Freshly Organized Kitchen

Week 2 of the Organizing Revolution:
Spent all day in the kitchen today and I’m only half finished!

I decided to start with the spice cabinet next to the stove. It tends to get the messiest. I usually empty it out, wipe everything down and toss old spices during my spring cleaning, but now it’s done early. One less thing to do this spring.

This is the before picture.

And here is the after.

Last spring I got a new spice rack and started making my own labels to match the kitchen.

I like the Trader Joe bottles so much that I began saving the empties for some of the spices I buy elsewhere. One of the fun things about sorting spices is pouring them into one of the pretty glass bottles and throwing the ugly plastic ones away. I was able to pitch about a half dozen bottles this time.

Next I decided to move my coffee cups to the cabinet over the coffee pot and my dishes closer to the stove. This was the cup cabinet before I started. I gained more space by “letting go” of unused cups.

This is the cup cabinet after and the one where my dishes were. When the kids were home we served family style so the plates were closer to the table. Now I serve portion sizes right from the stove, so it made sense to move them.

Next came the drawers. They were crammed with stuff and space is at a premium in this kitchen since I only have 4. I dumped everything out, cleaned everything out and started fresh! This was time consuming, but fun. This is one of the before drawers.

I got rid of my regular silverware holder. Its molded form was taking up too much space. I rearranged the rectangular organizers I had from another drawer and gained space to add knives and serving utensils to the back of the drawer.

My kitchen gadgets drawer is now organized with the items I use most in the front.
And my grandson’s favorite spot – where he collects his box tops for school.

With all this cleaning and organizing I even found room to put away the new kitchen towels hubby got me for Christmas. And the lost chip clips have returned!

I think one of my favorite changes is having the coffee cups right over the coffee pot. I also eliminated a utensil crock from the counter. I had two! I gained enough space in the drawers to empty the other one.

Tomorrow begins the pantry side of the kitchen and by Thursday everything should be clean and sparkling.

Be sure to visit The New Year’s Organizing Revolution to see other kitchen organizing ideas.