An aesthetic spice cabinet, trash bin pullouts, hidden appliances, and cleared-off countertops? Yes, please! It took me forever to plan and build these custom cabinets, but the resulting function and organization are as dreamy as I’d imagined!
Blind corner cabinet pullout
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This blind corner pullout was definitely my priciest cabinet organization purchase, but it also gave me back 24″ of storage… essentially, a full extra cabinet! Since I don’t have a big kitchen pantry, finding pantry storage in the cabinets was a big priority for me. This pullout holds my coffee and tea refills in the front, and less commonly used cooking tools in the back. Plus, it’s slow-close!
Deep drawer with dividers for baking sheets
This was another kitchen organization dream of mine, to have all of my baking sheets and stones and chopping blocks tidily organized and easy to reach, rather than stacked up Jenga-style ready to fall over at any moment. I built this divider insert using leftover walnut plywood from making the drawers, but you could use a pots and pans organizer or bamboo drawer dividers to make this work.
Spice drawer organization
This little cabinet may be the smallest, but it’s certainly the prettiest! First I dispensed all of my spices into these glass spice jars with matching labels—so pleasing—and then settled them onto acrylic organizer trays to keep them propped up and easy to see.
KitchenAid mixer lift with slow-close
She’s beauty, she’s grace… and she’s slow-close! She’s my KitchenAid mixer lift. Be aware if you buy this lift that you need to have a cabinet that meets its width and depth requirements, and you will need to build the platform that the mixer sits on yourself. They also sell a lift with a pre-made platform if you don’t want to go to the trouble.
Utensils drawer organizers
How perfect are these organizers! I love that the acrylic flatware organizer expands to the width of the drawer and is also clear so that I can still admire the walnut plywood on the drawer bottom. And then I still can’t get over the fact that this knives organizer fits my drawer perfectly. It’s meant to be!
Trash pullouts for narrow drawers
I ended up not having a ton of space for my trash and recycling pullout drawer, so I found the largest trash bins I could that would still fit this narrow space, and they’re perfect! Since they’re an abnormal size, I decided to buy bands to hold the trash bags on, which also allows me to have a visual indicator for guests to see which bin is trash (black) and which is recycling (blue).
My best tip? Ditch the shelving!
I made a big effort when I built my cabinets not to have any shelves. It would have been much easier and cheaper to throw some shelves in and call it a day, but let’s be honest… shelves are where things go to die, to get lost in the back of the cabinet and molder away. I wanted all of my ingredients easily accessible, so every cabinet except for under the sink and above the refrigerator has only drawers and pull-outs.
I hope this guide was helpful to you and that you found some great organization tips for your own kitchen! PS: If you want to learn how to use power tools and gain the skills to one day build your own cabinets, check out my course DIY Renovation for Beginners.
