5 Storage Mistakes You're Making With Your Kitchen Drawers That Are Sabotaging Your Space's Potential

Drawers are a non-negotiable storage option in nearly every kitchen. They offer a neat, discreet home for cutlery, utensils, food wrap, spice jars — even pots and pans in certain cases. But while drawers might make your kitchen look more organized and clutter-free from the outside, the sight that awaits inside them is often a different story.

If you're constantly battling with cluttered kitchen drawers that don't open smoothly, are rammed with miscellaneous stuff, or feel poorly planned from a spatial perspective, take solace in the fact that you're not alone. Yes, you're probably guilty of a few kitchen drawer storage mistakes, but it's nothing a few hours of organizing can't fix.

The thing is, unlike other kitchen storage ideas like our cabinets, kitchen drawers are best suited to smaller items that don't have a designated home elsewhere (think the likes of knife sharpeners, spare charging cables, and birthday candles). Of course, the utility of these drawers (and the things they hold) can't be disputed, but by treating them like catchalls, you're wreaking havoc across your entire kitchen.

Want to prevent your drawers from descending into total disarray? Here are five common kitchen drawer storage mistakes you're probably making, plus how to avoid them for a more organized kitchen.

1. A Lack of Dividers or Organizers

To help you organize your kitchen drawers, dividers and inserts are a must. This is especially true for cutlery and utensil drawers. Without a system that allows you to organize the contents into separate compartments, your kitchen drawers will resemble a scrap heap.

"Without dividers, things shift around every time you open or close the drawer, and it's nearly impossible to find what you need," explains professional organizer, Di Ter Avest. "To fix it, invest in drawer organizers or even repurpose small boxes to create sections."

"A simple solution is using organizers to separate items by type, like one for cutlery, one for cooking tools, and one for spices," adds Aurora Espinoza, designer at Kutchenhaus Doral and nobilia North America. "It makes everything easier to see and keeps your drawers looking clean."

2. Overfilling Your Drawers

It can be hard to avoid overstuffing drawers in a small kitchen, but it's a fatal kitchen drawer storage mistake nonetheless. If your utensil drawer is already at full capacity, that potato masher just has to go elsewhere if you want to avoid jamming your drawers completely. To keep your contents organized, know when to draw the limit.

"Overloading makes it hard to see what you have, and you'll end up buying duplicates or losing stuff in the mess," notes Di. "Take five minutes to pull everything out and only put back the essentials — you'll be amazed at what doesn't belong."

Aurora points out that too many things inside one drawer can even break the rails, leading to costly repairs. "A good tip is to try spreading items across different drawers and keeping similar things together," she says. "That way, you can see everything and find what you need faster."

Di Ter Avest

Di Ter Avest is a professional home and lifestyle organizer and the owner of Di is Organized, in Baltimore, MD (USA). Her accountability program and book Organize Yourself Healthy help women across the globe to get their lives and homes organized, leading to lower levels of stress and overwhelm. Her expertise has been featured on Forbes, Today, Apartment Therapy, Real Homes, Livingetc, Home & Gardens, and Kitchn; she has also given workshops at IKEA, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma.

3. Failing to Compartmentalize Your Drawers

If you're not dedicating each drawer to a distinct purpose, you're doing it wrong. You should only corral categorized items together in each drawer, compartmentalizing your storage for ease of use. "If you're digging past batteries and glue sticks to get to a spatula, that's a sign your categories are clashing," says Di. "It's confusing and makes cleanup more difficult than it needs to be."

Instead, she suggests keeping "like with like"; "group cooking utensils in one drawer, for example, and baking tools in another". Or, as Aurora puts it, give each drawer a job. "One for utensils, one for cooking tools, one for extras," she says.

Wondering where to put things in kitchen drawers? You could even add labels or use different containers to help keep things in the right place. Systematizing your drawers in this way won't only keep them more organized, but it will make it so much easier to navigate your kitchen as a whole.

4. Not Taking Advantage of Vertical Space

These days, kitchens aren't limited to shallow drawers. Lots of modern kitchen ideas feature deeper versions, or "double-deck drawers" where two or more stacked drawers exist within the same joinered frame.

Generally, these clever storage solutions help to maximize utility by capitalizing on drawer space, but only if you use them wisely. "For example, if you're just tossing everything flat into a deep drawer, you're wasting potential," explains Di. "Instead, use stacking bins or mini risers to create levels and double the storage power."

To really harness your vertical space, you could also consider upgrading your drawers by installing a "double-decked" system using an insert. They're a great way to make use of every inch of space.

5. Forgetting to Declutter

Decluttering your kitchen is by far the best way to keep your storage streamlined and efficient. Your drawers are no exception, and yet, failing to purge them regularly is a common pitfall for many of us.

"Even the best-organized drawer will slowly fill with extras you don't need," Di explains. "It's easy to ignore because it's hidden away, but that clutter adds up." She urges us to habitually give drawers a once-over every couple of months to prevent them from filling up.

And when it comes to decluttering your kitchen drawers, don't fall into the trap of holding onto stuff you don't use. "We've all got that weird gadget we used once five years ago, and now it just takes space," Di says. "Holding on to rarely-used or 'maybe one day' items eats up valuable real estate. Be honest — if you haven't used it in the last year, it's time to donate or store it somewhere else."

Don't fall victim to these common kitchen drawer storage mistakes if you want a space that works smoothly and efficiently, even behind closed doors. As easy as it might be to overlook your jam-packed utensil drawer and the dishevelled contents within, the "out of sight, out of mind approach" isn't fooling anyone, especially not you. Satisfying drawer storage that actually works is far more achievable than you think (we promise).