Awhile back she wrote a post regarding organizing her freezer. Her freezer. Who organizes their freezer?
She does.
Well, the rest of the post was on general kitchen cupboard organization. I got inspired because our cabinets have been less than inspiring since we moved in and I've never been able to figure out a way for them to work with how we use this kitchen.
Here's the main area I had a love/hate relationship with:
This is really our central cabinet area. We have tall cupboards, so we were trying to keep everything we used at heights we could actually reach. Because I really don't overstock our cupboards almost everything seemed squished into one or two shelves. On top of that, I really have a problem with mixing different "categories" on different shelves. The baking should really all go together. Oils shouldn't be mixed with breakfast items, etc. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks like this.
Hello?
Hello??????
Anyway - I emptied everything out and hauled it to the kitchen table. There was very little to actually throw away - one of the benefits of not overstocking the cabinets in the first place. I then sketched out a plan of which categories I'd like to go where. The kids needed easy access to certain things and we only had so much shelf space concerning appropriate heights.
This is what I ended up with:
Breakfast/Lunch-ish side: The cereal/other breakfasty items are all on one shelf and easily reachable by all. The bread is grouped together and the tea (for Jake and I) are all grouped easily within reach (they weren't within reach for either of us previously). Crackers/snacks are located up high. This isn't horrible. If I have to stretch or get a chair to reach them, I'll probably not even try; my waist might thank me.
Dinner/Baking side:
This makes me so incredibly happy. Baking items were overtaking everything. Now they are grouped into baskets and other containers and things are LABELED! Mike and Jake will no longer make something with powdered sugar when they are supposed to make it with flour. All the oils/spices are together and the pastas that get used occasionally are put up higher where we don't need them as often. We have a separate drawer where most ingredients we need for the week are placed so no one has to search when they're in charge of finishing out a meal quickly. So, most pasta is extra that's located up high.
Now the part I'm truly loving...who organizes their refrigerator???
ME!!
Before:
Every time we opened the door we had things falling on top of us. We didn't know what we had and I was too lazy to search through all that to find out, so I'd just buy more.
After:
I totally copied all the ideas from that blog! I was only too happy to get to the Container Store and discover the same bins used in my inspiration! The bottom bins are $1.29 plastic shoe boxes and they work perfectly! The beer glasses (yes, we store these in the freezer) are placed in a container with a rubber bottom so they don't slip around every time we open the door. Thank you, Target!!!
I did throw some things away, but not as much as I expected. Corralling everything just magically made things fit better.
When I finished this, I took pictures and emailed them to Mike and my sister. When Mike came up for lunch I made sure he opened up the freezer and he oohed and ahhed to make me happy.
When I had my parents over....I had my dad open the freezer. He oohed and ahhed for me too. Then my brother-in-law, Rob, arrived and my dad made him open the freezer. He smiled and nodded and probably wondered (again) what kind of family he married into. But, he played along nicely. Thanks, Rob!
It's been over a month since these transformations and things still pretty much look like this; slightly less food right now though. In cleaning things out I discovered we had three roasts. Who doesn't know they have three roasts? Mike grilled one the other night so only two more to go!
I think my next organizing goals are going to be under all the sinks in this house. I'll be one happy girl when I figure out a system for that!
2 comments:
Want to come over and organize my pantry?
You can come to my house when you're done at your mom's!!
Post a Comment