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Ever wish someone would tell you, step-by-step, how to tackle organizing your space?

Well, you’re in luck.

If your kitchen needs some organizing TLC, stay tuned! Below I’m going to share with you a general system on how to organize a kitchen. While this is a broad overview of how to tackle any given kitchen (rather than how to tackle specific trouble areas), hopefully this post will get you past the mental roadblock of how to get started.

So are you ready? Here are 5 steps to an orderly kitchen:

1-) Purge, purge, purge

I’m pretty sure the great majority of my organizing posts start with decluttering, and it’s no different here. Why?

Because any successful organizing project starts with a good decluttering session.

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So empty all your drawers and cabinets. Go through and donate all the gadgets and appliances that you never use, are hard to clean, or otherwise take up more space than they’re worth. And don’t forget to toss or donate excess food you don’t need or particularly like.

Once you declutter to the point that you feel lighter and like you can breathe easier, move on to step two…

2-) Tackle the big frustrations first

One of the mistakes many of us make when we try to organize is starting with the easier spaces first. It makes sense, right? Warm up with the easy stuff.

And that works in some spaces! But the kitchen is not one of those spaces.

Kitchens offer all sorts of organizing challenges, and you want to make sure you tackle the big ones first. That way you know you have room for solutions to those challenges, and you can work the easier stuff around it.

So what constitutes a “big” challenge? While there’s definitely a personal element to it, a few common ones come to mind:

• Pots and pans that live in the oven and need to be moved every time you bake
• Counters cluttered with mail and kitchen supplies
• Tupperware cabinets that avalanche every time you open them or that always have missing lids

Find solutions to these super frustrating challenges first, and then the process will only get easier. Here are a few solutions that I love:

• Wall mount pots and pans storage
• A command center for paper organization
• Stackable glass storage containers over plastic

3-) Take control of awkward spaces

Once you get the really hard parts out of the way, it’s time to move onto the second hardest part: awkward spaces.

Pretty much everyone has at least one awkward space in their kitchen. Here are a few examples of awkward spaces you might find:

• Under the sink
• A small pantry
• A lazy susan
• A skinny or strangely shaped drawer or cabinet

We’ve already discussed organizing small pantries and lazy susans on the blog before, so check those out if you need some inspiration!

4-) Master vertical spaces

Depending on your space and solutions so far, you may have already started using the vertical spaces in your kitchen. And that’s great! Now it’s time to take it to the next level!

If you haven’t started using the vertical space in your kitchen, it’s time to start using that valuable real estate! Here are a few of the vertical spaces you should consider using to make your kitchenwares organized and accessible:

• Walls (hanging storage, open shelving, command centers, pegboards, etc)
• Insides of cabinet doors (measuring spoon storage, cork boards, chalk boards, etc)
• Side of fridge (I love our magnetic spice tins for spices we use frequently!)

If you have a small kitchen, maximizing your vertical space is absolutely key to keeping your kitchen organized and functional. If you need inspiration, check out Pinterest. You’ll find a ton of ideas!

5-) Keep your cabinets functional

Remember earlier in this post how I said we’re going to tackle the hard parts first?

Well, we’re done that now!

Before, you may have chosen to organize your cabinets first. And as a result they probably would end up messy and crammed…again.

But now that we just have remaining kitchen items to return, we can do it in a neat and organized fashion.

In an ideal world you should now have plenty of space in your cabinets for items that couldn’t fit before such as appliances that took up counter space. However, the reality will depend on how well you decluttered, the size of your kitchen, and even the size of your family. So don’t beat yourself up if it’s not perfect…kk?

If you need extra cabinet organizing tools, you can find some really useful solutions. Here are a few that may help you out:

• Shelf divider
• Spice organizer
• Bakeware rack
• Stackable cabinet organizer

Voila! An organized kitchen! Enjoy your newly functional space!

Do you have additional tips to organize a kitchen? Let us know in the comments!

For more organizing advice, check out 5 One-Time Tasks to Keep your Kitchen Organized for Good, Reduce Visual Clutter and Improve Any Room’s Appeal, and How to Get Organized: 9 Attitudes You Have to Change