Kitchen Appliance Organization Tips

Kitchen Appliance Organization - Toaster Oven, Coffee Bean Grinder, & Nespresso

A few months ago, I asked the members of a local Facebook mom’s group what areas of their home needed organization help. One of the most common ones was help with kitchen appliance organization – a problem so many of us have!

Though I don’t talk about it much (yet), having a smaller home is one way of really living sustainably. A smaller home requires less to run (e.g. power, gas, and water) and you’re often limited with how much you can bring into a space, so you shop a little smarter.

I’m not talking tiny homes here. Our current home (a 1920s bungalow) is roughly 1250 square feet. We have 3 people (two adults and a toddler) living VERY comfortably here. While we have ADU plans to soon turn the garage into a living space for houseguests and my office space, we’re currently very happy with our small-ish space (see how we incorporated baby life into our decor).

You can read more about how we’re making our home more sustainable, but one of the main things that works for smaller space living is being diligent about what you own and how you organize it!

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Kitchen Appliance Organization

When it comes to cooking, there are SO MANY cool things out there. Stand Mixers. Air Fryers. Blenders. Ice Cream Machines. Rice Cookers. Crockpots. Pizza Ovens. You name it, a thing exists for just that!

And many of us have a fair few of them – bought on our own and gifted to us. But the thing is, we don’t all need all of those things.

You either knew that was coming or you just rolled your eyes – possibly both. I know, but it’s still true. I used to be a collector of fun kitchen gadgets. I wanted just about all of them.

And then somewhere along the line, I realized that I was never using the ice cream maker; the blender was gathering dust; and our popcorn pan was more work to get out and clean than just using the large pot on our stove.

So I stopped buying gadgets and politely requested no more of them from family when birthdays and the holidays rolled around. I had all the basics I needed and we were done with kitchen gadgets.

Undercounter Kitchen Appliance Organization - FoodCycler

And it worked. No more new gadgets. And then when we moved to Sacramento, and things changed a little bit.

Somehow in the move and the trips to donate items we no longer wanted, we lost the base to the rice cooker and my food processor (and the cheese grater, but that’s another story). I still had the pan for the rice cooker and the bowl & blade for the processor, but the operating parts were gone.

After buying our first house and having a brand new baby, the last thing I wanted to do was buy more stuff. So we went back to making rice on the stove top and, honestly, didn’t miss the processor for a while (it was eventually replaced by a smaller one – at least ⅓-1/2 the size).

Then I got really into living sustainably and discovered electric composters. I wanted one. I was willing to break my no new gadgets rule to try this thing out. And, of course, I loved it! I still love it.

How Many Kitchen Appliances Do you Need?

This is one you’re going to have to figure out yourself, but a good rule of thumb is that if you aren’t using it at least once per month, it’s a good contender for not being needed.

In our kitchen, and I LOVE to cook, and we, clearly, LOVE coffee! We own the following appliances: toaster oven, coffee bean grinder, Nespresso machine, small food chopper, stand mixer, electric composter, electric tea kettle, crockpot, hand mixer, coffee pot, waffle iron, and a Blender.

Sidenote – if you have a Nespresso, try one of these Nespresso recipes!

Though wildly popular, we do not have an air fryer, nor do I want one. I hear they’re great. I believe you! I don’t want any more things in the kitchen!

How many kitchen appliances and which ones will be solely dictated by what you cook and how often. Nearly every gadget, however, has an easy alternative that doesn’t require a gadget, so really think about what you use.

Where to Store Kitchen Appliances?

If you’ve pared down your appliance numbers, the next organization question is where to keep them.

The two main options are on the counter or put away! Except for my stand mixer, the only items on the counters are ones which we use every day. EVERY DAY! The stand mixer thankfully has a corner to be tucked away. I’ve tried storing it on a shelf before and it’s a hassle.

Our electric composter is used at least 3-4 times per week, so while it is put away in a low cupboard, it is easily accessible!

Our crockpot is used maybe once per month (sometimes way more). It’s kept in another low cabinet with the rest of our pots and pans.

The remainder of our kitchen appliances are on higher shelves or tucked away in cupboards – accessible but maybe with a bit of a reach or a touch of help!

So when it comes time for you to figure out where to organize your kitchen appliances, think primarily about how much you use them and make them decreasingly accessible from there!

If you’re storing appliances in the garage, let’s just pass those along, shall we?

QUICK NOTE: You’ll see in the photo above that our Nespresso, coffee bean grinder, and toaster oven are all by a single outlet with only two plugs. We tried plugging/unplugging for quite some time and found it annoying, so we bought a 3-outlet surge protector.

Ours is by Belkin. You can also check out the Phillips 3-outlet plug as well as the 360 PowerCurve Mini. It’s a great little gadget.