A Professional Organizer Shares Her Secret to a Neat Kitchen

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Tidy white and green kitchen with open shelving.

Calimia Home

This article is part of our series, The 7-Day Spruce Up: Your Ultimate Guide to Home Organizing. The 7-Day Spruce Up is your destination for whole home happiness, curating our very best tips and product recommendations to help you create your tidiest, coziest, most beautiful home yet.

If a clean kitchen is your ultimate goal, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. You can’t just shove everything into your cabinets—the kitchen gets daily use, and you need it to function at its best.

On a quest to figure out how to best get ourselves organized, we turned to professional organizer Joanna Wirick of Joanna Organize and asked for her one secret item she uses on every kitchen re-organizing job.

Her secret? Investing in spring-loaded dividers to conquer your drawer clutter. Read on to see why she loves these organizers and thinks no kitchen should be without them.

Wirick's Secret to a Tidy Kitchen

Though a kitchen may seem neat on the outside, what lurks inside drawers can reveal it's not so clean after all. That's why Wirick suggests investing in her favorite drawer organizers.

“My number one product recommendation is an affordable and versatile solution for any sized kitchen: spring-loaded dividers," Wirick tells us. "The dividers allow you to create ‘lanes’ in pull-out drawers. You can corral cooking utensils, pot holders, linens, and snacks.” 

The Container Store 3" Dream Drawer Organizers

The Container Store 3" Dream Drawer Organizers

The Container Store

The Container Store Bamboo Drawer Organizers

The Container Store Bamboo Drawer Organizers

The Container Store 

They’re easy to use

Let’s face it—there are a lot of kitchen gadgets out there that are downright impossible to use. Wirick assures us that these dividers are anything but.

“I love that the dividers are a simple and straightforward solution that don't require a significant monetary investment or time investment, like decanting spices,” Wirick says.

They’re aesthetically pleasing and budget-friendly

By the very nature of their design, these dividers are sleek and simple, which means they work with the look of any kitchen. 

“Opt for the white plastic dividers if you want to save a few bucks, or you can splurge and get the bamboo ones,” Wirick tells us.

They come in versatile sizes

If you’re not sure they’ll fit in your drawers, you might just need to shop around for the right size.

“The standard height is perfect for kitchen drawers, even if you have an older home,” Wirick says. “They also have tall-drawer dividers that are perfect for deep drawers, which are typical in newer kitchens. I also love that these drawer dividers can be used in any drawer of the house."

They’re tried and true

Wirick assures us that when it comes to kitchen-tidying solutions, she’s tried them all. Nothing compares to these dividers.

“As a professional organizer, it's my job to know what the best solutions are for my clients,” Wirick says. “In my experience working in dozens and dozens of kitchens, the drawer dividers are my go-to item that fit anyone's budget and anyone's aesthetic. I always have them on hand."