6 Kitchen Drawer Organizers for a Cleaner, Calmer Space
Restore order once and for all.
Reviewed by Carolyn FortéHome Care & Cleaning Lab Executive Director
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One of the most satisfying things in the world is sliding open a kitchen drawer to see everything in its own little compartment, neatly organized and easily found. Your kitchen is probably one of your family’s favorite hang-out spots, so it’s also probably one of the hardest places to keep tidy. (We’re looking at you, random junk drawer.)
Control the chaos with these handy kitchen drawer organizers and dividers that will get your utensils and cooking tools in order stat — so you can finally turn your attention to figuring out that overwhelming mountain of food storage containers.
From deep drawer solutions to knife storage and cutlery trays, our list will help you corral your kitchen. For this list, Good Housekeeping Institute's Home Care and Cleaning Lab pros, who test all sorts of organizing products, teamed up with the Kitchen & Cooking Lab experts to bring you the most efficient ways to keep your kitchen in line. Happy organizing!
Our top picks:
- Best Overall: OXO Good Grips Expandable Utensil Drawer Organizer
- Best for Deep Drawers: Container Store Bamboo Deep Drawer Organizers
- Best for Cutlery: Joseph Joseph DrawerStore Compact Utensil Organizer
- Best for Knives: Misen Modular Knife Storage
Best Deal
Pros
- Has removable cutlery trays
- No-slip feet keep it in place
Cons
- Only has two caddies for flatware
This expandable drawer organizer from OXO is a great option for organizing a wide range of items into one system. It expands up to twice its size, so it can be adjusted to best suit your needs, and grippy feet on the bottom help keep it in place so it doesn't slide around when you open and close your drawer. It comes with three removable trays for easy cleanup: two for cutlery with spacers, a small cup for odds and ends, and slots for other larger items.
| Dimensions | 9.95" L x 16.65" W x 2.55" H (expands to 18.05" W) |
| Material | Plastic |
Pros
- Can create custom compartments
- Comes with rubber pads to keep inserts in place
Cons
- Too tall for shallow drawers
If you’ve got deep drawers and you’re trying to organize large items like bowls, mugs, and plates, adjustable drawer inserts let you create compartments that fit the dimensions of your dishes so they don’t rattle. These bamboo drawer organizers are spring-loaded, so tension keeps them in place along with the included rubber pads. They expand up to 4 inches, too, so they can fit drawers of different lengths. They come two to a pack, so you’ll need multiple packs if you plan to outfit all your kitchen drawers.
| Dimensions | 12.5” L x .625” W x 4” H (expands to 16.5” L) |
| Material | Bamboo |
Pros
- Expands up to 10 more inches
Cons
- Bottom isn't non-slip
This bamboo expandable silverware tray is a stylish way to organize all your cutlery — it even has a few extra compartments for other gadgets. It expands an extra 10 inches to create two wide compartments on either side to fit bulky items like large serving utensils, kitchen shears or measuring cups. Something to keep in mind: The bottom lacks non-slip feet. If you find it moves around too much, try a rubber shelf liner or museum putty to keep it in place.
| Dimensions | 18” L x 13” W x 2.5” H (expands to 23” W) |
| Material | Bamboo and medium-density fiberboard |
Pros
- Very slim to save space
- Compartments are clearly labeled
Cons
- Only fits up to 24 pieces of cutlery
As much as we love huge ranch-style kitchens, some of us are only working with three drawers, one counter and sheer determination. This slim organizer is only 4.33 inches wide and fits up to 24 pieces of cutlery, leaving extra space for other utensils or gadgets. Our experts in the Kitchen Lab even use this organizer there, and they love how the icon labels make getting organized even easier. Keep in mind that if you have a lot of cutlery, you might have trouble fitting it all since it’s meant for smaller spaces.
| Dimensions | 15.6” L x 4.33” W x 2.25” H |
| Material | Plastic |
Pros
- Stores knives blade side down
- Removes knife block from countertop
- Comes in three sizes to hold larger knife sets
Cons
- Only available on the company website
Storing knives loose in a drawer can be dangerous — both for your fingers and your knives. If you grab blindly into the drawer looking for another gadget, you run the risk of seriously cutting yourself, and your knives can dull or chip from knocking against other utensils. This drawer insert uses magnets to keep blades facing down, keeping them sharp and safely away from your fingers. It comes in three colors and sizes that fit up to nine knives. It frees up counter space that would otherwise be taken up by a large knife block.
