These 7 Products Will Get You 90% of The Way to An Organized Kitchen

Even if you consider yourself relatively neat, organizing your kitchen can be pretty intimidating. One trick to make the process a whole lot more efficient? Investing in the right tools before you get started. It’s a simple-but-important strategy for creating a functional and pretty kitchen. 

Everybody’s space is different, but a few must-haves are sure to help no matter what kind of mess you’re working with. Caroline Solomon, a professional organizer based in New York City, has organized more than 60 kitchens — here are the tools she used in almost every single one. 

Before you begin any organizing project — and especially before you invest in any organizers — make sure you have a measuring tape. To get an accurate read on dimensions in her clients’ drawers and cabinets, Solomon uses a soft measuring tape, which she says is a lot easier to use than a hard-to-bend tape measure. ”It’s especially useful for outfitting shelves and drawers with drawer liners,” she says.

Speaking of drawer liners, Solomon is a big fan of using cork liner in the kitchen. “I have this never-ending roll of cork that I take with me to all kitchen organizing sessions,” she says. “It’s a small detail that adds a lot of flair to your space.” It’s functional, too: Solomon says the insulation prevents kitchen utensils from jostling around when pulling out a drawer.

A box opener can be a lifesaver when you’re unboxing a mountain of Container Store packages. “The blade itself is made of ceramic, which is far less intimidating than those terrifyingly sharp box cutters,” says Solomon.

Now, here’s the fun stuff! The first step, Solomon says, to organizing a disheveled drawer is to divide and conquer. She loves these handsome bamboo drawer dividers, which instantly transform any messy collection of utensils from chaos to calm, and work especially well in wide, roomy drawers. “It’s kind of like my organizing party trick in the kitchen,” she admits.

Another product that consistently delivers a “wow” factor to Solomon’s clients is this Yamazaki pot lid organizer, which turns any jumbled mess of pots and pans into a satisfyingly neat display. It’s super easy to assemble, Solomon says, and it works especially well in deep kitchen drawers.

Rather than labeling every bin in the kitchen, Solomon usually uses open wire baskets that reveal the contents. This simple basket, she says, is a crowd-pleaser that always upgrades the look of any countertop or pantry. 

Whenever she works with a client whose kitchen pantry has tons of deep shelves, Solomon always recommends these pull-out organizers. They require a little bit of assembly (which is where her Ryobi drill comes in handy), but it’s nothing major. The result? A functional set of shelves that allow you to finally reach for that bag of tortilla chips hiding all the way in the back of your pantry. 

This article originally published on The Kitchn. See it there: 7 Must-Have Tools This Pro Organizer Has Used to Organize More than 60 Kitchens