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Organization

MAXIMIZING MUG STORAGE IN THE KITCHEN

January 30, 2021
organized mug cabinet

With all four of us living and working at home these days, we drink a lot of coffee – as well as tea, hot chocolate, and even plain hot water.  This means we go through A LOT of mugs in a day.  

And while our kitchen isn’t large, we dedicated an entire narrow cabinet near the stove to organize our mugs and coffee/tea-related items.  It’s one of the most frequently used zones in our kitchen and one that needs to function well.

However, every morning I would shuffle to the kitchen, more asleep than awake, to grab a cup of coffee.  Instead of a nice organized cabinet, I was greeted with a sad collection of mugs.   

mismatched mug cabinet

This is not how I want to start my day.  

I have a lot to do.  I can’t have the first thing I see every morning be an unorganized, mismatched set of coffee mugs and cups.  This cupboard should fill my cup (literally and figuratively) with order, certainty, and energy.

I want guests to feel welcomed in my home, to be able to serve them a cup of tea as we chat in the kitchen.

Which means this cabinet needed a bit of attention.  The good news is it took less than an hour to take this space from blah to bling.  Here are 5 takeaways from my caffeine-fueled reorganization:

organized coffee cabinet

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The mug cabinet is the junk drawer of cabinets

We all keep too many mugs.  I’m 100% guilty of this even though I’ve minimized my mug collection many times.  For some reason, they are weirdly sentimental and hard to get rid of. 

Some mugs have a story or a memory attached to them.  Others have a special shape or size that we prefer and reach for day after day.  While others we may keep because they are useful, and well, what if we need them someday?

The result is a cabinet full of mismatched mugs that can make you feel disorganized and unsettled.  

For me, it felt like time to let some go.  I kept our favorite mugs, but weeded out the cups that were faded, old, or just not special anymore.  

white mugs and black mugs in a cabinet

In fact, I actually brought in some new mugs.  This brings me to my next tip…

Matching, stacking mugs are best for maximizing storage

Sometimes organizing means adding, not just subtracting.  Even though I had quite a few mugs, I didn’t feel like I had a nice set to serve a crowd.

I added a set of 16 simple white porcelain mugs from Cost Plus World Market.  The matching set stacks nicely and allows me to completely fill the middle shelf with mugs. 

world market white mugs stacked on shelf

Was this necessary? Probably not.  But it makes me so darn happy to open up this cabinet and stare at a shelf full of white mugs.  I feel like I’m in a fancy coffee shop and can’t wait to serve friends and family with this matching set.

Shelf risers give you more storage space

Squint your eyes and look at your cabinet.  Do you see empty space that isn’t being used?

That space is gold and is just asking to be maximized.  You can add additional shelf boards or organizers to help recapture this space. 

I used a clear acrylic shelf riser from The Container Store and it fit perfectly in this cabinet.  Mugs easily fit on top and below, doubling the storage space available.

clear acrylic shelf riser 

Pro tip: You can still keep your favorite mismatched mugs. I did! I just put those in the back and put my matching mugs in the front to give the unified appearance of only matching mugs.

Use hard to reach shelves appropriately

While my super tall husband can easily reach the top shelf in our cabinets, it’s a bit of a stretch for me without a step stool.  But I’m not about to let a good shelf go to waste, not in this small house!

Top shelves are great for items that are seldomly used and easy to grab while standing on your tiptoes.  Like a coffee grinder!  We only grind coffee once a week, so it felt like a good candidate for the top shelf. 

coffee grinder and tea containers

I filled the rest of the top shelf with a set of stacking tea canisters and a napkin holder filled with coffee filters.  These utilize the hard to reach vertical space but are still easy enough to grab. 

Decant coffee and tea supplies for easier storage

I’ve found tea boxes don’t stack very well and often get lost in my cupboards.  You can upgrade your tea storage by decanting it into smaller containers.  These clear acrylic containers from Target are airtight and make it easy to know at a glance when it’s time to restock. 

Placing coffee filters in a napkin holder makes them easy to grab when you are brewing that early morning pot while half asleep.

clear acrylic stacking tea containers

As always, labels keep the chaos away, so make sure to add a few to your canisters.  

I used my Brother P-touch Label Marker with black on clear tape to label “tea” and “herbal”.  The font is called “US” and is printed with a simple square border.

One last before and after:

Before

coffee cabinet before

After

coffee cabinet after organization

Much better.

It’s 100% worth it to invest a little time in organizing your mugs, especially if it’s a cabinet that you use every day or even multiple times per day.  Maximizing mug storage, decanting, and using matching coffee cups help create a beautiful, functional space that greets you every morning with a smile. 

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Hi! I’m Lisa and I dig smallish homes. I believe they bring families together and provide a constraint on the accumulation of stuff. I’m obsessed with rethinking room design and storage solutions in order to live the life I want in the house I have. I hope you stay a while!
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Spring is just around the corner, but I’m over h Spring is just around the corner, but I’m over here still making cozy winter soups.  I added a soup board to my kitchen, including wide mugs and various toppings and it was just what we needed to make our weeknight dinner special.

