans, utensils, and mugs, not to mention they’re versatile and can be used for other projects, too. Isn’t that better than buying a metal mug tree?
When you really need extra containers or organizing trays, pick up must-have kitchen supplies from Dollar Tree and other discount stores — it’s the next best thing to spending no money. Try to Eliminate Tupperware lid clutter by getting a cheap napkin holder, or grab some food storage bins for the pantry in bulk. You can even use Dollar Tree products to decorate your kitchen if you want it to have a cuter look.
Another great, cheap investment is to use a Lazy Susan for maximum kitchen organization. Plastic versions of these small turntables sell for under $10 and can replace larger, more expensive gadgets. Use yours to keep spices, condiment bottles, and even small utensils in one compact space, and say goodbye to rummaging through pantry jungles just to find a single item.
