No More Countertop Clutter: Exciting IKEA Finds That Free Up Precious Counter Space

If your countertops are constantly overflowing, your kitchen will look messy and cluttered and your bathroom will be less functional. You'll lack the open space needed for preparing meals, and you'll have a tough time locating everyday items that should be easy to find on your vanity. Cluttered countertops won't do you any aesthetic favors, either. They'll just make your home look busy and unmaintained. Fortunately, there are some IKEA finds can help you organize a cluttered bathroom and bring order to food prep odds and ends in the kitchen. Plus, they're multifunctional and suitable for all sorts of interior design styles.

Decluttering your countertops should always start with getting rid of any unnecessary items and downsizing where possible. Once that's done, your objective should be to give all the remaining items a designated spot to belong. Keep this goal in mind when selecting IKEA products for your surfaces, and it'll be easier to assemble a system that stays in place long-term. You don't have to spend a fortune to do so, as most of the brand's offerings are pretty low-cost. 

The RÅSKOG utility cart is a three-tiered trolley that's suitable for both kitchens and bathrooms. You could put this $40 product at the end of your island, or slot it into the space next to your vanity. From there, the cart's open shelving will keep things that you like to have near your counter accessible, but off the surfaces themselves. Customers seem to appreciate the RÅSKOG. It has 4.6 stars out of five on IKEA's website, with more than a thousand reviews. It also comes in five different colors, which makes it aesthetically flexible.

Dish sponges, soap containers, and brushes can often create clutter on your countertop near your kitchen sink. The $17 HULTARP container is designed to get items off the surface, capitalizing on open vertical space instead. It's essentially a mesh-wire basket with a large hook on the back for hanging it up. IKEA's intention is for you to attach this hook to its HULTARP rail, which is a separate product in the same series. However, a tension rod within your cabinet or a pair of clear adhesive hooks on your backsplash can also do the trick.

The NÅLBLECKA organizer is one of those IKEA items that you can use just about anywhere. It's a bestselling two-tiered set of bamboo shelves with sturdy steel supports, a 4.8-star review score from customers, and a $20 price tag. It was created to be used on kitchen counters to tidy up oils, vinegars, and spices. However, in the bathroom, you could fill it up with cosmetics, and perhaps decorate it with a faux plant. Just note that it's made from bamboo, so you might not want to put it in an area that'll get wet.

When you cook, objects like your salt and pepper shakers and your oil and vinegar bottles move across your countertop quite a bit. After all, you often need them throughout the process of making a meal. Unfortunately, though, having these items out all of the time can definitely contribute to a cluttered look. The solution might be to store them in one of IKEA's CHOKLADHAJ portable organizers. These five-dollar wooden boxes have a little handle slot at the top. This design could make it easy to transport a bunch of small objects and tuck them away in a cabinet when meals are done.

The $18 APTITLIG lazy susan is designed to corral countertop clutter in a central spot. The rotating tray allows you to reach everything you're after without much hassle, and the metal handles keep things contained and make turning it easy. The bamboo surface of the APTITLIG, which measures eleven inches across, has a simple but pleasant appearance that will suit all sorts of aesthetics. One reviewer on IKEA's website says "It works so well that I purchased two more. Great size and holds a lot without taking up space."

You'll often need to keep fruits and veggies such as avocados, tomatoes, and bananas out on your kitchen countertop while they ripen. However, leaving them scattered about definitely creates clutter. IKEA's solution to this problem is the CHOKLADHAJ food storage box. This $15 product comes in pairs, with a smaller box that stacks on top of a larger box to create a single-tiered organizer that takes advantage of vertical space. These boxes are also helpful if you're looking for better ways to organize your pantry.

Sometimes, the simplest storage solutions are the best, especially when it comes to tidying up your countertop. IKEA's plastic UPPDATERA boxes are sleek, modern-looking, and easy to carry thanks to the handles on their sides. In your kitchen, you could use one for your towels, and another for your jarred food products. In the bathroom, these are handy for soaps, shaving supplies, and other small personal hygiene products that frequently create countertop clutter. The UPPDATERA boasts a 4.8-star rating, with nearly two thousand reviews. It comes in four different colors and two different sizes, with the smaller costing $4 and the larger costing $5.

The DRAGAN 4-piece bathroom set creates a home for the small items that frequently encircle a vanity sink. It includes two deep boxes and two trays that can sit on top of the boxes and function as lids and additional storage. The bamboo set costs $20, which means it's not exactly the cheapest organizer that IKEA offers. One customer puts them to work to keep everyday items like keys, pens, and glasses off the counter. They gave the boxes five stars and noted, "I am using this product as a command center in the kitchen."

Just because an IKEA product was originally designed for one space doesn't mean it can't be handy elsewhere in the home. The $30 ELLOVEN monitor stand proves that this is the case. For example, a clever TikTok user set it up as the base for a tea and coffee station. Alternatively, you could put cutlery in the drawer and a fruit bowl on top, and then finish things off with a faux plant or other small decor piece. That way, the stand will tidy up your countertop with equal measures of functionality and aesthetic appeal.

IKEA's $9 PÅLYCKE clip-on basket could be handy for getting all sorts of items off your countertops. You can attach the product to the bottoms of the shelves in your pantry, kitchen, or bathroom cabinet in a matter of seconds. You might find that the extra storage it provides is practical for clean dish towels and perhaps a small cutting board or two. It could also serve as a fruit bowl sans a footprint. Bear in mind that the PÅLYCKE has a max load of four pounds, so only store items in it that are on the lighter side.

