Start with the cupboard you actually cook from

Most kitchens have one cupboard that gets opened twenty times a day and another you can barely remember the contents of. The good news is that easier cooking rarely requires more storage — it requires putting the things you reach for constantly exactly where your hands already go. Before you buy a single riser or basket, empty one cupboard at a time, wipe the shelves, and ask yourself honestly what you use every week. Anything that fails that test belongs somewhere else, or belongs in the donation bag.

Work through the cupboards nearest the hob and the worktop first. These are your cooking cupboards, and they deserve the best space in the kitchen. The cupboard above the fridge, or the awkward one in the corner, is where the Christmas serving dishes and the fondue set should live.

Group like with like

The single biggest change you can make is to stop scattering categories across the kitchen. When the chopped tomatoes live in three different cupboards, you end up rummaging through all three. Give each type of ingredient a home and keep it there.

• Tins and jars: chopped tomatoes, beans, sweetcorn, tuna and coconut milk together, ideally in a base cupboard beside the hob.
• Dry carbohydrates: pasta, rice, noodles, couscous and lentils on one shelf, decanted into stackable jars if you have the space.
• Baking: flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa and dried fruit in one place so a cake doesn't mean a treasure hunt.
• Seasoning and stock: stock cubes, gravy granules, dried herbs and pepper, close to the hob but away from the steam.
• Breakfast: cereal, porridge oats, tea, coffee and spreads grouped together, so the morning routine happens in one opening and closing of doors.

Only decant into jars if you will actually label them. An unlabelled jar of white powder is a guessing game, and plain flour and icing sugar look identical at seven in the morning.

Keep everyday dishes at eye level

Think of a cupboard in three zones. The middle band, roughly between shoulder and waist height, is the prime zone — that is where your plates, bowls, mugs, tea and coffee should sit. It is the space you use without stretching or bending, so it should hold the things you touch daily.

The top shelf is for occasional items: the big roasting tin, the spare jug, the serving platter. Keep anything genuinely heavy lower down, both for your back and for safety. And do think about weight when you load a wall cupboard — a shelf of tinned tomatoes above head height is an accident waiting to happen. Move tins to a base unit or a low shelf, and let the upper cupboards hold cereals, crisps and lightweight packets.

Use risers so tins stop hiding each other

The classic kitchen problem is the single row of tins at the back of a deep shelf, invisible behind the row in front. A stepped wire or bamboo riser solves this for a few pounds. It creates a second tier at the back, so every label is visible from standing height.

• Line tins up in rows by type, with the label facing out.
• Bring the oldest tin to the front and push new shopping to the back — a simple first-in, first-out habit.
• Use the same trick for jars, small tubs of spice and stock cubes.
• Check dates as you load. A tin that has been at the back since 2019 is taking up space you could be using well.

If you have a tall, narrow cupboard, stacking risers can double the usable shelving without any drilling or permanent changes.

A lazy Susan for oils, vinegars and spices

Deep corner cupboards are the natural home for a turntable, or lazy Susan. Oils, vinegars, soy sauce, hot sauce and condiments sit beautifully on one — a quick spin brings the back into reach without you having to unload the front. Put taller bottles around the outer edge and smaller ones in the middle so nothing topples.

Spices deserve their own turntable, ideally on a shelf near the hob but out of direct steam. Label the lids with a marker so you can find the cumin without lifting six jars. Give the turntable a wipe with a damp cloth and a drop of washing-up liquid every few weeks, and keep a small dish of bicarbonate of soda at the back of a musty cupboard to absorb smells.

Keep it working with a five-minute reset

An organised cupboard stays organised through small habits rather than big clear-outs. When you put the shopping away, take ten seconds to move older items forward. When a bottle of oil gets sticky — and it will — wipe it before it goes back, along with the shelf beneath it. Greasy rings on shelf liner are much easier to deal with one at a time than in a yearly marathon.

Once a month, empty one cupboard completely, wipe the shelves and the inside of the door, and check for anything past its date. Wipe the outside of cupboard doors with a warm, lightly soaped cloth, and pay attention to the area around handles where fingers leave marks. If you line your shelves, replace the liner when it gets grubby rather than scrubbing it.

Do this one cupboard at a time and you will never face a whole-kitchen overhaul again. Better still, you will open the door at teatime and find exactly what you need, right where your hand expects it to be.