Kitchen & Laundry Room Organized

Well, I finally got the kitchen cabinets all cleaned out and organized.  I found once I started sorting through everything it was a little easier to get rid of things I didn't need anymore.  I managed to actually sell a few pieces and donated the rest of the items.  Before I started filling up the cabinets, I did put some thought into where was the best place for each item based off of our habits and needs.

For example, I do most of the prep work like chopping at the kitchen island, so moving the knifes to a drawer over there made the most sense for us.

The knife organizer was purchased at The Container Store last year and I am still in love with it.  It has been a tremendous help to have all the knives and other cutting tools in one drawer.  The drawer right next to it holds all the other kitchen gadgets.  A drawer that used to hold utensils, now holds our drink accessories and tools, which you can see in the top right picture above.  As for the utensils, I put them right next to the stove in an utensil holder so they are all in one place now.

One of the things I am most giddy about is my new spice drawer.  All of our spices used to be in a cabinet and it was seriously becoming the black hole of spices.  I have been searching for some time now on how best to organize all of our spices, but I knew I did not want them on the counter.  I really, really wanted them in a drawer, but was having trouble finding ones that would fit until I found some inspiration on A Bowl Full Of Lemons.  I snatched up the same spice jars on Amazon and got to organizing as soon as they arrived.  I also found a free printable through Pinterest for the spice jar labels.

I put the spices in the drawer to the left of the stove and then all the measuring spoons and cups in the really small drawer to the right of the stove.  There are a few spices I buy in bulk, so I put those in the old spice cabinet.

Although, I cleaned out and organized all the cabinets I decided to only post pictures of what I thought were the highlights and displayed some practical organizing tips.  I purchased this bakeware organizer on Amazon about 6 months ago and I am not sure why I didn't buy it sooner...I love how it neatly displays our baking sheets.

I also purchased a few clear command hooks and strips to hang my pot holders...although I should probably purchase some new pot holders since these are looking a bit shabby!  I have the other pot holders on another hook on the cabinet door where I store the pots and pans.  Both of these cabinets are right next to the stove/oven.

Although organizing the tupperware isn't the prettiest, I wanted to share how I was able to hang the strainer with a command hook.

I used the same hooks to hold the cutting boards on the inside of the cabinet doors of the kitchen island.  So now I have the knives and cutting boards all located at the kitchen island!

We downsized a few of our glasses and coffee mugs and were able to fit all plates, bowls, and glasses in one cabinet.  And in the other cabinet, I put all of our plastic plates, cups, and bowls, which are mainly used by the girls.

That pretty much highlights the kitchen, but I wanted to share with you how the laundry room turned out.  A few years ago, my husband put cabinets above our washer and dryer and made a shelf to go right above the washer and dryer.  They have both been a tremendous game changer for that area, but were never used the best.  Last spring I changed out the majority of our home cleaners to natural cleaners and I am still in love with it all.  Because of that I was able to make one cabinet all cleaners and cleaner products, which has left the other cabinet completely open for future use!!

So the cabinet on the left side holds all the supplies to make the natural cleaners and the one of the right is empty for now!  On the shelf, it holds a laundry cheat sheet that I framed as well as my homemade laundry detergent in the yellow bin.  Then I have a bowl for loose change, some clothespins and a little cup for chalk (which is used on our chalkboard menu).  The empty bin labeled 'dirty' is for the used microfiber rags that I clean everything with.  Then last but not least, are my little collection of Food Network magazines.

So, how are you guys doing on the home organizing challenge??  This week is the pantry, so I will be cleaning and purging that next!!

With much love,

Kristin

Spring Cleaning: Cleaning Out The Fridge

My fingers have been itching to get started on building the closet in the nursery, but our plans have been slightly delayed and soon hope to be back on track to get that closet completed!!  In the mean time, I have put my itchy fingers to good use and got an early start on my spring cleaning.  One of my favorite bloggers, Jen at I Heart Organizing, has been doing a monthly clean home challenge and that has really been motivating me to get more done each day.

Earlier this week, I decided to tackle the fridge.  When I opened up the fridge, it was stockpiled with lots of containers for leftovers.  At one time I was pretty good at cleaning out the fridge at least once a week...at least cleaning out the leftover containers, but time has gotten away from me the last few weeks.

So for starters, I took out all of the leftovers and cleaned out the containers.  Then I cleared out the rest of the fridge so I could give the shelves a good wipe down.  To clean the fridge I use a spray bottle mixture of 1 cup of distilled water and 1 cup of vinegar with a microfiber cloth.  I have been wiping down my counters and cabinets in the kitchen with a microfiber cloth for a few months now and I love them!!!

Once the fridge was cleaned, I started sorting things and putting them back in the fridge and I noticed we had almost two shelves empty since the leftovers were cleared out.  We are very fortunate to have  two fridges, one is out in the garage, and we normally store our drinks, yogurts and some of the girls' snacks out there.  The bad thing, things weren't being eaten and basically wasting money :(  So I decided to bring some of those things inside and leave the garage fridge for the leftovers and extra drinks.  I do a weekly meal planning so theoretically I know when we will be having leftovers so hopefully they won't be forgotten out there!!

I purchased a few medium bins from The Container Store to store yogurts and the others are currently being used in the freezer.  Added bonus, these babies are currently on sale at The Container Store!!!

We are in the process of changing the girls' juices so typically there won't be two different brands.  Once they finish off the Fruitables, I will be able to put more of the Honest Kids or maybe something else in that spot.  (P.S. sorry for the iPhone photo)

Eventually I would like to get shallow bins for things like applesauce and cheesesticks, but for now I just used a few tupperware containers.  As for the side door, I cleared out the expired jars and wiped everything down.

Anyone else tackling some spring cleaning??

