Is your kitchen in dire need of a revamp? Believe it or not, cleaning and reorganising the kitchen cabinets can impact the entire space and encourage better organisation in your kitchen. How? Well, when storage spaces in a kitchen aren’t organised, a lot of things that could be put away neatly behind a closed cabinet door end up cluttering kitchen surfaces instead. Along with the additional free space that comes with putting things away in an orderly fashion, another advantage of organising your kitchen cabinets is that it allows you to sort through items that have been lying there, unused and unwanted, for so long!

Now, as much as one wants a neat and organised kitchen, reorganising your cabinets to achieve that can be a little overwhelming if you don’t have a structured way to go about it. In fact, the key to organising is to do it in an organised manner! So, with that said, let’s discuss Simple Maid’s systematic approach to cleaning and reorganising kitchen cabinets for a clean and tidy kitchen.

Clear all Counters First

As you start unloading the kitchen cabinets, you’re going to need a place to hold all the contents. Of course, your countertops are the most ideal places to sort through and organise the items so the first thing you need to do is get them cleared up. If you have items lying around that you would like to store in a cabinet, leave them on the counter and transfer other things to a temporary holding space. The last thing you want to do is create more confusion by mixing up your kitchen cabinet contents with other things.

Once you’ve created enough space to work efficiently, it’s time to start emptying out your kitchen cabinets. 

Empty One Kitchen Cabinet at a Time

In order to organise kitchen cabinets efficiently, you have to organise the items first. This, of course, can only be done when you sort through the contents and decide what stays and what goes. Obviously, expired products and rusted or unusable items need to be disposed of safely, but what about those excess items that are cluttering your kitchen cabinets for nothing? As you empty out each cabinet, you will have to make some hard decisions to let go of things you don’t need or use anymore in order to store other kitchen items away in a neat manner. If you’d still like to hold on to some items for future use, perhaps it would be more practical to store them in a box on your loft instead.

Group and Organise Items on the Counter

In order to approach kitchen cabinet organisation in a systematic manner, one should organise items removed from one cabinet (on the counter) before emptying another. In other words, avoid placing a large number of things on the counter in a haphazard manner; instead, segregate and group similar items together so that you have a better understanding of how much storage space each group requires. This also makes it easier and quicker for you to reorganise your kitchen cabinets in the most efficient way possible. 

After all the cabinets have been emptied and the contents, neatly organised on your counters, it’s time to clean the interiors and exteriors of the kitchen cabinets.

Clean Kitchen Cabinets Inside and Outside

You’re halfway there! Before things can be placed back inside your kitchen cabinets, they need to be cleaned properly. Depending on when you last cleaned or wiped down the interiors and exteriors of the cabinets, there might be some stubborn stains to tackle and dust-accumulated corners that need cleaning. So, let’s get right to our quick, step-by-step cleaning methods.

How to Clean Kitchen Cabinet Interiors

1. 1. 1. Remove and discard old shelf liners.
      2. Use a paintbrush to remove dust from corners, and then wipe the interior walls, ceiling, and shelves with a clean dust cloth. 
      3. To remove hardened dirt or mild stains, make a soapy cleaning solution consisting of warm water and liquid dish soap, dip a clean cloth in the mixture, and wipe down the inside of your kitchen cabinet.
      4. Wipe up moisture with a dry cloth before putting in new shelf liners.

How to Clean Kitchen Cabinet Exteriors

1. 1. 1. Dust the tops of the cabinets first. If there is a lot of dirt accumulated on top, hold a dustpan at the edge and push the dirt into it using a cloth. Follow this up by wiping over the surface with a clean damp cloth.
      2. Make the same cleaning solution as you did for the interiors; adjust the strength of the cleaner as needed (extra dish soap for stubborn grease or very stained cabinet fronts). Alternatively, you can mix equal parts of water and white vinegar to make a natural cleaning solution.
      3. Using a soft cloth like a microfibre cleaning cloth, dip it in the solution and wring completely so that the material is merely damp; then wipe the cabinet fronts and sides. Spot clean stains when/if you come across them using added elbow grease and the same cleaner and cleaning tool. Don’t miss out on the kitchen cabinet handles while cleaning the exteriors.
      4. Buff the exteriors dry with a cotton cloth.
      5. Using the same cleaning solution and a damp cloth, clean the inner sides of the cabinet doors and wipe them dry before closing. 

