I too am having this problem since we moved, although with much LESS space.

I hate to restate the obvious, but Lazy Susans in the front and baskets of various sizes behind work for me.

Measure your cabinets, grab yourself a stack of Bed Bath & Beyond coupons (you know, the millions they send int he mail each day?!), and go wander their organization aisle for a bit. There is specifically a shelf just for spices/small jars that is kind of like a set of risers - you can put them in two rows and still see the ones in back! Lots of good stuff there. You have so much space - I’m jealous!

When I had an embarassingly large kitchen, I devoted one large drawer to spices and bought a drawer spice organizer at the Container Store. Best thing ever! Pull out the drawer and you have a quick scan of all your spices, plus they’re stored away from light and (in my case) heat, which helps them retain flavor. Now that I live in a smaller place I have a spice rack on the wall, and it’s just not the same. You could also get some of those magnetic tins and store spices on your refrigerator.

I also picked up a bunch of shelf risers at the Container Store that have helped me double the storage space in my cupboards, with the added bonus of making twice as many cans, bottles, etc. visible from the front. Lazy Susans are tremendously helpful too, until you are free to convert to pull-out shelves.

What I did in my similarly sized spice area was put a cheap plastic lazy susan in (kind of like this, but cheaper looking). It gives me two levels on the one shelf that fit spice jars perfectly. It also allows me to spin it around so that I can reach all my spices without throwing things on the floor.

Definitely check out Ikea. They have the little shelf inserts that give you two levels of shelving (KWIM?) in various sizes. They also have a neat thing that attaches to the inside of the cupboard and has two little shelves and it pulls out. Kinda hard to describe. But if you go to their kitchen section they have a whole area devoted to inserts for cabinets, shelves, drawers, etc. and it’s way cheaper than Linens n’Things type stores. I also have the two level lazy susan thingie for spices but the cabinet has to be wide enough to accomodate it so that might not work for you.

Measure the opening and depth space for each of the ‘crammed to capacity’ shelves, and then go to target or walmart and peruse their rubbermaid bins and containers.
Buy one for each shelf that will fit them. Toss the lids that come with them, of stick them in the garage to store out of the way until the next time you move.
put all of the stuff in the bin, and slide it into the shelf. Ta-da, removable drawers.

This is nice especially for spices since you can remove the whole spice bin from the shelf and set it on the counter for easy access rather than walking back and forth to the cabinet.

I swear by the bin method for my tupperware containers as well. In one cabinet I’ve got 2 bins, bottom bin is containers, top bin is lids. Its much easier to pick the size you need, slide that bin back in, slide out the lid-bin and find it’s lid.

bonus to the shelf-bin method - when/if you have to move in a year, to pack, all you have to do is put the lid from storage on the bin, and go.

I love the lazy susan for spices as well but have also used the spice drawer idea. It alsom might be good to keep the items you don’t use very often in the back so it isn’t such a pain getting to it. Good luck! Please send more pictures if you make changes- would love to see the “makeover”.

I dunno how it hasn’t been mentioned before, but how about the slide-out racks that you can mount on each of the shelves? What you lose in the slight height of the rails, you easily gain in the ability to get things in and out of the back of the cabinet with ease. We have cabinets like these next to our corner sink, and I was incredibly frustrated only until I put in the sliding racks… and now things are *much* better.

Ditto the rubbermaid clear plastic “drawer” idea. I especially like it for snacks, chips, and stuff that gets all messed up and won’t stack, plus I like being able to see what’s in the bin while it’s still inthe shelf.

If you need storage elsewhere, wooden wine boxes are usually free or very cheap at wine stores. You can put several of them on a shelf, and it looks nice. Let us know how it turns out!

Oh, I almost forgot, I was reading Design Sponge, and they had a great idea for shelf liner (since it’s hard to find good-looking shelf liner, and you end up living with it forever). Take wrapping paper you love, cut it to fit your shelves, drawers, etc., and use clear contact paper to cover it, leaving a bit of extra contact paper at the edges to help the whole thing stick to the shelves. Very cute!

I use the ‘Kindergarten technique’ to organise rooms in my house. You know how in kindergarten, they have the painting zone, the dress ups zone, the story zone? I have zoned my kitchen. Here are some examples of zones and what things to keep in them.
Drinks zone: Mugs, cups, wineglasses, tea, coffee, sugar, liquor, kettle, blender.
Food prep zone: chopping boards, knives, fridge, food cupboard, mixing bowls, wooden spoons.
Dishwashing zone: detergent, scrubbing brush, steel wool, clean dishes (if they are kept right there it’s easier to put them away).
I’m a big fan of cupboard organisers, lazy susans and spice racks too, but the zoning helps even without the extra gadgetry.

I second Katrina’s suggestion, it’s what I had to do. we moved from a townhouse with a large, newly-remodeled (to my specifications, i had hella awesome landlords) kitchen to a house that was built in the 60s. And everything about this place just screams that it was built by construction workers tripping on all manner of drugs. It’s been fun so far. Storage, storage everywhere… except the kitchen. *sigh* but yes, clear storage boxes with or without lids, according to your preferences. I keep the lids on mine because I have a paranoia about bugs and mice. works really great, and you can totally see pretty much everything at a glance (and it makes rearranging things a snap). I also have the spice cabinet issue, but due to a lack of drawer space, cannot snag that idea. I like the lazy-susan plan. Excellent post!

Laughing– great post. I have no good suggestions, though– kitchen organization is not one of my strengths.