Naturally, I am a clean person but even my utensil drawer could need some advice. The often long, oddly shaped of different items that come under the umbrella of “kitchen utensils” will keep them out of order if there is no divider or tray system in the drawer.
So, when a friend asked me for help that did not contain drawers in it, I was stunned. But after doing research and thinking about it, I was able to find good options.
Hang utensils on a kitchen peg board, utensil hanging racks or magnetic strips. There is a vertical cabinet space that can be used for storing utensils in organizers under hanging mugs, in desktop drawers, cutlery caddies or repurposed dishwasher baskets. Use kitchen utensil holders available on floating shelves or on the counter.
Desktop Drawers for Your Cabinets
In most cases, the secret to making additional space in an already overcrowded kitchen depends on using the vertical space that is still available.
You will often have crowded shelves in the kitchen cabinetry, with empty airspace that is located above the piles of plates or rows of mugs.
If there is a spare corner or you can make someplace, you can place some desktop drawers into your cupboard in order to use the full height of the cabinet.
Now, I am familiar with the fact that spare space is difficult to make in a kitchen cabinet, so here are some tips:
- Do not use a single layer of mugs and attach some hooks to bottom of the shelf above and suspend a second layer of mugs below the first instead.
- Get a small layered rack and add your plates in 2-3 vertical sections.
Coming back to your utensils. By using the smaller sections of desktop drawers, you can organize your kitchen utensils as per size, usage, popularity as well and color too.
The desktop drawers also have smaller compartments that use a helpful drawer divider.
Cutlery Caddies
Cutlery caddies usually handle forks, eating knives, and spoons and especially they are used to transport them.
But the ideal usage of them is to store your kitchen utensils.
Tuck the caddy in a corner of the cupboard or on the counter, when you need a utensil, its portable feature will allow you to pull out any item easily.
The divisions help you to separate the whisks from the ladles and the egg lifters from the bread knives.
Cutlery caddies are available in different styles to become compatible with every home. It has utilitarian, cutesy, ornate, practical and quirky.
Kitchen Utensil Holders
Kitchen utensil holders will be helpful for you if they contain drawers. Egg lifters, ladles and whisks are likely to jam drawers shut and large knives can hide behind other utensils, making the separation through the drawer hard.
Many people usually have a single utensil holder, so you already have one, purchase another 1-2. You can even check the different sizes so that allow you to store longer and shorter pieces separately from one another.
Steel utensil holders can withstand oil splashes well if you have them beside the stovetop. But you can get the design as per your choice and aesthetic sense.
You can also get the matching sets of utensils that have their own holder.
The holders do not have to match the stove. You can put them anywhere you want such as a cabinet. However, my recommendation is to avoid storing the utensil holders on the top of your refrigerator. It is not a good idea to store anything on top of a fridge.
Repurposed Dishwasher Cutlery Baskets
I have recently found out that repurposing dishwasher cutlery baskets is a popular hack in terms of organization.
You can either purchase a new utilitarian basket or give an old one a second chance as a portable utensil carrier, but probably only for the shorter utensils.
The baskets usually do not have enough height to prevent longer utensils from flipping out or tipping the basket.
If you are trying to use the old one, then you should be proud of your management. The dishwasher basket that was going for a plastic landfill is now proving to be helpful once again.
Although not made for the beauty, these baskets are perfect for homes that has small children and destructive dogs. Non-precious and cheap tools such as repurposed dishwasher baskets, are the ideal way to become a normal person in a home where many items reach an untimely end.
Utensil Organizers Under Hanging Mugs
If there are hanging mugs in your cabinets and to some extent below them, or you can hang them, after that, you have all that available space under it for utensils flat utensil organizers or trays.
Apart from that, utensil holders are also the best method to store your underwear and socks if you do not have dresser drawers.
The try or organizer that you select will depend on how much extra space you have (if there is limited space use narrow ones) and how many utensils you have.
Magnetic Strips
Magnetic strips are often called as magnetic knife racks. However, this is a limited name for it as magnetic knife racks can hold any utensil from the kitchen that has a metal part.
Magnetic knife racks not only help you to put your knife collection on display, but they also can be used for metal piece containers, oversized metal spoons, pot lids and food processing blades.
Magnetic strips serve as an efficient, neat solution for your kitchen utensils characterized by unwieldy, large shapes such as colanders, spatulas, ladles, and food processing blades etc.
Utensil Hanging Racks
You can hang utensils hanging racks inside cabinets, under shelves and over counters. You can organize your kitchen utensils with the help of a hanging rack, keeping them off the counter and put them within the cooking space (easy to reach).
You will definitely prefer utensils with holes in the handles.
You can try individual hooks as an alternative to hanging racks. However, if your utensils are hung near to stovetop, you will select the waterproof option that will not pop off the wall due to the exposure to cooking steam.
Create a Kitchen Tools Peg Board
Peg boards can also improve the visibility of your utensils like knife racks and utensil racks without taking up the counter or cabinet space.
Kitchen peg boards can be bought or a fun DIY project, making sure every item gets place and is in its place, enabling you to reach and find any kitchen tool with ease.
Maximize Kitchen Space with Floating Shelves
Floating shelves can work with any space and easy to install. These aerial shelves provide extra space which allows you to keep your utensils within your reach.
Many interior decorators prefer floating shelves in terms of decoration and functional applications.
Staggered floating shelves disperse the dull walls and give you additional space to store your utensils (in trays, caddies, organizers or trays and so on).
It is essential to consider the height of the primary kitchen users when it comes to the installation of floating shelves. If it is too low, everyone will keep bumping their heads, too high can make the shelf’s contents out of reach. Additionally, you can put things such as pot organizers on these shelves.
