The Organized Kitchen, Part 1 - Pots and Pans

When we moved from The Good Apartment, we went from literally one kitchen drawer and 5 cabinets to more than double that space. I had more than enough room for my tiny stash of kitchen wear but I still had enough for it to become messy if not controlled.

Previously, all the pots and pans were in the drawer under the stove. But we have a gas oven in the new house and that eliminated the pot and pan drawer. So I dedicated the double cabinet to the left of the stove as the pot and pan headquarters.

The cabinet looks like this:

My skillets are on the left, in order of size. The pots are in the back, smallest to largest. The lids are on the right. The shelf is reserved for the stock pots, my wok skillet and my extra 12 inch skillet. I got the lid holder for less than $10 at Target. I am able to see which lid I need quickly and easily. I only have 5 lids here but it will hold up to 7.

I also got the pan holder at Target for around $12. You can use it either vertically, like I did here or you can use it horizontally. I find I save more space using it vertically. It also comes with two screws so you can secure it to your cabinet but I haven't used them. I don't think I will need them, considering I have my cast iron skillets on the rack and it holds them just fine.

It holds 6 pans.

So instead of one big drawer under the stove, where everything would be piled on top of one another, I have a neat and organized cabinet. Having the pots and pans in this order allows for such ease of access, since I am not pulling out 5 pots to get to the middle one stacked inside.