An Organized LIFE Kitchen
In an attempt to get my life more organized in 2013, I decided to start with my kitchen. Besides my van and my bed (which is a tempurpedic that I LOVE...but that is a whole 'nother post), this is probably the room in the house where I spend the most time. Between cleaning it, cooking in it, paying bills, going through paperwork, hanging up backpacks, lining up shoes(I'm exhausted just thinking about all that)...I spend a great deal of time in this room.
It all started when I got a laminator for Christmas (okay, okay-I bought it for myself-but it's not like I didn't deserve it!) I've seen some really cute labels on Pinterest lately, and I thought I could use those, run them through my laminator, and BINGO-instant organization. My thought behind this was-if it specifically says CHIPS in one part of our pantry-how could my husband or children put the chips anywhere else?! (Ha, ha...I'm sure you're all laughing at me-but they do put them away in the right spot 50% of the time-the other 50% of the time they just leave them out on the counter).
Here is my laminator (isn't it pretty)
I decided to tackle our pantry first, because I really had no idea what was in there. We have a pretty small kitchen, with limited cabinet space, so a lot of things besides food go in the pantry. I made up some cute little labels using a template I found on Pinterest, added my own words to them, print them out on my printer, and ran them through the laminator. Using cheap plastic boxes from Target ($0.97 each...but of course I spent way over that-because who can leave Target while only spending $12.00??!!), I separated my pastas from my canned goods, and made a easy dinner box for my husband for the nights he makes dinner (ie: venison hamburger helper and tuna helper).
I had an awkward amount of space above one of the shelves, so I hung an under-shelf storage basket there with all my baking supplies (vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, chocolate chips). It works great because I can pull the whole basket from the shelf and set it on the counter while I'm baking, and then I just slide it back when I'm done.
Once all of that stuff was organized, I had plenty of room to store the appliances I use the most (ie: Pizza Pizzaz-really people-this thing is useful for way more than cooking up pizza).
There seemed like a lot of wasted space on the walls inside the pantry. A few years ago I installed a shoe organizer to hold bottles/sauces/gravy packets, etc, but the other side looked lonely and bare.
About a month ago, we finally got a new stove (after spending years waiting 90 minutes for pizza and brownies to cook). My old stove had a HUGE drawer to store pots and pans, but the new stove (isn't it pretty??!!) has a TINY drawer (it's fits the awesome new griddle that I use on my new stove-so I'm not complaining). I needed somewhere to hang my pans, but I'm not a big fan of clutter, so I hammered some nails on the other wall in my pantry and hung the pans. PERFECT!! Easy to see and easy to put away.
Since we've always had such a small pantry, we keep a lot of our every day food in an armoire in the kitchen.This is the food that the kids need to be able to reach (snacks, breakfast foods, etc). This also received an array of cheap plastic bins-which are now CLEARLY labeled. I really like the way it made the pantry look so organized. The baskets under the shelves are great for foil, saran wrap, cocoa, etc (another good way to use that wasted space).
I found a rack at the office supply store (I think it is a desk organizer for binders) that worked perfectly in the bottom of the armoire for my baking sheets, muffin tins, and other pans. Since they are all standing up, they are easy to see and I can grab the one I need without toppling the rest. There is also plenty of room down there for my Kitchen-Aid Mixer (which I LOVE...but I don't like to look at on my counter all the time).
We have a detached garage and the kids often enter the house through the back door into the kitchen. My sister-in-law made us this super cute coat rack a few years ago (and I added 3M hooks underneath for their backpacks). I decided to add some storage next to that for things that leave the house (donations, gifts, things that need to be delivered to others). I already had these wire shelves in our basement, so I bought some bankers boxes (about 6 of them for $10 and they are REALLY sturdy) from Target and added my own, cute labels. The bankers boxes are a great place to throw stuff that used to sit on our kitchen counter, and I can grab the whole box and take it out to the car if I need to.
The other things I've been waiting to do for years is make a "kids cabinet" so my kids can reach their own plates, bowls, and cups. Right now, they all jump up on the kitchen counter to grab what they need (anyone else who has Corelle and tile floor knows that it is NOT as indestructible as they say). I found some cute, melanin plates, bowls, and glasses on clearance at Target (man I love that store) and put them in a cupboard underneath the counter. The added bonus to this (that I wasn't really thinking about when I did it), is that it makes it easier for the kids to put the dishes AWAY from the dishwasher too. Score!!
It took me about 12 hours to get the whole kitchen organized (and my husband thinks I'm crazy for labeling everything), but it makes it all look so pretty! I'm really loving the ease of finding things and the fact that the kids (and the hubby) can put things away in the right place (I can always dream). I'm pretty sure I will be happy with the kitchen organization for at least a few months, and then I'll be ready to switch it up again. Until then...I'll enjoy the tidiness as I spend my hours cooking, cleaning, and organizing in there!