| Dimensions | 15.75"L x 4.5" W x 15.75" H |
| Material | Thermoplastic |
Pros
- Allows plates to be stored on their sides
- Non-slip feet
Cons
- Too tall for shallow drawers
Another great option for deep drawers, this customizable pegboard system lets you store dishes or pans upright rather than stacked. The pegs are removable and can be configured into a layout that works best for your storage needs. The organizer features non-slip feet and 16 adjustable pegs, along with two adjustable ends, so the trays can fit snugly into a drawer. Bonus: It works in a cabinet to arrange pans on their sides so they can easily be grabbed by the handle.
| Dimensions | 21.38" W x 11.88" D x 4" H |
| Material | Plastic |
How we choose the best kitchen drawer organizers
Good Housekeeping has a long history of testing organizing products in both the Home Care & Cleaning Lab and the Kitchen & Cooking Lab. These picks come from experts who have used and tested them over the years and have reviewed their unique features, materials, sizes, non-slip bottoms, ease of use, and ease of cleaning. Some picks come from our most recent Cleaning and Organizing Awards, and we looked for organizers with excellent user reviews, too.
What to look for when shopping for a kitchen drawer organizers
✔️ Size: The best drawer organizer won’t do you any good if it doesn’t fit inside the drawer. Take careful measurements of the dimensions of the inside of the drawer and keep them handy when shopping. If shopping in person, consider taking along a small tape measure to double-check dimensions.
✔️ Design: Do you want something that slides right into your drawer in one piece, or would you prefer a set of smaller containers that you can arrange to form a larger storage system? Organizers that are one piece might be better for standard-sized drawers and items that are easy to arrange, like flatware. Customizing is particularly helpful for small, oversized or oddly shaped drawers or if you're organizing kitchen gadgets with a more specific purpose, like wine stoppers or cooking thermometers.
✔️ Material: Plastic is usually easy to clean, and often comes with non-slip material along the bottom to keep it from sliding around in the drawer. Some even come with non-slip material in the organizer itself so your items don’t jostle around in their compartments. Wood and bamboo tend to be more stylish and usually just need to be wiped down here and there or washed with soap and water as needed. Just make sure to dry thoroughly.
How do I organize my kitchen drawers?
The best way to start is to pull out all of the items you’d like to organize and group them together by type or function. For example, you could keep all the cutlery together, or keep the products you use most often close to where you use them (e.g., stirring utensils and spatulas near the stove).
Sort in a way that makes sense to you in your daily routine. Once you have an idea of where you want things to go, choose kitchen drawer organizers that optimize your space and keep those items you sorted stored together. Pay attention to the dimensions of your drawers to decide whether you’re better off with a one-piece kitchen drawer organizer or a system of more customizable drawers.
We like to keep our flatware, prep tools, and knives close by. If you have a tiny kitchen, you can store the extras in lower drawers, but if you organize everything by type, you know where to look, and it won't take you that much extra time to access.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Nicole Papantoniou is the Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen & Cooking Lab, where she manages all kitchen appliance content and testing. She helped assess drawer-organizing products based on her many years of experience with different types of kitchen organizers.
Abigail Bailey is the Assistant to the Institute Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she tests all manner of products from toys to home goods. Abigail has worked closely with the experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute to gather and analyze testing data from the most recent kitchen drawer organizer test. She loves to cook and has entirely too many kitchen gadgets to sort into the three drawers of her small apartment.
Abigail (she/her) is product reviews writer who has covered everything from kitchen gear to mattresses and smart blinds. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.A. in creative writing and earned her M.S. in publishing digital and print media from New York University. She currently works at Wirecutter, but has also spent time on staff at Good Housekeeping and The Southern Review literary magazine. In her free time you can find her quilting, cross-stitching or trying to figure out how to squeeze one more bookshelf in her tiny apartment.
Nicole (she/her) is the senior director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen & Cooking Lab. She oversees all content and testing related to kitchen products, food, and recipes. She has worked at GH since 2019, and is a trained cook, published recipe developer, and seasoned product tester with nearly 15 years of experience. She has worked in test kitchens for national magazines and kitchen appliances brands, where she also helped develop products for the home cook. She earned a degree in journalism from SUNY New Paltz, graduated with a Grand Diplome in Classic Culinary Arts from the French Culinary Institute, and studied culinary nutrition at the Natural Gourmet Institute (both now part of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.)
Carolyn Forté brings more than 40 years of experience as a consumer products expert to her role as executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Home Care and Cleaning Lab. Using deep analytical testing and writing expertise in appliances, cleaning, textiles and organizational products, she produces cleaning and home care advice for GH, has authored numerous books and bookazines for the brand and partners with the American Cleaning Institute to co-produce the Discover Cleaning Summits. She holds a bachelor's degree in family and consumer sciences from Queens College, City University of New York.
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