Behind every uber-organized kitchen is a really great storage situation. Let’s face it: Having wine bottles, leftovers and the occasional bunch of bananas on your countertop looks messy — not to mention can physically get in the way of cooking up a delicious dish.

There can never be such a thing as too much storage, right? Well, not quite...

You see, my kitchen boasts super-deep cabinets that can hold a lot of stuff. Problem is, I can’t physically see everything in my cabinet from my ground-level vantage point, so I’ll buy extra cans of beans or pasta boxes when I actually already have some lurking in my cabinet. Not only is it a waste of money — it's also a waste of food. I recently cleaned out my cabinet and am embarrassed to say how much expired food I had to throw away!

You can only imagine how excited I was to discover YouCopia’s expandable shelf organizer, which is designed to create some extra height in your cabinets. Perhaps this would finally remedy my accidental frivolous (and food-wasting) habits?

So, I added it to my cart.

The shelf comes almost entirely assembled — all you need to do is clip on its sides and grip on the base. You can push and pull the shelf’s surface to adjust its height, making it a suitable place to stow everything from thin cans of tuna fish to bulkier ketchup bottles.

The difference since adding YouCopia’s organizer to my cabinet is night and day. For the first time in five years, I can actually see (almost) everything in my cabinet. I currently have easy access to all my daily vitamins and can grab extra bags of coffee, pasta sauces and cans of refried beans without taking everything out of my cabinet.

And, as an unexpected bonus, my shelf organizer is actually inspiring me to carve out some time to organize my cabinets. It’s crazy how much a single product can change your outlook on things, right?

The only caveat I have with this shelf lift is it’s width. My big cabinets for non-perishables are at the corner of my kitchen, so they get more narrow as they deepen. While the 17-inch option I bought can’t fit any deeper than in my cabinet, I may give YouCopia’s 13-inch shelf a whirl. As far as I’m concerned, that’s money well spent.

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