Our kitchen has one of those deep corner cabinets for pots and pans, and of course it’s a daily annoyance to bend down and bang around for the pot or pan I’m looking for. And we have a LOT of pots and pans. (First-world problems, I know.) Everyone’s storage solution for this seems to be installing razzle-dazzle corner pullout systems, but I don’t think a fancy pullout would even work because of the position of our stove. And even a simpler fix like a lazy susan… Well, I just don’t like them. Every corner cabinet lazy susan I’ve ever had has wasted space, plus the pan handles bang against the sides as I’m swinging them around, or they get stuck, or whatever. I’m not a fan. 🤷♀️
I did earlier install pullouts that I made for our pot and pan lids. These at least keep the lids out of the way and organized. But we still had too many pots and pans in there. The worst were our cast iron pans – they were very difficult to lift and shove around.
So, we decided to neatly (*snort laugh*) organize the rest of our pots and pans in the cabinet with the lids, and I would make something for the cast iron pans so they could sit separately on a counter.
…Then I got distracted by remodeling our bathroom. But this week, I finally got sick of the cast iron pans taking up our cabinet space (and our giant one always sitting on the stovetop). What I came up with was very simple and easy, so of course I should have done this months sooner. 😬
I had lying around (from various apartment attempts at kitchen organization) some of those little racks you get for lid storage or pan storage. They were different sizes and colors, however, so I’d never used them in my nice, new, cohesive kitchen in this house. But couldn’t I use them now somehow to help with my pan problem?
Supplies:
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- Spray paint
- Kitchen organizer racks (mine were extra, but like these)
- 1×10 wood piece (mine was scrap)
- U-brackets and screws
I suspect I’m not the only one who’s ended up with a small collection of organizers of all shapes, sizes, and colors. This was an easy way to make them all work together and look pretty nice.
Step 1: Spray paint the organizers and U-brackets. The first step to making these things look like they belonged was to, quite simply, make them look alike. Using spray paint, I went over the organizers from every angle and gave them 3 coats. (You could go over this with a clear sealer too, if worried about scratches.) I did the same with the U-brackets and the screws that would attach them. Everything now looked like it was meant to be a set!
Step 2: Prep the wood piece. I played around with my organizers to see how I would want them positioned, and I found a scrap wood piece that was the perfect size without cutting. Whatever size you need, just cut the wood to that length. I also lucked out that my wood was already stained a color that worked for what I was doing. You could leave the wood natural and it would look nice too, or you could stain or paint your wood any color.
Step 3: Check positioning and make screw holes. With the organizers on the wood, I took the U-brackets and placed them over the organizers where it made sense to hold them in place. I used 6 just to be as secure as possible. With these in place, I took a marker and dotted each screw hole’s location.
Taking it all back off the wood, I then predrilled holes for my screws.
Step 4: Screw them on. Putting everything back in place again, I used a screwdriver and maneuvered awkwardly between the organizers’ dividers to get my screws in place. (I tried with a drill first, but there wasn’t enough room to get my angles right with the screws.) Just be sure not to use screws that are longer than the thickness of your board!
That was it! All that was left was to stick our pans in the organizer and decide where to put it. I tried it at first on our main counter right over the corner cabinet, and I left the big pan off the organizer because I thought it would be too big for the rack to support. However…
I wanted these pans more tucked away since we otherwise have mostly empty countertops. So, moving it to our pantry countertops, I held my breath and put the biggest pan in the rack. It fit, no problem! And I like how it all looks on my faux-butcher block counters here. 😍
So, in all, this was a quick and easy one! I could have built a stand out of all wood, but this was a really easy way to use what I already had while making it look better. This little pan organizer is light and easy to move around if I need, and it’s simple enough that it isn’t taking up much room on our counter. And, most of all, it’s so easy now to grab these cast iron lugs when it’s time to cook!
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