Put the Organised Contents Back 

The whole point of reorganising your kitchen cabinets is to get the most efficiency out of them. This means utilising space efficiently with the help of organising aids and clever placements. By now, (we’re assuming) that you would have gotten rid of a few things which, in turn, frees up space for other items to be accommodated. Regardless of what needs to go back into your kitchen cabinets, this is the time to put your organisation skills to the test! 

Tips to Organise Your Kitchen Cabinets Efficiently

There is more to kitchen cabinet organisation than just putting things back neatly. It must be done in a manner that maximises space, is practical/convenient, and visually pleasing at the same time. Take a look at these great tips to organise your kitchen cabinets after you have deep cleaned them.

1. Use 3-5 Different Sizes of Storage Containers/Jars

When you have containers of multiple sizes in your kitchen cabinets, it’s hard to maintain neatness or uniformity as they end up being stacked on top of each other. Secondly, containers of different sizes won’t fit as well as a standard range of 3-5 would. The same goes for jars or bottles; therefore, it is advisable to invest in a set of 3-5 different sizes for neater and practical storage. 

2. Utilise Dead Space with Taller Storage Aids

Depending on the height between shelves, a lot of space in a kitchen cabinet ends up going to waste because the bottom of the shelf tends to get crowded which, in turn, leaves dead space at the top. Therefore, the use of tall storage bins/bottles will make use of this space while freeing up more at the bottom; it’s win-win!

3. Organise Spice Bottles with a Rack

If you don’t already have one, it’s time you did! There is no better way to keep spices organised than with the help of a spice bottle rack. Along with keeping the bottles in place, a spice rack makes it easier and more convenient to locate and store items without wasting any time.

4. Label Storage Containers/Bottles

Labels don’t only help you to locate ingredients or items quickly, they look great too! Neat storage spaces are all about labeling grouped items for further organisation within a confined space. This includes an organised closet or dresser, as well as large rooms such as a garage.

5. Place Pots/Pans and Utensils One Inside the Other

Although this is a common practice, a lot of people choose to hang up pots and pans instead of taking the trouble to organise them inside cabinets. While this is a practical thing to do, it is not always ideal as they tend to collect dust if not used often, while also creating the appearance of clutter in the kitchen. For these reasons, we suggest dedicating at least two kitchen cabinets to organising pots/pans and utensils. If you’ve got the space, you can even include a rack (much like a plate rack) to neatly store different types of lids.

6. Store Heavy Items on Lower Shelves

Even if they aren’t used very often, it makes more sense to keep heavy items on lower shelves so that you don’t have to struggle to get them down, or worse, risk dropping something heavy and injuring yourself. On the other hand, some frequently used kitchen items like glasses and cups will be much easier to pick up from top shelves since they are lighter. At the end of the day, your kitchen cabinets should be organised practically according to your convenience.

There you have it! The ultimate guide to cleaning kitchen cabinets and reorganising them for optimal efficiency and practicality! Best of all, maintaining order and routine cleaning of your kitchen cabinets will be a lot easier now that everything is neatly organised with the help of storage aids.

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Karen Saunders

Content Manager at Simply Maid

Karen Saunders is a full-time Content Manager at Simply Maid. Her 8+ years of writing experience spans the fields of copywriting, sales copy, blogging, editing and paraphrasing. Some of her areas of expertise include house cleaning, health and fitness, lifestyle topics, home décor and interior designing, travel tips, dog-related articles, and product descriptions and reviews.

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