Help for the Kitchen Organizer

Make your kitchen more efficient with these clever storage products.
By: Dorothy Foltz-Gray

5932921-1092

The Pegged Dish Organizer by Diamond Cabinets keeps dishes in order.

The Pegged Dish Organizer by Diamond Cabinets keeps dishes in order.

Sooner or later, kitchen clutter undoes even the most phlegmatic cook. The cereal boxes fall all over themselves, the glasses stack like LEGO blocks and getting to that set of plates at the back - fugeddaboutit. 

Fortunately, kitchen designers and manufacturers haven't given up, offering us ever newer products for organizing everything from glasses to groceries. Here are some products that will clean up your kitchen and disarm your frazzle.

Overhaul Your Drawers

Diamond Cabinets is thinking outside the cabinet, offering a dish drawer called the Pegged Dish Organizer. The pegs can be rearranged to fit plates, bowls, cups, saucers, you name it. KitchenShelves.com is also a scattered brain's panacea. Try the cut-to-fit spice drawer insert, for instance, that keeps spices easy to see without wasting space. Or consider the slanted sides sliding shelf. Its low front clears the view of what's inside. Or spring for a bread drawer; its sliding top keeps critters out.

When in Doubt, Roll It Out

Tired of gazing into the dim recesses of your cabinets? Kitchen designer Kathleen Poer, owner of Spatial Design-Sonoma in Sonoma, Calif., views rollouts as the most essential kitchen tool: Every item (shelves and drawers) should pull out to meet you and not just halfway. She recommends Rev-A-Shelf, a Kentucky manufacturer that offers pullouts for everything from waste containers to cookware organizers, from wire to wicker. Diamond Cabinets' Logix line also offers full-extension roll trays with wire pullouts and lots of shelving, even on swing-out doors.

Go Upside Down

If you're overhauling your kitchen, consider turning it on its head. Designers are increasingly building pullout garbage drawers even with the countertop lip and setting a shallower drawer at the bottom, reversing traditional positions. One sweep of the sponge and all counter crud falls into the garbage, instead of on your tea towels.

Hide It

An island isn't just an island but an opportunity to stash more stuff. Merit Kitchens builds islands with curved end shelves, wine racks and even built-in French-style china cabinets. It also offers shelving with pullout wicker baskets, an idea that makes organizing both useful and artful.

Spin It

To banish the usual scatter of mismatched lids and containers, try Smart Spin Storage System. The 12-inch-square spinning base holds 24 containers and lids of varying sizes. "You can put it in cabinets or on a lazy Susan," says Kathleen. "I want to get another set and throw all my other containers away."

Let It Hang

Hidden isn't always synonymous with organized. Consider taking advantage of wasted airspace by hanging a pot rack - a kind of culinary chandelier. Ira Wood & Son, a Kentucky wholesaler, offers scads of pot racks from Cuisinart, John Boos, Enclume and others. John Boos' PotTrak, for example, is a sleek set of three rectangular maple frames with aluminum hangers and spacers to hang pots, utensils or even baskets. Kathleen's solution is even simpler: She hangs ladles, strainers and long-handled forks in her window, interspersed with hanging bunches of herbs and peppers - a curtain that still lets the sun in, she says.

More Info 

Kitchen Shelves
kitchenshelves.com

Diamond Cabinets
diamondcabinets.com

Rev-A-Shelf
rev-a-shelf.com

Merit Kitchens
merit-kitchens.com

Next Up

Quick Tips for Home Organization

Try these quick home organization tips for maintaining a clutter-free home from basement to attic.

10 Steps to an Orderly Kitchen

An organizing expert offers expertise for kitchen organization and storage solutions.

Here's How to Get Organized, Based on Your Zodiac Sign

Look to the stars for more structure in your life.

How to Get Organized for Good, According to Professional Organizers

The experts are sharing all of their secrets on the storage solutions they use as professional organizers to get picture-perfect spaces that work for real life.

26 Quick and Easy Tips for Organizing Your Entire Kitchen

Straightening up has never been so satisfying. See our best kitchen organization ideas, plus our favorite products for tidying the fridge, island and pantry.

40+ Best Kitchen Cabinet Organizers and Clever Storage Solutions

Maximize every nook and cranny with these clever products.

17 Smart Kitchen Storage Ideas You'll Want to Try ASAP

Stop (unknowingly!) wasting space and create a storage-packed kitchen with our clever solutions for your cabinets, drawers, island and pantry.

How to Organize a Closet: Tips for Clearing Closet Clutter

Get the organized closet of your dreams with our strategies for storing clothes, photos and art supplies. Plus, learn how to turn your closet into a home office.

These Clever Organizers Will Completely Change the Way You Use Your Freezer

Prepare to save space and prevent food waste with these clear bins, reusable bags, stackable ice trays and other clever freezer organizers.

The Best Kitchen Canisters and Dry Food Storage

Keeping fresh food and a fashionable pantry is easier than you think. Shop our favorite storage containers and canisters for the organized kitchen of your Pinterest board dreams.

Go Shopping

Get product recommendations from HGTV editors, plus can’t-miss sales and deals.

On TV

Follow Us Everywhere

Join the party! Don't miss HGTV in your favorite social media feeds.