Just because your kitchen is small doesn’t mean it has to feel cluttered. There are ways for you to organize it in a way that is both compartmentalized for ease of travel, and convenient for regular day-to-day cooking. You may even find doing so is easier than you expected.

With any undertaking, you want to start by sitting down, figuring out what you’ve got to work with, and how best to put it into practice. So first, ask yourself how many varying implements you have in your kitchen, and how many you need. Sometimes you’ve got more accouterments than is strictly necessary.

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Determine where you can downsize. If you’ve got old cups that have been replaced by new measuring equipment, perhaps get rid of those old ones. How much entertaining do you do—how much silverware do you really need? As an alternative to getting rid of excess, you may just consider storing it elsewhere so that it’s available when special situations require it, but isn’t causing you to trip over yourself when working in the kitchen.

Once you’ve taken stock of your items and the space you have to work with, your next step is going to be figuring out means of storing that which you have effectively. You don’t want to just throw everything into a drawer and then fish around inside it later when you need something. It’s better to organize it by kind. Cutlery on one side, preparation equipment like spatulas and the like on the other.

Additional Tips For Small Kitchen Organization

Here are some more organization ideas worth considering in terms of storage. This will be the biggest difficulty you’re going to have. You may want to look at what could be termed “vertical” solutions. For example, instead of a trashcan in the food space, you might hang a strong enough trash bag from a hook on the back door of a pantry closet.

Something else to consider may be the addition of small cabinetry which is likewise vertical. If you’ve got eight drawers that are a foot wide and stand beside your normal cabinets, that could supply ample storage space without taking up too much area.

Another consideration may be a remodel. Sometimes you’ve got a “wrap-around” motif in your kitchen which would be better complimented with a small “island” in the center, under which is a “lazy Susan” that can be used to store pots, pans, etc.

If you’re going to do something so intensive, it’s important that you have in mind your scope of occupation in the kitchen. That is to say: as a military spouse, will you be at that location long enough to effect a remodel, or are you going to end up being transferred elsewhere in the near future?

Strategic Advisory

If you’ve got a transfer on the way, it makes sense to look at kitchen organization solutions which don’t require remodel, or even individuality of location. If you’re going to be at a given home for a while, remodel may be necessary. Then there’s a sort of hybridization between these two extremes.

Earlier it was mentioned that you may want to buy additional storage solutions in terms of cabinetry. Such cabinetry can be visible, or it can fill up the pantry (hop over here to read about best ideas for white kitchen cabinets). If you’ve got a tiny closet with shelves, pull out the shelves and stack three or four plastic storage bins behind the door.

You can take such bins with you going forward, and if your kitchenware is already packed inside them, then all you’ve got to do is load them on whatever vehicle you’re using to travel.

There are many choices for maximizing even the tiniest of kitchens. All you’ve got to do is sit down, figure out what you’re working with, what you need, what you don’t, and how best to justify these factors.