IKEA storage school

Lesson 4

A simple recipe for 

an organised kitchen

A tidy organised kitchen with dark wood cabinets and white countertop and walls.

If you love to cook and entertain, you’ll know the value of a well-organised kitchen. No matter the footprint, you can transform your kitchen into a hyper-functional space that turns mealtime into a relaxing and enjoyable part of every day. The key? Small organisers and storage aids for dedicated tasks. Let’s go! 

A plant-filled kitchen with off-white BODBYN drawer fronts and four black HULTARP rails with containers on a wall.

Hook it up!

Hooks and rails aren’t just a great way to make use of otherwise blank wall space, but depending on what you hang from them, can vastly improve your overall cooking experience. You can see everything at once and reach for the item of your choice as and when you need it. If you're also looking for decorative kitchen solution, hooks are a fun way to display things while keeping them out of the kitchen workspace.

A kitchen with items hanging from stainless steel KUNGSFORS hooks on a KUNGSFORS rail with plates displayed above.
A kitchen with pans and other kitchen items hanging on hooks from two birch NEREBY rails attached to a tiled wall.
Bowls and a plate of fruit on a kitchen worktop with vegetables hanging from hooks on a stainless steel KUNGSFORS rail above.

Divide and conquer 

The onions are perfectly done, and you need to get the garlic into the mix immediately! But where is the mincer? Probably jumbled in a drawer with everything else, no? If your utensils and cutlery could do with a bit of separation, give every item a designated home with drawer organisers. And while you’re at it, consider other things you regularly grab from the depths of the drawers. 

An open kitchen drawer with bowls and plates arranged in an UPPDATERA pegboard drawer organiser.

No two crockery collections are exactly the same, so why should your storage be? The joy of the UPPDATERA pegboard drawer organiser is that it comes with 32 adjustable pegs, making it customisable to your needs. 

An aerial shot of open kitchen drawers revealing organised cutlery and crockery inside.
An open kitchen drawer with cutlery organised in a grey UPPDATERA adjustable organiser for drawer.

An ode to the flexibility of UPPDATERA interior organisers! Not only do these handy additions make it easier to keep your kitchen drawers in order, but they also look after your cutlery and your drawers, preventing scratches and chipping. 

An open kitchen drawer with spices on an anthracite UPPDATERA spice rack and knives on an anthracite UPPDATERA knife rack.

UPPDATERA to the organisational rescue once again! This spice rack makes it super easy to see just what you're cooking with, while the knife rack keeps all your blades protected, sharp and ordered. 

An open VINTERKALL French door fridge/freezer filled with food neatly organised in an assortment of food containers.

Ingredients at a glance

Clear kitchen storage containers have had an extended, trendy moment, but besides being attractive (and surprisingly satisfying to fill) they are incredibly practical, too. You can see exactly what you have, making it easy to find what you need while preparing a meal, but clear storage also means you’re less likely to double up on ingredients unnecessarily, or forget about prepared or fresh food in the fridge.

A kitchen with an open kitchen drawer filled with dry ingredients in clear glass VARDAGEN and KORKEN jars with lids.

Give your deep drawers a new lease on life by filling them with a collection of well-stocked VARDAGEN jars! Their tight-fitting glass lids keep things fresher for longer but also allow you to see what lives inside from every angle. 

Tins and fresh ingredients in transparent KLIPPKAKTUS storage boxes on two glass shelves.

If you’ve ever lost a head of lettuce to the back of the fridge, KLIPPKAKTUS storage boxes could be just what you need. Use these durable, stackable storage boxes with lids to transform a cluttered fridge into a well-organised dream in no time.

Four transparent/white IKEA 365+ dry food jars with lids filled with dry ingredients on a shelf.

These IKEA 365+ dry food jars make for a great and practical display of all your pulses, nuts and seeds, but they're just as happy tucked away in your pantry. The lip allows for easy pouring, with a fully removable lid that makes refilling a breeze.

An open drawer filled with square/plastic IKEA 365+ food containers filled with dry ingredients.

We love the versatility and simplicity of the IKEA 365+ food storage containers. They keep cooked food fresher for longer, are ideal for packed lunches and on-the-go snacks, and are a handy, stackable home for dry ingredients.

Storage on the move 

Perhaps you have the space for a stationary kitchen island. Lucky you! But if you’re looking for more space in a highly versatile form, a trolley could be just what you need. You can even find a trolley with a suitable surface to use as an extra workspace for food preparation. Endless possibilities on wheels!

A person in a kitchen pouring tea leaves into a BLOMNING coffee/tea tin atop a stainless steel KUNGSFORS kitchen trolley.
Wooden bowls, a pine KNAGGLIG box, and a white RISATORP basket on a white NISSAFORS trolley in a kitchen environment.
A kitchen with a white RÅSKOG trolley filled with breakfast ingredients, bowls, and cutlery.

Keeping up with the cabinets

Open your kitchen cabinets. Have a look around. Any space you’re maybe missing out on? Well, the doors, of course! All that forgotten real estate is just waiting for a purpose! If you've got a high cabinet in your kitchen - the sort classically used for storing brooms and mops - then consider the easy to install UTRUSTA pull-out lader. The shallow door baskets give a good overview of bottles and spice jars, while the larger cabinet baskets are perfect for bigger/bulkier items.

A white kitchen with an open cabinet door revealing an UTRUSTA pull-out larder packed with pantry items.

Making the most of every inch

So you’ve filled up your cabinet shelves and there isn’t space for even one more tin... or is there? Shelves are much taller than the items inside them. If that’s the case for you, under shelf baskets and shelf inserts could be a wonderful way to use all that extra airspace.

A shelf with a PÅLYCKE clip-on basket holding two bags of ground coffee.

The PÅLYCKE clip-on basket is a great hanging solution to squeeze in some extra storage. Hang it from one of the shelves inside your cabinet, or off the lowest shelf for some extra open storage.

A hand placing a glass on a shelf in a cupboard with glassware and grey GLADELIG mugs atop a white VARIERA shelf insert.

Double the footprint of your shelf in one simple move with the VARIERA shelf insert. Not only will you have more space, but you’ll make the contents of your shelf easier to view and access.

Another lesson done, another room ready to be optimised!


Look at you go! Six super accessible kitchen storage ideas ready to put into action. Which one catches your fancy? Find just what you need by browsing our range of storage solutions at your local IKEA website.