Why I needed to organize my small kitchen appliances?
As some of you know, I currently work as a personal chef and content creator. Since I am working in the food world as my full-time job, I am using every single small appliance in my kitchen. Trust me, there are a lot of small appliances! After Many small meltdowns in my kitchen, I knew I needed a better system to organize small kitchen appliances.
I have a theory that when people unpack items in a new home, wherever they place the new item, it unofficially becomes that item’s “home.” The truth is that the place you decide to put that item might not be the most functional place. This is something I’ve learned many times in the past 5 years since I moved into my current apartment. Just because you place an item in a certain drawer, closet or cabinet doesn’t mean that’s where it ultimately belongs.
I realized this very quickly when it came to my small kitchen appliances because they were in different cabinets throughout my kitchen. The accessories were scattered in random drawers or just thrown into the bottom of the cabinet. I hated taking them out and putting them back. It’s sad to admit but it caused me so much stress. I knew there has to be a better way to organize these items!
Where to begin when organizing small kitchen appliances
The first thing I did was take an inventory of my most used small kitchen appliances (that aren’t on my kitchen counter). I keep my counters fairly minimal so I only have my toaster oven, coffee maker and coffee grinder on my counter.
When designing my storage space, I needed to find a place to keep my (2) Instant Pots, Vita Mix blender, food processor** and stand mixer** and other smaller appliances including my immersion blender, Food Saver vacuum sealer, pasta maker, spiralizer and food mill. I thought about how these would be organized in a professional kitchen (yes, I used to work as a professional cook). In a professional kitchen, the appliances are kept on wire shelving, usually in one place at eye or hip level so you’re not bending over constantly. I realized that I could organize my small kitchen appliances like a pro.
Please note there is a caveat here. I recognize that I have an apartment that has a deep coat closet that was pretty much unused. I realize not everyone has that situation. However, in my last apartment that was much smaller I had wire shelving in the actual kitchen were I could find room. So you may not have an empty closet but you may have some space in your home to accommodate shelving.
**I did not include links for my food processor because I would not recommend it or my stand mixer because it’s so old and I am sure there are newer models that are better.
Choosing Wire Shelving
This ended up being quite the journey. I started the project in November 2021 and found a wire shelf on Facebook Marketplace. I got it home, assembled it and realized it did not fit in the closet (first important step…measure your space). So I gave it away and found the right shelving unit (that fit) from Wayfair. I waited about 6 weeks for the shelf and then got an email from Wayfair explaining that the shelf was never coming. OY! Since I wanted very specific dimensions I ended up buying my wire shelf at Webstaurant Store. Here are the steps I took to buy the most accurate shelf:
- Measure the size of your closet or space where the shelf will be located including height, length and depth
- Measure your largest appliance and record the depth of that appliance. You will want the depth of your shelf to be that size or preferably a few inches longer
- Based on how many appliances you have, decide on how many shelves you will need (I decided on 5 shelves, you can decide the height of shelves during assembly)
- If you’re placing the shelf in a closet make sure you have a clearance of a few inches on the sides so you can actually move the shelf into the closet (I made this mistake the first time around)
What containers should you buy?
Since the containers are for appliance accessories and other related items I decided the containers could be more utilitarian vs. something you would find on Pinterest. I bought the containers from Container Store and Target.
Bins from Container Store
I used these Small Plastic Storage Bin W/ Handles (Clear) for my immersion blender, food mill and accessories for Instant Pot, Food Processor and Stand Mixer.
These bins are ideal because they don’t have lids, they are clear and it’s easy to take things out and place them back. They are also significantly cheaper than lucite containers and are ideal for this type of storage.
Bins from Target
The next set of bins I decided to use are from Target. These are very simple and again, utilitarian, which makes them perfect for this purpose. I liked these bins because they have lids, making them easy to stack. Another tip that made this process easier is I bought a variety of different bins is in all shapes, sizes and styles. This way I could play around with what bin worked well for what item, how the bins fit on the shelf and what made the most sense. I used two different sizes of these bins: 16qt Clear Storage Box with Lid White – Room Essentialsâ„¢ and 6qt Clear Storage Box White – Room Essentialsâ„¢.
The smaller 6qt containers were used to store my mason jar lids, half-pint mason jars, spice jars and miscellaneous tools. I used the larger 16qt container to store my pint mason jars.
The Game Changer of This Project
I saw this “hack” over year ago from my friend Hannah and I could not stop thinking about it. She used a small garbage can underneath her sink to put dirty towels/rags. I thought this was GENIUS! For the longest time I used to pile my dirty rags in the corner of my kitchen because I didn’t know where else to put them. I didn’t have room underneath my sink for the small gabage can and I didn’t like mixing dirty rags with my clothes in the laundry basket. I found this garbage can at Bed, Bath and Beyond and what makes it even better is there is a handle to remove the bin so I can easily bring this down to my washing machine. It is the best $13.00 I’ve ever spent.
Other Items for this Project
Here are some other items I used in this project:
- a label maker (this is a must)
- a fire extinguisher
- command hooks to hang reusable grocery bags
I hope you enjoy this post! It’s not a typical food post from me but I wanted to give as much detail as possible on this project. Like I said earlier, I started the project in November 2021 and it took me almost 5 months to complete it. Not every project you see is an overnight success and that’s okay! Because the result is fantastic!
This post contains affiliate links.
