We’re back to share the results of our big cabinet clean-out, which we announced late last week and tackled over the weekend. If you remember our chaotic starting point, it wasn’t hard to forget: two overcrowded double cabinets that held nearly every non-refrigerated edible item in our kitchen.
After a few hours of sorting and reorganizing, here’s how the cabinets look now.
We began with the “100% empty” rule: everything came out of both cabinets and onto the counter. That made it easy to evaluate what we owned, toss expired items, group like with like, and decide what needed a permanent spot.
Once we could see all of it at once, clear patterns emerged. For the first double cabinet we grouped items into categories that kept recurring: cereal, pasta, sides, snacks, crackers, and cans & soups. Keeping items grouped this way makes it intuitive to know where things belong and helps maintain the system over time.
To mark each shelf we picked up inexpensive metal label frames from the scrapbooking aisle at Michael’s. They look more polished than adhesive labels and hold paper inserts that can be swapped if we decide to recategorize later. The price was right, too: they were just a couple of dollars for a set.
For installation we measured to keep the labels aligned, pre-drilled tiny pilot holes using the metal frame as a guide, and then gently hammered in small nails. If you want a less permanent option, double-sided tape or Velcro would work—our choice was driven by wanting the labels to stay put long term.
One of the problem areas was the “sides” section, where flimsy envelopes kept slipping and wouldn’t stack. A clear plastic caddy I already had corralled those packets neatly and made the shelf much more orderly.
Grouping pasta next to sauce felt obvious once we did it, but it hadn’t occurred to us until this clean-out. We also upgraded bulk snack storage with two lidded glass jars (affordable at Target) to keep items like almond biscotti and Wasa crackers fresh and easy to access—those air-tight containers are especially helpful for items that come in packaging that’s hard to reseal.
On the bottom shelf we reintroduced a small wire shelf we already owned to add usable vertical space. Two green stationery boxes—leftover from thank-you notes—are perfect for de-junking bulky packaging: oatmeal packets and granola bars can be consolidated into one place so they’re easier to grab on the go.
We also pared down the in-cabinet cork boards that held recipes and nutrition articles to reduce visual clutter and keep only the most useful items visible.
They cleaned up nicely.
The second cabinet originally held a mix of spaghetti, sauces, baking goods, oils, and spices. It made sense to dedicate one cabinet to snacks, sides, pasta and similar pantry items, and the other to baking ingredients, sauces, oils and spices. Splitting them into clear categories—powdered mixes, baking ingredients, sauces, baking accessories, spices, and cooking oils—helped everything find a logical home.
The metal labels again helped make the system obvious and flexible, since the paper inserts can be changed if we rearrange later.
One issue in that cabinet was greasy residue from cooking oil and spray. A couple of inexpensive woven placemats from Target solved it: they’re wipeable and dishwasher-safe. We cut one placemat in half to make two protective liners for under sticky sauces and oils.
The “baking accessories” box contains sprinkles, icing nozzles, cookie cutters and cupcake liners. Keeping them together in one container makes it easy to pull the whole set out when it’s time to bake, instead of searching for lost bits at the back of a cabinet.
We also tackled a smaller base cabinet that held a few pots and lids. While not overtly messy, it lacked organization and the lids sliding in and out were leaving marks on the shelves. Those marks cleaned up easily with a sponge, and then we added a lid rack and two placemats taped together to create a larger wipeable surface under the pots. The result: no more scrape marks and a much neater appearance.
All told, the upgrades—label holders, placemats, a lid organizer, and glass jars—cost less than $30. The biggest change was the act of taking everything out, sorting, and intentionally creating zones so each item has a home.
How did your cabinet projects go? Did you tackle your kitchen or take on storage elsewhere—garage, basement, or garden? Share any tips you found helpful. We’d love to hear what worked for you.
Psst—If you want more ideas on how we store other things around the house, check the original post for more details.