With much love,

Kristin

Kitchen Drawer Organization….Continued!

Well I had every intention to do some garage organizing this weekend, but the weather was absolutely beautiful so we actually spent the day outside with the girls.  We had a super fun time at the park and even rented a paddle boat!!!  We also managed a stop at The Container Store so mommy could put her gift cards to good use!

The girls has a blast and kept wanting us to chase down the ducks in the water :)  I did manage to get some organizing in during nap time on Sunday in the kitchen of course.

It all started with the counter top near the stove and then spread to some drawers and more countertops. My original plan was to minimize the items on the counter top and maybe in the process clear out some more drawers.  So to start with I was focused on this one spot in the kitchen.

It wasn't necessarily cluttered in my opinion, but I have been wanting to put all the knives in one drawer so that was the driving factor for it all.  I was able to find at The Container Store a knife holder that would hold all of my knives.

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The only problem was that it only fit in the large drawer.  So I did some rearranging with the drawers and counter top and I am really pleased so far.

I did have to purchase an additional utensil holder, which I found at Home Goods for $7.99.  Originally I had another olive oil out on the counter, but decided to put it with my other oils in the pantry since that one isn't used all the time.  As for the cookbook, I put it with all my other cookbooks on top of the fridge.

As for the drawers here are some before and afters.  Before I tackled organizing them, I did take everything out and give each drawer a good clean and then lined with the leftover shelf liner I had from the pantry.

Most of the utensils were placed in the holders on the counter and a few I decided to add to the donation pile.

After I took these pictures I looked around the kitchen and decided to keep going.  The other half of the kitchen counters actually only had a few items on them so the counters stayed the same.

I do normally have a dish drain out when I am doing dishes, but I am trying to get better about putting it under the sink each night so the counters stay clear…wish me luck!!!  Since I was washing towels at this moment, the dish towel that normally lives to the left of the sink wasn't there, but I did decide to straighten up the drawer where all the other towels live.

My washcloths are looking a little sad, might be time to hit up Home Goods for some new ones soon!!  The white bin was leftover from my earlier drawer organizing and thought it fit perfectly in this drawer!!!

Here is a shot looking in from the living room!

There are a few more drawers to tackle in the kitchen and then the cabinets are up next.  I fear this will take me longer since I have a hard time letting go of kitchen appliances.  Not really sure why, but I know it is time to get brutally honest in here and keep the essentials.  I might need some hand holding along the way, but it will get done!!

Happy Monday and happy organizing!!

With much love,

Kristin

Kitchen Drawer Organization

Hey there!!!  Hope everyone has been staying warm out there!!!  I have been trying to work up the courage to do some garage organizing, but with the chilly temps I have had no motivation to get my booty out there!  So I decided to find some inspiration inside and maybe this weekend I can do some organizing in the garage :)  I did a little organizing to a few drawers in the kitchen the other day and it actually gave me the boost I needed to get some more organizing done.

A few months ago I had purchased a few dollar bins at Target in their dollar section….I told myself I know these will come in handy somewhere in the house :)  I also had left over shelf liner from our pantry so I decided to use that as well since every time I opened the drawers, things would shift and slide around.  Nothing too fancy, but I was able to do two drawers while the girls were eating their breakfast!!!

Here is what we started with.  The current bins I have in here are in good condition, so I just wiped them down as well as wiped down the drawer before lining it with the shelf liner.  Then I used those dollar bins from Target for the items in the back.

And the after :)

I did the same thing to the other drawer as well.

I like seeing the little pop of color when I open the drawer and knowing I can easily find things when I open the drawer.  For me I was able to find the inspiration and motivation I was needing to get my booty in gear!!!

With much love,

Kristin

Organizing the Junk Drawer

I know I sound like a broken record, but I am still working on getting the office desk organized.  I don't know why I keep struggling with it, it has been keeping me up at night...no joke...thinking of the best way to organize the shelves and drawers.  I have organized a few drawers and even posted a pic on Instagram of some organization in progress - although I have already changed it a little since posting the pic :/  I think I have in my head that it has to look picture perfect and be completely functional, but in reality I need it to be organized in a way that makes sense for us and unfortunately that is what is taking time.

So to lift my spirits up, I decided to take a little break from my organizing puzzle of the desk and tackle the "junk" drawer in our kitchen.  This drawer seems to have been designated the "throw everything in it drawer and hide it from the company."  Anybody else have a drawer like this, please tell me I am not the only one.  Needless to say, it was getting out of hand...so much so that I even found a winning scratch off in the back of the drawer.  What, what!!!  Noting to break the bank, but I can treat myself to a Starbucks with a smile - that's what I am talking about!!  So without further ado, let me show you the newly organized junk-no more drawer.

Seriously, this drawer took me about 15 minutes to organize and gave me a nice little confidence boost to get back at organizing the office desk.  Let's step back a moment and look at what I started with.

My first step was to empty out everything from the drawer and lay it all out on the counter.  This is my preferred method, so I can start with a clean slate and see everything that I have.  For me, it is easier to have it all out in the open so I can go through it and make my piles of what to keep, donate, throw away, and keep but in another location.

As you can see, I did have some baskets to corral some of the things, but they weren't being used in the best manner.  On one of my recent trips to Target I found in the dollar section some plastic baskets and they are just the perfect size.  My only beef is that the baskets are not all the same color, slightly OCD over here, but right now I am happy with the results of the drawer.  I will probably go back at a later date and spray paint all the baskets the same color...I might even go bold with my color choice so it adds a nice pop of color to the drawer.

And of course a before and after is needed!!

Anybody take on a short organizing job and it really give them a boost to keep moving on the organizing train???  Happy Thursday y'all!!!

With much love,

Kristin