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I used Dilly Carter's genius method for maximising my cupboard space – it makes buying storage a breeze

I wanted to make the most of my kitchen storage in my new flat, and this method has saved me so much time and space

Emily Smith's avatar
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Headshot of professional organiser Dilly Carter in front of an organised kitchen cabinet with labelled storage containers
(Image credit: Future | Dilly Carter)
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With a home move in my near future, truly all I can think about is storage. Both how much I will have of it and how I can use it to contain my enormous amount of worldly possessions. Which is why I was unbelievably happy when I stumbled across Dilly Carter's latest organising method.

Even if you're not tackling a move like me, organising kitchen drawers and wardrobes can be a real challenge. Especially when you're not properly equipped with the right kitchen storage solutions or nifty hangers and baskets. But even then, I find I tend to go out and buy way too many boxes or hardly enough, or even worse, they don't fit in where I need them to go.

Trying out Dilly Carter's storage measuring method

As much as I try to keep my home tidy and organised, I'm always on the lookout for home organisation ideas to make the job easier. And now I'm in the process of moving, it's figuring out where to put everything and how to make it fit.

That's where storage solutions come in, and knowing how to organise my kitchen cupboards is at the top of my list. With that in mind, I was scouring Instagram for some motivation and came across one of the organising and decluttering greats sharing her tips for measuring your cupboards for storage containers.

"This week's top tip Thursday is to cut a piece of newspaper or wrapping paper, whatever you've got, to the size of your cupboard to help you with your storage," starts Dilly Carter.

And it's not just kitchen cupboards this is great for, if you're looking to organise any small space, then this is a stress-free way of tackling it.

"Simply fold the piece of paper into a square so it's nice and small, and you can pop it into your pocket. Write the cupboard name on the piece of paper so you don't forget and take it to the shops," explains Dilly.

"This is such a good tip because it just means that when you're looking for storage, you can unfold your piece of paper and pop it onto the shelf and then work out what is going to fit into your cupboard," she adds.

picture of brown paper in cupboard for storage trick

As soon as I saw Dilly's tip I reached for brown paper to make cupboard templates

(Image credit: Emily Smith)

This is particularly useful if you've got awkward spaces, for example, if you want to organise under the kitchen sink areas. I know I always struggle working out what I can fit around pipes and such.

"Of course, you can just measure, but I'm a visual person, always need to think visually, I need to see what I've got and work out what's going to fit, so this for me is the best way, it just makes sense," says Dilly.

"You know I love Dunelm for storage because, as well as all the classics that they repeat, it is constantly evolving from underbed storage to just your general cuboards. Whatever you have there's so much colour!" she finishes.

I can't believe how easy it was to go to the shops, buy only what I need and what I know will fit in the spaces I need to organise. I'll be using this for all my storage spaces in the future, and if it means I don't need to play around with a tape measure, I'm sold!

Shop storage solutions

If you like this tip from Dilly, why not try out her space audit decluttering method? It'll help you not only reduce clutter but also make spaces in your home work for you once again.

Emily Smith
Emily Smith
Digital lifestyle writer

Emily joined woman&home as a staff writer after finishing her MA in Magazine Journalism from City University in 2023. After writing various health and news content, she now specialises in lifestyle, covering unique cleaning hacks, gardening how-tos, and everything to help your houseplants thrive.

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