Welcome back to “Plain & Simple Organizing”. This month we are working in the kitchen, creating a functional and organized space. Last week, we created a “Baking Cabinet”, organizing all of our baking ingredients into one area of the kitchen. Today we will be organizing the kitchen utensils, cleaning out and purging those that have collected dust for the past 5 years. Sound good? Let’s get started!!
Your Challenge:
- Clean out all of your utensil drawers (wipe them down).
- Purge utensils that you have not used in the last 12 months.
- Gather containers & separate items into categories.
- Use jars, baskets, or bins if you don’t have enough drawer space.
My kitchen has a fair amount of drawers, but I use crocks (from Pottery Barn) to store my most commonly used utensils. They’re easy to grab and hold a lot. I keep the crocks on my kitchen island, on a wooden cheese platter.
My first drawer contains my “measuring tools”. Yes, I have an addiction to measuring cups & spoons. I just can’t resist them. If you keep them all together, there’s no digging around when you want to use one. If you are short on space, you can hang these on a cabinet door (with command hooks).
My 2nd drawer contains my “cutting” tools (Knives, mezzaluna, cheese cutter, apple slicer, sandwich cutter, scissors). It’s nice to have all of the sharps in one drawer.
My 3rd drawer contains a few different categories:
- Guacamole tools
- Peelers & slicers
- Openers
- Tea Items
- Scrapper
Finally, the last drawer contains:
- Pastry tools
- Graders
- Temperature gadgets
Its “Plain & Simple” to organize your kitchen utensils. Remember to “categorize” and don’t forget to purge what you really don’t need. It will give you the extra space for the things you do need. Happy Organizing!
Tags: kitchen, organization, organizing, plain and simple
Blog, January 2014, Kitchen, Organize, Plain & Simple Organizing Posted in
25 comments
25 comments on “Kitchen Utensil Organization…”
Hi! this is great, cause my drawers have been needing some help for a while now. I have been looking at different organizers. What brand and where did you find your clear drawer containers? And also the wooden cheese board…love that.
I love your ideas. I only have 4 drawers in my whole kitchen 🙁 so I only have two for utensils. I am a utensil/gadget girl so it is hard to find space. I love the idea of purging those I don’t use. I will definitely be working on this this weekend. Thanks.
My utensils look like crap. The ones I use often probably need replacing. A lot of yours are such happy colors. What brand and where do you purchase yours?
I find lots of colorful utensils at TJ Maxx.
You can get really cute and colorful utensils at T.J. MAXX 🙂 They have a ton of Kitchen Items and most are top name brands for CHEAP!!!!
I have my utensils in Longaberger baskets and in my drawers. I have the baking things in the second drawer and my dinnerware and knives in the top drawer. No stray utensils for me. Just need to work on the bowls, pans and food processor??
I use crocks in my kitchen, but I find them at antique stores and are cheaper than pottery barn.
…love this post! The first picture is a gorgeous shot…Thanks for tip! Purging mine today!
I love the way your kitchen is organized! I love measuring cups/spoons also. Can you tell me where you got the salt crock? Love that 🙂 I keep my kitchen pretty organized, but it is great to go back and re-evaluate every once in while. I don’t like my kitchen cluttered.
I’m as guilty as the next person for horde of pretty Kitchen accessories but, you did suggest a purge before organizing. I could not help but notice that you have 5 sets of measuring cups and three sets of measuring spoons in one drawer. LOL
That’s true, she does. I often wonder though, when I’m baking (and I’m the baker, my husband the chef) if having another set or two wouldn’t be a smart option. I hate having to clean my measuring utensils mid-recipe!! There are several things that Toni ‘collects’ and, as she wrote, she has a thing for measuring spoons. Can’t blame a girl for knowing what she loves!
Wow! ! ! I admire your skills on keeping things clean and easy! I appreciate you taking your time to help a girl out with her organizing needs lol (mine) so thank you. i just ran into your blog so I am new, starting out with cleaning house and i have but i would really like to transition from chemical cleaners to going green, i have a tight budget, so what do you recommend i invest in first, cleaning products, or containers to organize my home? I decided to take it one day at a time, and not get over whelmed, but def. on my 2014 list!
Thank You! Happy Organizing!
This post just made me so happy. All those perfectly organized drawers. Love.
And, you know what’s weird? Our kitchens are almost identical. And that in itself isn’t that strange. But our drawers are totally identical. It’s amazing how many items we have alike and how we’ve organized those items similarly.
It’s kismet!
I totally support the multiple sets of measuring cups and spoons. I have more than shown here and I don’t try that hard to keep them organized, all the cups tossed in one basket, all the spoons tossed in another and it works fine. When I cook I like to measure out all my ingredients ahead of time and put the big containers away so I have more elbow room. Sometimes flat-bowled spoons are better, sometime round-bowled spoons are. Sometimes scoop shaped cups are better, sometimes round ones are. And, when cooking a multi course meal, like Thanksgiving, half your collection can be running in the dishwasher while you use the other half making more dishes. If you quickly wash and hand dry it’s so hard to remove all the moisture before scooping your next dry ingredients. I have never felt like I wished I hadn’t bought so many. And of all the things we spend $ on to make our kitchen life more convenient these are the cheapest little items to buy.
Toni, I just found your site and I am excited to dig into the wealth of information you have to share. As a nutrition coach and trainer I think it is also important to point out that an organized kitchen can help keep your family healthy. It is much easier to cook healthy meals in an orderly kitchen!
Can i ask where you got your light green measuring cups? Love them!
From etsy!
Did you put something in the bottom of your big utensil crock to help elevate the utensils? I purchased these crocks from Pottery Barn and the tall one is 9 inches tall, my utensils barely peek above the top edge. My husband and I thought about putting something in the bottom to help fill it and make it so the utensils can poke out the top more. Just curious if you did something similar.
love the idea to use command hooks to hold measuring cups! thanks for sharing.
I love how funky and fun your kitchen utensils are! so organised!
Great!! I really like the way you organize the utensils in the kitchen.I appreciate this and will start organize my kitchen too.Thanks for sharing!!