10 Cheap and Easy Ways to Make Your Kitchen More Functional
Let’s be real: the kitchen is the heart of the home, but for many millennials (hello, fellow renters!), it can feel more like a cluttered disaster zone than a functional place to whip up your favorite meals. Whether you’re working with a tiny apartment kitchen or just trying to optimize your space without blowing your budget, I’ve got you covered. Here are 10 simple, tips that will transform your kitchen into a functional, organized, and stress-free zone.
1. Declutter Your Kitchen for Instant Organization
Before you buy a single organizing product, take the time to declutter your kitchen. Go through your cabinets, drawers, and pantry to toss expired items, get rid of duplicates, donate unused gadgets, and create more space. Be honest with yourself. Are you actually using every gadget in your kitchen or do you also have a waffle maker that you thought you would use alllllll the time but really haven’t touched once. Keep the multifunctional tools and get rid those one use gadgets.
If you have a lot of duplicates, think about pairing things down. If you have a roommate that came in with their own sets of everything, have a discussion about sharing and either store the extra items away for later or donate them! A kitchen that only has what you ACTUALLY need makes it so much easier to organize effectively.
Pro Tip: Instead of going drawer by drawer, go category by category. Have a million cups in different cupboards? Put them all together so you can decide what you really need to keep.
2. Maximize Cabinet Space with Stackable Shelf Organizers
If your cabinets look like a game of Jenga waiting to collapse, it’s time to invest in stackable shelf organizers. These handy tools create extra layers in your cabinets, making it easy to store and grab plates, mugs, and bowls without the risk of a ceramic landslide. If you’re anything like me, you probably dread emptying your dishwasher because putting things away are so hard. Using shelves in my cabinets has made putting things away easy and now my kitchen stays so much cleaner.
Pro Tip: Before you buy anything, make sure you think about what kind of items your trying to stack and what the height and depths of your cabinets are to make sure they actually make sense for your space.
Here are some of my favorites:
3. Hooks for Extra Storage
Rental kitchens are notorious for their lack of storage. Over-the-door or peel and stick hooks are a lifesaver for hanging oven mitts, dish towels, or even lightweight pots and pans. Simply hook them over a cabinet door—no drilling required.
Pro Tip: For a more upscale look, try using heavy duty metal hooks like these.Â
4. Pull-Out Shelves to Get to the Back of Deep Cabinets
Say goodbye to the frustration of digging through the dark abyss of your deep cabinets. Pull-out shelves make it easy to access everything from pots and pans to pantry staples. Just slide them out to grab what you need without the hassle. I cannot express how much wasted space my cabinets had before I installed my pull out shelves.Â
Pro Tip: Measure the depth and width of your cabinet before you buy a pull out shelf. Make sure there’s no lip to the cabinet that will prevent your shelf from sliding out!!!
I completely transformed my extremely deep pantry with pull out drawers. After trying a few out, this is my favorite affordable heavy duty adjustable shelf:
5. Drawer Dividers for Perfect Organization
Are your kitchen drawers a black hole of utensils? Drawer dividers are your new best friend. Use them to separate utensils, measuring spoons, or random kitchen gadgets you forgot you owned. You can stack things up way higher and keep things more organized when you have drawer dividers.Â
Pro Tip: For a more expensive look, use wood drawer dividers to make them look like they’re built into your drawers.
6. Magnetic Knife Strip for Countertop Freedom
Free up precious counter space by swapping your knife block for a magnetic knife strip. Mount it on the wall (many come with adhesive backs, no drilling needed!) and enjoy having your knives within arm’s reach.
Bonus: It’s a sleek, modern look that’ll upgrade your kitchen aesthetic.Â
7. Clear Storage Bins for Your Fridge
A cluttered fridge isn’t just annoying—it can lead to food waste. Clear storage bins make it easy to group similar items (hello, snack bin!) and see what you have at a glance. It also means you can stack things up and save more space! If you have roommates, you can also use this as a tool to separate your food in the fridge.Â
Pro Tip: Think about what you’re trying to store so you can pick the best sizes and shapes for your needs before you purchase anything.
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8.Baskets for Extra Storage
If you’re short on cabinet space, baskets can give you an instant storage boost. Slide them onto a cabinet shelf to store smaller items like sandwich bags, aluminum foil, or spices. I love using mine to store cleaning supplies under the sink. You can also hang some on the wall to utilize all your vertical space!
9. Swedish Dishcloths for a Sustainable Clean-Up
Say goodbye to smelly sponges and mountains of paper towels! Swedish dishcloths are super absorbent, quick-drying, and resistant to odors. They’re also reusable and biodegradable, making them an eco-friendly choice that’ll save you money in the long run. They come in a ton of cute designs and you can use a hook to hang them for quick drying!
Why You’ll Love It: Just toss them in the washing machine to refresh, and they’re good as new. One cloth can replace up to 17 rolls of paper towels!Â
10. Under-Cabinet Lighting for Better Visibility
Good lighting can make or break your kitchen’s functionality. Stick-on LED lights are affordable, easy to install, and can instantly brighten up your countertops for meal prep. I like to use motion sensor ones above my coffee maker and in my pantry for when I don’t want to turn on all the kitchen lights in the middle of the night.Â
Pro Move: Go for magnetic rechargeable LED lights to avoid dealing with batteries. As a bonus, they come in handy during power outages!Â
Final Thoughts
You don’t need a massive budget or a full kitchen remodel to make your space work for you. With a few smart Amazon finds, you can create a functional, renter friendly, organized kitchen that’ll have you cooking with ease.
Have any other functional kitchen tips? Leave them in the comments below.
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Disclaimer: This post includes Amazon affiliate links that earn commission