4 Common Kitchen Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Photo courtesy of Azure MacCannell

Although certain cluttered areas of the kitchen can be (thankfully) hidden by doors and drawers, that doesn't mean they aren't still there. In fact, adopting an "out of sight, out of mind" approach to a disorganized space just makes matters worse over time, so it's better to confront such issues head-on and take care of them before they get REALLY bad.  

Some areas where problems lurk behind closed doors include the pantry, upper cabinets, lower cabinets and fridge. To help inspire us to take on these organization challenges, several of our Brand Ambassadors recently tidied up these particular spaces, and you can see the fantastic results and the products they used below.

Pantry

Professional organizer Azure MacCannell used a variety of amazing products to organize her client's kitchen pantry. It was a bit cluttered before she got to it, but with a little planning and hard work she was able to make it look like a brand new space!

First, her client's packaged foods, snacks, and condiments were sorted using The Home Edit by iDesign's Sand All-Purpose Bins, Open Front Bins, and Divided Turntable. ("With this collection, you simply cannot go wrong!" Azure raves.) Dry baking ingredients and cereals were stored in OXO POP Square Canisters and Cereal Dispensers, respectively. She then used Yamazaki Tosca Baskets for bags of chips and a Large Expand-A-Shelf for canned goods, and the transformation was complete!

Photos courtesy of Azure MacCannell

Lower Cabinets and Drawers

Another professional organizer, Jolin Polasek, decided to tackle her own kitchen woes. "Don't you hate it when you have to lift a stack of baking sheets to get to your favorite one at the bottom?" she says. "I can't STAND working harder than I have to in my kitchen." To remedy this problem, she added a Maple Rack to one of her narrow cabinets, and now her baking pans are neatly sorted and easy to pull out at a moment's notice.

Another issue was her pot lids; they can be, as she notes, "a pain in the butt." Thankfully, her choice of the 4-Sort Wire Divider now keeps them conveniently stored vertically to maximize space and make them far more accessible.

Dividers were also helpful to her in her snack drawer. Using iDesign's 4" Expandable Dividers, Jolin's hot cocoa, popcorn, crackers, and other items are tidier than they've ever been, and she couldn't be happier with how it all turned out. "These products make life SO MUCH EASIER when cooking up a delicious meal!" she says.

Photos courtesy of Jolin Polasek

Upper Cabinets

For professional organizer Janelle Cohen and her "super weirdly shaped" pantry cabinets, one challenge was maximizing the space where she stores her dry ingredients, spices, and canned goods. She also wanted to give her kitchen a chic black look, and she achieved this by utilizing a combination of The Home Edit by iDesign's Onyx Lazy Susan and Bin Organizers, as well as glass canisters and Slant Jars with matte black lids. For chia and flax seeds, she picked out a few small OXO POP Canisters. And to elevate this cabinet makeover even further, the canisters and her spice bottles are now neatly embellished with Marie Kondo's Kitchen and Spice labels.

In another cabinet, Janelle added The Home Edit by iDesign's Onyx Divided Lazy Susan for her cooking oils and vinegar bottles. And on the shelf seen below, an assortment of bagged snacks are tidily tucked away in a Marie Kondo Black Ori Rattan Bin complete with a Black Bin Clip Label. Combining both her love of neutral tones and sustainably-sourced materials, Marie Kondo and The Home Edit's products, she says, "really hit the mark for me!"

Photos courtesy of Janelle Cohen

Refrigerator & Freezer

"As a mom, one of the best ways I've found to keep my kids eating healthy is to wash all the fruits and veggies as I'm unpacking groceries and to store them in an organized manner, so they're easy for the kids to see, grab, and eat immediately," says lifestyle blogger April Karschner. To help accomplish the "see" portion of that sentence, she brought in a variety of clear fridge fixes from The Home Edit by iDesign, such as the Produce Bins, Egg Bins, Narrow Bins, Divided Fridge Bins, and Drawers.

Photos courtesy of April Karschner

According to April, the clever design of these products makes family mealtime much more efficient. "The lids and drawers are easy for the kids to open on their own, and they make use of the depth of the fridge," she explains. "And the containers are clear, allowing us to see all our options from the front and helping cut down on food waste."