A Common Storage Mistake Keeps Your Kitchen Cabinets Cluttered

Your kitchen cabinets do a lot to store everyday essentials, from dinnerware and appliances, to dry goods and utensils. Some may dedicate a cabinet for kitchen supplies, such as trash bags, dish soap, and paper towels. But it's not uncommon for people to use their base cabinets to hold other non-kitchen-related items, too, like toilet paper, laundry detergent, or other essential cleaning supplies because of how convenient it is to access them when you need them. But according to professional home organizers, using your kitchen cabinets as storage for these products is one way to make sure your cupboards have no chance of being truly clutter-free. Luckily, there are countless hacks to secretly add more storage to your kitchen — but a simple way of freeing up space is putting certain stock items elsewhere. 

The kitchen is where the most action happens in a home. And, because it's a central spot, it makes sense that many use drawers, as well as bottom and overhead cabinets as a catch-all storage solution for, well, pretty much anything, including chargers, household tools, and cleaning supplies. However, it's a mistake to overwhelm your kitchen cabinets with these items, regardless of how accessible and practical it may seem. 

In fact, according to some experts, these storage spots should be dedicated to kitchen-related items only for maximum efficiency, and everything else should be housed in another place around the home. Otherwise, you end up with a hub of clutter and that dreaded junk drawer. For safety reasons, you also want to consider that certain items, like cleaning products, can pose contamination issues, while paper towels can absorb unwanted moisture and become susceptible to mold.

Rather than establishing the heart of your home as the one-stop place for all of your product storage, consider a few different spots around the house to store your kitchen-related and non-kitchen-related items. Utility and laundry rooms (whether or not they share the same space in your home) are perfect contenders for storing these products. That's because cleaning supplies, paper towels, and other common stock items can create a cluttered mess in your kitchen cabinets. Not to mention the potential health hazards that come with storing products made with harsh and toxic chemicals in a place where they can potentially contaminate food, or where children and pets may come into contact with them.

Obviously, a utility room is meant solely for utility items that you need to access often, but not everyone is afforded the luxury of having a dedicated storage space, and maybe your laundry room is limited in how much storage it has (if you have one at all, that is). In that case, installing overhead shelves or cabinets can be an easy and flexible DIY storage solution for even the smallest of laundry rooms. Otherwise, your outside storage, specifically your garage, is a safe and practical place to stow away your cleaning supplies, because it will keep them out of reach of small fingers. Adding a storage closet, double cabinets, or open shelving can further keep your clutter at bay, and organize each area based on how often you need to access it.