If you’ve been reading the blog a while, you know I have a very small kitchen. Small as in “17 feet long x 4 feet wide” of kitchen. Let’s go ahead and say it’s basically a hallway. And the kids treat it as such…which has become a challenge when I open an appliance door and they unexpectedly come flying through.

Let’s take a quick look at my kitchen overall. Here it was before move-in…

Just after move-in, with the improvements of only paint and new cabinet knobs…

And currently with the addition of a new temporary floor and barstools…

This alone is proof that paint and a few small upgrades make a HUGE difference! Other than the floor, everything is original…all the way down to the tile countertops and old cabinets.

Since purchasing the house less than 2 years ago, and living in it pretty hard during that time, I’ve proven over and over that it’s simple to make smart use of a small space like this, be thoughtful with your purchases and think outside the box when it comes to organization. As is the case with many of you I’m sure, I spend most of my time in the kitchen. If I’m spending this much time in a space, it has to be organized and clutter-free! During my short time living here, I’ve shared all of my little kitchen organization projects.

But a complete kitchen project / organization recap has been on my blog to-do list for you guys. Leave it to the Container Store to give me that kick in the rear to get it done. My Container Store friends have challenged me and all of you to tackle 6 spaces in our homes over a 6-week period. They’re calling this Six Weeks of Spring Order…

It’s a fun kick-off to their awesome Spring Organization Sale…

Each week during the Spring Order Challenge, you have the chance to win a $200 Store More Gift Card! All you need to do is share your completed space each week on your social media page using hashtag #SixOrganizedWeeks. Easy! Don’t worry – you don’t need a blog to take part in the challenge. Just post your photo. Use the hashtag. That’s it!

Our first weekly challenge is to clear kitchen clutter. My kitchen is already organized…there’s always room for improvement, trust me! But for the most part I’ve got systems in place and they are working well. Clutter creeps in now and again…mainly due to kid’s schoolwork and papers. So this challenge pushed me to give a second look at a few items that have become clutter over time. For example, I probably don’t need enough wine glasses for a 25 person dinner party. Ahem.

Anyway, my clutter is gone! So now we can recap all of my simply organized systems for you in the event you too are living with a tee-niny but sweet little kitchen.

Nothing gets cluttered up quicker than that tiny space under the kitchen sink. I’ve found a way to make this one of the most clutter-free spots in my entire home – not kidding!…

You can read my entire post about this project here, but here’s a few of the inexpensive solutions I purchased to make this space work hard for me. Just because it’s a shoe drawer, doesn’t mean you can’t use it for other purposes, like sponges!…

I also hung the Martha Stewart Wall Manager (using Command Adhesive strips) to create a space for hanging dish gloves, dish soap and my sponge…

This could be my most popular post of all time on the blog…my DIY trash bags on a roll…

It’s one of my all-time favorite DIY projects too. Having the trash bags up vertically keeps the base of the cabinet open for other things. Or nothing!

Drawers can get cluttered with the quickness! I have very shallow kitchen drawers. I gave them a makeover with easy DIY custom drawer organizer strips. You can see my full tutorial here along with a video too!…

Welcome to my organized pantry…

I turned a wall of kitchen cabinets into a hardworking pantry by getting rid of as much packaging as possible and using smart solutions that make the most of the space. That’s it! You can read my full post about how to organize a pantry right here. And here is a list of my favorite pantry solutions…

1. mainstays wire stacking shelves from walmart = $9.26 each
2. 3-tier expandable canned good shelves from target = $12.39 each
3. mainstays stacking baskets from walmart = $8.97 (for a pack of 2!)
4. natural open-topped baskets = various prices, just depends on where you buy
5. storvino wine crate from The Container Store = $19.99
6. snapware fliptop = $17.98 (i purchased mine from bed, bath & beyond with a coupon)
7. snapware 10-piece set from target = $20.99

Wondering where my bar is located in this small kitchen? It’s actually around the corner inside an old coat closet…

The closet wasn’t utilized well and had already become a spot for boxes of wine shipments to collect. I used an existing Elfa system that wasn’t being used anywhere in the house to create a wine closet / bar area…

You can read my full project post here, but needless to say – this is one of my favorite, most cherished closets in the house ;-).

A fridge and freezer are tight on space, but again you can make the most of it by using smart solutions…

These Ziploc glass containers keep our foods fresher longer. I prep them over the weekend so they are ready for grabbing throughout the week…

They also stack well in a fridge to make the most of your space….

Wondering where the pretty liners came from? My friends at Fridge Coaster…I love this product!…

The fridge opening in my kitchen is tiny and doesn’t accommodate the new standard fridges. I had to purchase this small top / bottom style fridge before we moved in. The freezer is small but removing some outer packaging and using these handled storage baskets make all the difference…

You can see my fridge / freezer organization posts here and here!

Kitchen counter space is at a premium around these parts! I added more counter space by purchasing an inexpensive rack from Improvements…

With my wine relocated to the old coat closet, that old piece was just hanging around and not making sense. Here is that same nook after…

There’s a spot for produce, cookbooks, the phone, extra napkins and more. Really helpful to remove those items from the countertops…

Paper is going to be a kitchen issue, so why fight a lost cause? Instead, win the battle by adding a paper command center inside a kitchen cabinet…

Again, using the Martha Stewart Wall Manager components, I created space for all of that paper clutter to live. I know where everything is and when the paper comes home, it has somewhere to go! Not here where it used to accumulate on this counter…

If your cabinet shelves aren’t working for you and a kitchen remodel is off in the distance due to budget restraints, get creative. Even if it’s a temporary fix, it will make you happier!

For example, I had this odd cabinet that wasn’t working well…

The top self was huge and deep while the bottom shelves were a wall hanging system that I couldn’t understand. All I did was knock out the 3 shelves, add a freestanding Elfa drawer system and create loads of new storage that makes sense!…

Another example of removing a shelf to create a better system was in my little coffee bar…

There was an odd shelf here previously. Just removed it, added a simple shelf riser to hold my coffee mugs and found this fun gem for containing coffee beans…