Organising the 2nd and 3rd kitchen drawers

by Katrina - The Organised Housewife
22 comments

This post is sponsored by Howards Storage World

The 2nd, 3rd and even 4th kitchen drawers can easily become a disaster zone, very messy and hard to find what you are looking for.  I had the opportunity recently to organise my sister-in-laws kitchen drawers, I shamelessly was really excited to organise somebody else’s drawers LOL.

Why organise the kitchen drawers?

Some may say, why bother? But I find that having organised kitchen drawers makes it easier when it comes to cooking or baking and being able to find what you need easily and at a glance.  Also having chaotic drawers doesn’t allow you to recognise what items you do have, therefore doubling up and buying utensils you don’t necessarily need.

What to use when organising

I like using storage with dividers like the madesmart collection to help create a tidy and organised space, keeping like items together in one area, sharp items on their own etc.

Using non-slip drawer liners are a great help to stop the storage containers and utensils from moving while opening and closing drawers.

Steps to organising the kitchen drawers

Firstly I looked at the drawers and recognised the different types of utensils she had, cooking, baking, cocktail making, items for the BBQ and a drawer that wasn’t being used. This helped me determine how to divide everything amongst the 3 drawers

I then removed everything from the drawers and gave them a clean.  This was also a great opportunity for my SIL to purge any items she no longer uses.

A few issues that I had when organising the drawers was that the drawers weren’t the typical sized kitchen drawers so I had to find drawer organisers to suit this long and narrow size.  I chose the madesmart range at Howards Storage World which come in a wide range of sizes.  Below are the cooking utensils. (I think she needs a new flipper, this one looks rather melted).

This is the baking drawer.  These  drawer organisers were perfect for this space, as the pack comes with a variety of different sizes, so you can modular them together so they can fit into the space you have.  They also clip together to prevent them from separating and moving around.

This drawer was originally empty, now storing all the long BBQ equipment and cocktail making supplies.  Another great use for the bottom drawer is to store tea towels so you can easily grab them when you have wet hands.

A remarkable difference, I am really pleased with how they turned out and my SIL says it’s so much easier to find everything now, typically as a Mum she is always in a rush when it comes to cooking and this has really helped her.

My best tip to help you keep the drawers organised is to make sure when putting the clean items back, put them back into their ‘home spot’.  If it does get a little untidy, take a few minutes to organise it while the kettle is boiling.

Which drawer in your kitchen needs some organising attention?

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Leave a Comment

22 comments

Marita Beard September 17, 2013 - 7:52 AM

Envious. Our kitchen is a weird design, I have one drawer between stove and sink suitable for cooking stuff like that, then two huge drawers below it for pots and pans. Right down the other end of our long kitchen bench is another two smaller drawers – one is for our 4MyEarth sandwich wraps and reusable lunch bags, the other the medicine drawer. Below them are two more huge drawers which hold our tupperware.

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Karen Waudby September 17, 2013 - 9:27 AM

This is great. I was thinking of doing this today anyway…your blog has given me some great ideas and inspiration. Thank you.

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Kay September 17, 2013 - 11:47 AM

Great, that just inspired me to do mine! What a difference!! Have you already done a blog on the medicine cabinet? Where is the best place for this, and how to organise it? I have two ill kids and just have so many medicine and vitamins, I have no idea about how to best organise it all or where to keep it..

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Vickie Saunders September 20, 2013 - 8:35 AM

I did mine recently. I ended up pulling everything out & sorting it into different categories. I then bought clear containers with clip on lids that fit into my cupboard and labelled the containers with the different categories.

For me, I ended up with
* cold & flu / sinus
* kids medicine / vitamins
* adult vitamins
* panadol / other medicin

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Bec September 17, 2013 - 3:23 PM

all I could think when I read the ‘not doubling up’ sentence was ‘People really have so many/so messy utensils that they don’t know what they have??’ I have never accidentally bought a utensil that I already owned, that seems very odd lol!

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Chelsey September 17, 2013 - 10:59 PM

I love how you did this! I could really use some organization for my cooking utensils. My biggest problem is that my drawers are rather short and my measuring cups get caught when I open and close them. I’ve been considering just hanging them up on the wall or something and then organizing the rest of the drawer. Thanks for the inspiration!

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mommaBear February 21, 2014 - 11:47 AM

I saw this recently and LOVED the idea!

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mommaBear February 21, 2014 - 11:48 AM

OK, so the link/picture didn’t come through. Do a Google _image_ search for “hanging measuring cabinet door”.

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madesmart September 27, 2013 - 2:44 AM

Love Love! you make us proud and your kitchen looks fabulous doing it!

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Sequins & Nappies October 1, 2013 - 6:40 AM

I love Howards Storage World. Amazing. I’m like a kid in a candy store in that place!!

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Johnsons of Shaftesbury October 8, 2013 - 7:59 PM

I know these organizing tips are really great but I also like to share one thing and that is apart from these tips this article is also very well organized and pleasure to read this.

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Cherie February 25, 2014 - 7:05 PM

I am so glad to see someone has the same ridiculous draws as me! A trip to HSW is in order. Thanks for sharing 🙂

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Clinton N Deb Horne March 13, 2014 - 12:04 AM

I clicked on the free download of the 2014 calender and to do list and it brought me to this page. Is this free printable no longer available?

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Rachel Lote March 14, 2014 - 6:12 PM

Going to be doing this today :D.

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Nic July 3, 2014 - 7:09 PM

Is that first drawer double layer?? I think that would be rather impractical.

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Melissa October 3, 2014 - 9:57 AM

I love this idea. I spend so much time digging for a utensil though I think we may have too may to organize like but I guess that means purge time. I also need to purge my takeout menus since they’re spilling out of my junk drawer and into my tools drawer

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Kate - Kat's Assistant October 8, 2014 - 12:27 PM

It is great i agree Melissa.:)

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Anne Lawlor December 27, 2014 - 5:39 PM

I did this about 2 years ago. For readers from Ireland I bought the dividers in Home Store & more. They are a bit expensive as I had a lot to buy but I will have them forever.

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Caroline December 27, 2014 - 6:32 PM

I bought a lot of madesmart inserts at HSW then saw them for a fraction of the price at Trade Secret. Worth looking around!

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Leanne December 27, 2014 - 8:22 PM

The plastics (Tupperware) cupboard.

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Karina July 5, 2017 - 10:04 AM

I have all my utensils which I use all the time in a tupperware holder on my bench and the rest in a single draw, makes baking or cooking dinner much easier

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