The Brilliant Kitchen Organizing Trick Hiding in the Office Aisle (It’s Only $12!)

Kitchen cabinets take on the lion’s share of the room’s storage work, tucking away all your pots, pans, cutting boards, and baking sheets out of sight until your next culinary adventure. I’m always looking for ways to level up my kitchen cabinet organization — and I’ve found that some organizing tools might be hiding in different aisles than you suspect. 

Case in point: Instead of housing all your cooking supplies in a haphazard stack that’s at risk of tipping over whenever you open the cabinet door, an Instagram creator just discovered a $12 fix that solved a cabinet organization problem she’s had for years — and it’s a game-changer for bakers.

In a video shared by @thelifeofjoc, she walked users through a very specific and pesky yet unfortunately relatable issue: Having a kitchen cabinet without a lot of room in between shelves. Unfortunately, that space can impact how you fit bigger items like large pans, cutting boards, muffin tins, wire racks, and baking sheets. 

The creator was at a loss when it came to storing her set of baking sheets and trays. However, she decided to get creative, forgoing spending $40 on expensive pan organizers. Instead, she tweaked two $6 Target file organizers that work just as well for your cutting boards as your muffin tins.

Priced at $5.99 a pop, the Up & Up Classic Classroom Storage Files works like IKEA’s viral dish organizer when you turn it on its side. The creator laid each storage file organizer flat, facing one another, and created mini shelves for all her baking and cooking pans that kept everything separate, but importantly, easily accessible without taking up too much space. Each storage file measures 5 inches in height, 6 inches in width, and 6.22 inches in length, so you can adjust depending on how big your racks or sheets are. 

To take this baking sheet organizing hack up a level (while still being renter-friendly), you can add contact paper, command strips, or another adhesive to keep your files in place and ensure they don’t shift around when pulling your baking sheets in and out of the cabinet.