The soup is my own homemade gluten free/dairy free tomato soup and I have a blog post with the recipe + sources for items included in my soup board. It’s simple, hearty and takes less than 20 minutes to make.  Be sure to check it out!  #soup #easyrecipe #kitchenorganization #stayorganized #letsgetorganized #homeorganization #organizedkitchen #organizing-hacks #declutteriing #declutteryourlife
#Ad Let’s organize my new small-space coffee bar #Ad Let’s organize my new small-space coffee bar! Adding a large wood turntable was the key to a tight corner in my small kitchen. It’s so much easier to fill up the water with a quick spin than squeezing in between the counter and cabinets. Plus, how cute are those marble ceramic canisters? They’re perfect for holding coffee pods, sweetener and spoons!#QVCpartner #loveQVC #coffeebarorganization #kitchenorganization #asmrorganizing #nespresso #letsgetorganized #homeorganization #organizedkitchen #organizing-hacks
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#Ad QVC finds that make spring-cleaning a breeze! #Ad QVC finds that make spring-cleaning a breeze! The fluffiest microfiber cloths that grab dust, shine stainless steel appliances, plus they’re machine washable and dryer safe. The Broombi. A unique broom with a flexible blade that cleans dirt and hair from all hard-to-reach surfaces and cleans up with a quick rinse in the sink. With these finds you’ll be done with spring-cleaning in no time!  #QVCpartner #loveQVC #springcleaning #cleaningtips #cleaninghacks #letsgetorganized #homeorganization #organizedhome #decluttering #declutteryourlife #stayorganized
#Ad 3 Tips for Organizing Under Your Sink!  1) Ta #Ad 3 Tips for Organizing Under Your Sink! 
1) Take advantage of vertical space with clear stacking drawers.
2) Turntables make it easy to access cleaning supplies with a spin.
3) Take things out of their original packaging to reduce bulk and make it easier to see what you have.
 
I’m loving these clear plastic drawers from @QVC and now want to add them under all the sinks in my house. They slide easily and are nice and deep! Can’t you just see them under a bathroom sink as well?
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Spring is just around the corner, but I’m over h Spring is just around the corner, but I’m over here still making cozy winter soups.  I added a soup board to my kitchen, including wide mugs and various toppings and it was just what we needed to make our weeknight dinner special.

The soup is my own homemade gluten free/dairy free tomato soup and I have a blog post with the recipe + sources for items included in my soup board. It’s simple, hearty and takes less than 20 minutes to make.  Be sure to check it out!  #soup #easyrecipe #kitchenorganization #stayorganized #letsgetorganized #homeorganization #organizedkitchen #organizing-hacks #declutteriing #declutteryourlife
#Ad Let’s organize my new small-space coffee bar #Ad Let’s organize my new small-space coffee bar! Adding a large wood turntable was the key to a tight corner in my small kitchen. It’s so much easier to fill up the water with a quick spin than squeezing in between the counter and cabinets. Plus, how cute are those marble ceramic canisters? They’re perfect for holding coffee pods, sweetener and spoons!#QVCpartner #loveQVC #coffeebarorganization #kitchenorganization #asmrorganizing #nespresso #letsgetorganized #homeorganization #organizedkitchen #organizing-hacks
 #declutteriing #declutteryourlife #stayorganized
#Ad QVC finds that make spring-cleaning a breeze! #Ad QVC finds that make spring-cleaning a breeze! The fluffiest microfiber cloths that grab dust, shine stainless steel appliances, plus they’re machine washable and dryer safe. The Broombi. A unique broom with a flexible blade that cleans dirt and hair from all hard-to-reach surfaces and cleans up with a quick rinse in the sink. With these finds you’ll be done with spring-cleaning in no time!  #QVCpartner #loveQVC #springcleaning #cleaningtips #cleaninghacks #letsgetorganized #homeorganization #organizedhome #decluttering #declutteryourlife #stayorganized
#Ad 3 Tips for Organizing Under Your Sink!  1) Ta #Ad 3 Tips for Organizing Under Your Sink! 
1) Take advantage of vertical space with clear stacking drawers.
2) Turntables make it easy to access cleaning supplies with a spin.
3) Take things out of their original packaging to reduce bulk and make it easier to see what you have.
 
I’m loving these clear plastic drawers from @QVC and now want to add them under all the sinks in my house. They slide easily and are nice and deep! Can’t you just see them under a bathroom sink as well?
#QVCpartner #loveQVC #underthesinkorganization #kitchenorganization #letsgetorganized #homeorganization #organizedkitchen #organizinghacks #declutteriing #declutteryourlife #stayorganized
#Ad Tea Organization! I’ve been searching for th #Ad Tea Organization! I’ve been searching for the perfect solution for storing and organizing tea, and think I’ve found it in these stacking divided boxes. I used one for herbal and one for caffeinated tea, and now it’s so easy to find just the right flavor. What’s your favorite tea? Please share as I’m always looking for new flavors to try! 
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