5 Smart Ways to Organize Pots and Pans

Set Up your Kitchen Like a Pro

Order! Order in the kitchen! Not to get too judgy, but the way some of us store pots and pans borders on criminal. See if you recognize any of these repeat offenders:

The Closer
Owner of an impressive array of mixed-matched cookware, plastic containers, and dust-gathering kitchen gadgets, The Closer jams her pots and pans into her cupboard and shoves the door shut— only to have everything come tumbling down whenever she pulls out a cookie sheet.

Thrifty McThreePots
Like his name suggests, Thrifty has three pots. If he can’t make it in a saucepan, a stockpot, or a skillet, he’s not cooking it. Clean up is a breeze and it cuts down on storage, but he longs to add to his kitchen cookware and weeps openly every time he walks by Sur La Table.

The Stasher
A distant cousin of The Closer, The Stasher has moved on from stuffing kitchen cabinets; she stashes pots and pans on the counter, in the oven—she’s even stashed them in the dryer! Every time she’s ready to cook, bake, or do laundry, she has to find a new, temporary storage place for her tea kettle and air fryer.

The best way to combat these crimes in the kitchen is organization. Whether you’ve got limitless resources for remodeling or serious budget constraints that require D.I.Y ingenuity, these five storage ideas can help:

Get the Hook Up

Storage doesn’t have to mean stuffing everything into your cabinets and hoping for the best; the solution to your kitchen storage needs might be just above your head.

Consider hanging your cookware. It’s a stylish way to store your pots that gives you easy access to the kitchen tools you use most. It also frees up counter space for toasters, air fryers, Dutch ovens, and other small appliances.

But before you shell out a lot of money on pricey pot racks, try this easy hack:

Install a tension rod (super simple, no hardware or drilling required) between the walls of window frames, breakfast nooks, or backsplashes and use S hooks to hang pots and pans.

Stack the Deck

Nesting pots and pans for storage makes perfect sense; in fact, it’s the way most cookware sets are packaged. But if you’re like us and you’ve added a few woks and paella pans to your cooking arsenal, you know that awkward handles and oddly-sized lids make neatly nesting your curated collection of cookware complicated.

Stack smarter with mDesign’s kitchen cookware organizer. This rack works vertically or horizontally to maximize storage space. Keep pots on the bottom and lids on top or store lids separately with our pot/pan lid rack organizer. It’s a great hack for small-space living, like apartments, RVs, campers, and cabins.

Flip your Lids

If you’re into food prep or you’re the chief lunch-maker in your household, you know plastic food storage containers like Tupperware can take over a kitchen. Wrangling those plastic lids can be especially infuriating.

Lid control stops container creep in its tracks. Sort lids by size and store them in an organizer (we like mDesign’s lid organizer bin). No more wasting time searching for the right sized lid, everything is nice, neat, and at your fingertips.

Be a Smart Cookie

Once you’ve hung your pots, stacked your pans, and sorted your lids, what’s left awkwardly sticking out of your kitchen cabinets? Bakeware.

Baking’s never been more popular, thanks to a certain British baking show (cranberry and mace panettones, anyone?). mDesign’s over-the-cabinet door organizer basket is a sweet solution. The basket holds baking pans, cookie sheets, muffin tins, and cookbooks. It works inside or outside cabinet doors and you can mount it on walls, too.

Roll with It

Now your kitchen looks like it was organized by a pro —but you’ve still got to cook in it. All it takes is one dinner party with friends for your kitchen to revert back to its previous chaos.

The key to maintaining order in your kitchen is to make sure your storage solutions fit your kitchen style. Professional organizers stress the importance of keeping go-to kitchenware close to where you’re cooking and ready when you need it.

But what if you’re over by the pasta maker while the sauce is on the stove and the oregano is on a spice rack in the pantry? (We love Italian, btw, please invite us to dinner!)

Try a rolling cart. Stock it with everything you need for the meal you’re preparing, and you’ve got mobile storage wherever you are in the kitchen. And when you’re not cooking, it adds even more storage to your already orderly kitchen.

The verdict? Quick and easy organization and no more crimes against kitchen storage. Now about that junk drawer in the foyer….

Lisa Langford is a Senior Copywriter at mDesign

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