If spoons and spatulas are creating clutter in your kitchen, you might want to get your hands on a nice-looking utensil holder. These don't have to be fancy. IKEA's BRUGDHAJ utensil holder, for example, is little more than a pot. However, it keeps utensils upright in one place so they can be grabbed midway through preparing a meal. It has a $13 price tag and a 4.9 star rating from IKEA's customers. It's designed to coordinate with other members of the BRUGDHAJ product series, which includes simple jars and bottles.

More countertop space is never a bad thing when it comes to fighting off clutter. The UTRUSTA work surface effectively provides an extra work surface without the price tag that comes with renovating. The platform can be installed on the inside of a drawer or cabinet, and pulled out whenever more room is needed for preparing a meal. The UTRUSTA surface is 21⅞ inches deep and 22½ inches wide. Though it'll fit many different kitchens, you should definitely measure your cabinetry first.

The 4-inch by 4-inch version of the NOJIG organizer costs $0.29. Countertop organization doesn't get much cheaper than that. One can be used to house commonly used spices that could then be tucked into the cabinet when not in use. The boxes could also be handy for corralling the hygiene products that are spread across your bathroom countertops. Plus, when you give these items their own designated containers, your daily routine will probably speed up because you don't have to spend time looking for them.

The SILVTJÄRN container is a bathroom countertop organizer that's designed to be both functional and luxurious. This $8 rounded glass box is a good size to house things like cotton balls and soap. Lip balm, travel toiletries, and jewelry could just as easily fit in there as well. Reviewers on IKEA's website give the SILVTJÄRN 4.8 stars out of five, with many noting that it has a good weight to it considering its size. 

Leaving multiple loaves of bread out on your countertop can definitely make your surfaces feel more cluttered. However, bread is just the sort of food item that's nice to have within close reach. The MAGASIN bread box hides baked goods in a wooden container with a liftable lid on the front. At $30, it's pretty inexpensive compared to many other bread boxes. A few reviewers on IKEA's site complain that the lid won't stay open without actively holding it up, but this doesn't seem to be an issue for most.

Do you have a collection of cutting boards stacked on your island or a pile of trivets or trays in one corner of your kitchen countertop? In either situation, you could use a pot lid organizer to tidy things up. These simple, expandable sets of pegs turn flat items that create clutter on their sides so they take up less space. The VARIERA pot lid organizer that IKEA offers has plenty of flexibility and a budget-friendly eight-dollar price tag. Besides its rubber feet, it's made entirely from stainless steel, so it should be relatively easy to wash.

If making coffee or tea is a part of your morning routine, you probably have the relevant supplies for mixing up your favorite hot beverage sitting right on your countertop. If you want to leave them there but still cut down on the crinkly-bag clutter, a set of stackable airtight boxes, such as IKEA's BLOMNING tins, can streamline your storage. They'll help you keep coffee grounds and loose tea fresh. They're relatively compact, well-reviewed, and the smaller, cube-shaped BLOMNING tin only costs four bucks.

A good dish rack can save tons of countertop space by keeping all the cookware you wash by hand neatly contained. Big stacks of pots and pans on top of a dish towel just look cluttered, and a lack of good drainage can result in funky smells. IKEA's LILLHAVET multifunctional dish rack can store dishes vertically to take up less of a footprint. The rack and drain board are easily separable, and both can fit over a sink to free up counter space. 

If you keep your knives on a magnetic knife rack, you eliminate the need for a bulky knife block. Scissors and other metal tools, such as bottle openers, can also go up on the rack. This kind of organizational tool usually doesn't cost a fortune, either. For example, IKEA's HULTARP magnetic knife rack, for example, is just 15 dollars. Reviewers praised the product for freeing up their counter space and holding more knives than they expected.

The Food Storage Baskets from the IKEA 365+ series are simple mesh-wire containers that help you keep produce on your countertop without creating a lot of clutter. They come in two different colors, either light gray-brown or white, and they're available in a couple of different sizes, too. In addition to being ideal choices for potatoes and onions, they may be handy for daily essentials that you also keep in the kitchen. For example, the smaller, square model could be set up as a catch-all for keys. This product's lid is sold separately, but it isn't strictly necessary depending on how you're going to use it.

IKEA's SKOGSVIKEN tray is, according to the product's reviewers, simple, sturdy, and above all, multifunctional. You could put it in just about any corner of your countertops, and still get some value out of it. One IKEA customer says, "(I'm) using it as a 'catch all' on my bathroom sink". Another person states, "I've been using this in my kitchen to contain dish soap and sponge." Others note that they depend on it for keys, wallets, and other frequently-used items that are often stored in the kitchen. 

IKEA may have designed the VARIERA shelf insert for cabinet interiors, but that doesn't mean you can't place it directly onto your countertop instead. It's a simple fixture that will help you make use of open vertical space. You could keep a collection of spices on it, or perhaps a loaf or two of bread. You might also find that it can serve as a riser for your houseplants. This product comes in two different sizes, and you can stack one of the smaller ones onto a larger one with the screws that IKEA provides to create a tiered organizer.

If baking is one of your hobbies, you've probably come across a situation where you were short on countertop space thanks to hot cookie sheets covering up your work surfaces. IKEA has a product that's specifically designed for this situation. The SVARTABBORRE baking sheet rack is a four-tiered metal fixture that allows you to stack hot oven trays and muffin tins that would otherwise create clutter when spread out. It's pretty large, but it can be folded up and put away in a cabinet whenever it's not in use. Customers have given the product a collective 4.9 stars so far.