The only organizers I have are for utensils and flatware (and maybe junk). I looked at a huge amount of them, from Blum (well designed but kind of ugly) to bamboo to custom. The wood ones are too expensive and because my father is a woodworker, I have trouble spending that much on boxes I could make myself in his atelier. I may yet make custom dividers for my flatware drawers.

Meantime, after nixing everything I found the OXO Good Grips ones online. They're clear plastic, have wonderful little grippy feet, stack, and have little hoo9ks so you can stick them together sideways. The hooks hook tightly so aren't for taking in and out. You can do that unhooked, but it takes a little bit more drawer space. My acrylic handled flatware are overflowing a little, like they did in my last flatware holder, because I have 16 settings. A dozen would be fine. I have two dozen of my mother's old plain stainless in them as well, and those, being flat, don't really overflow. I have utensils and knives in others. I really like them.

I don't have enough shelf room in my uppers, so the cabinetmker is going to come drill more holes and give me an extra shelf in each. I don't know if something like that would work for you.

Something I'm finding very useful is using "boxes" for things that I want to keep together. I have some stiff plastic containers which really wanted to be thrown out, until I realized their usefulnesss for organizing pantry items. And I'm going to try repurposing the shallow plastic boxes that I had everyday things in during the remodel for holding things like paper party plates on the superhigh pantry shelves.

If you have a light rail, they make interesting drop down storage for under the uppers for things like knives and spices that seem to take up more space in the drawer than they should.

The only thing else I have for you is a big (HUG)!!

Two words: ORGANIZE and THROWAWAY....ok that was 3 :)

I am serious! We are moving to a smaller home and I kept thinking about the smaller space and what I would do. It helped me to purge and get rid of things I don't need anymore. Get rid of stuff!! Anything you haven't used in years, you probably won't in the future.

Also, find a way to organize everything so that what you keep fits well. Get plastic tubs, recycle containers from food and other items. Those big clear salad boxes make great cheap holders for stacking, the smaller containers that hold food can be used for odds and ends. Stack those!

Get one of those labelers--label things so they are easy to find and you don't need to go looking for them or overbuy. I used to keep things in the garage and I labeled them boldly so that I never felt stressed by putting my juicer in a box in the garage--could always find it.

Rev-a-shelf has many items for organizing but it's not cheap. Also, check with Bed, Bath and Beyond....that place has so much drawer/shelf/closet organizing stuff, it's insane. Ikea has cheap containers too.

Good luck!

PLLLOG, I should have a ton of cutlery/utensil organizers... somewhere. I've been living in boxes for a year and I have no idea which box is which. There are labels on the outside of each box with itemized contents, but of course the movers placed all the labels against the wall or another box. In general I'm a big fan of the wire baskets with the rubberized coating, I just wish they were actually square. I begrudge the triangular gap in between!

It's drawer organizers for DEEP drawers I think I need. I've seen a lot of well organized drawers on this forum, with everything standing on end.

Thanks for the hug. I have appointments all day and then it's back to attacking the boxes -- or having them attack me.

FIRSTHOUSE_MP - The nearest IKEA is 4 hours by car away, otherwise I'd be there in a heartbeat. Almost all the Rev-A-Shelf stuff I see is for pullouts for cabinets, and I don't have any of those.

I didn't think of Bed Bath and Beyond. There's bound to be a 20% off coupon I can snag from somewhere.

I USE all my kitchen stuff! I don't keep extra stuff of any kind. But I may have to make some gut-wrenching choices like whether or not I can live with one set of cookware, and if so, which one.

Can you store some of the stuff that you don't use at least once a week elsewhere? Basement shelves? Garagae in a cabinet?

Good luck.

alabamanicole: BB&B should accept expired coupons. Bring one coupon for each item you purchase ... that way you get 20% off everything.

Our previous home did not have much storage space in the kitchen. There were a total of 4 drawers, all shallow.

I installed wire bin pullouts in the bottoms of all cabinets, which converted them to deep drawers as well. Fortunately the house had a hallway near the kitchen with 3 closets, so we installed shelves in all of them for less frequently used kitchen items & entertaining items. Only items used every day stayed in the kitchen itself.

>BB&B should accept expired coupons

FWIW, our BB&B no longer does this since Linens 'n' Things went under. Won't take more than one coupon at a time, either, so while it's definitely worth a try, don't be surprised if they say no.

The garage is a no for storage. With my vehicle in it I have exactly 6" of clearance... total! :)

I do have a finished basement (rare, here) but it's totally empty right now. I fear if I put things down the stairs I'll never use them. Not only will it be out-of-sight out-of-mind, but I have bad knees.

I do plan to re-do the utility room later, so I'll have a bit of extra storage in the future with some overhead cabinets. Right now there are some nasty wire shelves but they'll be okay for things like the canner, etc.

Hopefully once I start getting everything organized it won't be as bad as it seems right now. And really, it's not a small kitchen -- it's just hard to contract once you've expanded!

Do you have any room for hanging storage (pot racks, utensil rails)? That saved us, moving from a condo to a house that managed to have both a larger room and less usable storage. Or are larger items the problem?
I remember the moving chaos that lingered because I couldn't figure out where to put stuff.

I can relate. I also moved into a smaller kitchen that didn't have as much storage. First thing I did was install pull out drawers in all two levels of my base cabinets so I could reach everything. My old kitchen was not too organized and I could throw stuff into drawers. I no longer have that luxury and have purged a lot of stuff I haven't used in over a year. I use a buffet in my dining room to store stuff and have moved stuff to the garage too.

I also got rid of all the plastics (like Tupperware) that I've had over the years and bought a single set of Rubbermaid containers which was recommended on this forum. The containers all stack on top of one another and the lids stack too. I've found that I didn't need all those other irregular pieces that I've kept over the years and it frees up valuable space.

Is there any dead space behind a wall where you can build a cabinet? I found space behind this wall for a small 15" x 13" x 5' place for my canned goods.

Best of luck to you.

I did the first reorganze tonight after just putting stuff anywhere to get it out of the boxes. I came out pretty good. I got everything back in, it's better organized and I have some space left over. I know this isn't the last time but I was just like you. Too much stuff I will use and not enough space left to put it in. I think once you get everything where it belongs, it will work. Lots of my stuff has been packed for 6 years. I've been waiting for the day I can use it. That day is here!

Well, I got everything in the cabinets and drawers. I know things will get moved around but it's functional for now.

I need some drawer dividers and something to make lids and such stand up, and a couple more of the racks to stand up trays and pans. I had hoped to get rid of a counter top utensil caddy at the stove, but I didn't quite have enough drawer space there. So I rescued the nicest one from the Goodwill pile.

I know I have at least a little more kitchen stuff somewhere since I didn't find the salt & pepper, but that would have been thrown in an odd box at the last minute. My mental inventory doesn't reveal any big items. One major lifesaver was the blind corner cabinet, which opens the other way into the dining room. It's HUGE. It's also hard to get to, but it was perfect for small appliances, like the dehydrator. I had other plans for that cabinets, but oh well.

Sadly, some things, like the big chef's pan, take up a whole drawer by itself.

I did weed out a few things -- including some cookware. For the utensils and such I spread them all out on the counter and for each piece asked myself, "do you remember the last time you used this?" I only ended up with a pretty small pile of "nos" and "yes, but do I really need an olive pick?" I guess every bit helps.

I feel a little embarrassed at myself. It wasn't so many years ago when I would have gone crazy over a kitchen with this much storage.