Kitchen Reorganization Series, Part 1: The Naked Truth or What's in my Drawers

My little kitchen.

This is the first in an eight part series on how I am reorganizing my kitchen to function more efficiently. Every Tuesday and Thursday in January I will tackle a different corner of my kitchen and share the results!

Over the last month my kitchen has been the Little Engine that Could. It really gave its all trying to keep up with the whirlwind of culinary activity that was the lead up to Christmas. Spending so much time in this room forced me to see that some of the organizational systems that had worked in the past just weren't cutting it any more. Now, post-season, quiet has descended and I have time to fix and tweak!




To begin this process we have to start at the beginning, which is the scary stuff for me and the fun stuff for you - you get to see inside my cupboards, in all their naked, uncensored glory. Please be kind!

Here is what I have to work with.

I have three hutches. In the dining room I have a built in (the house was built in 1902) where I keep some of the good china, glasses, glass dishes I don't often use and some serving pieces. The drawers are full of linens.

Also in the dining room I have a free standing hutch that has more display items. The drawers and cupboard space is full of financial papers.

In the kitchen I have a pine hutch.


It has every day dishes and cookbooks in the top and stationary in the drawers.

Tupperware in one set of cupboards.

Well, this isn't working!

A silverware box and some phone books in the other cupboard.

Next to the hutch is the fridge. Next to the fridge I have a set of above and below cabinets. These cabinets are custom made solid wood, deep set and go all the way around to the adjacent cabinet. This is really nice storage and is the same on the other side of the room.

On the top shelf I have a mix of oatmeal, tea and other large items. In the middle is cereal and grains/ beans. On the bottom is pasta and snack foods.

In the next cabinet are baskets on the top, glasses in the middle and glass jars and on the bottom is a large box of popcorn, bowls and more glass jars.

On the counter top is the toaster, microwave, mixing bowls and a bread bin where I keep bread and medications in the bottom compartment.

In the bottom cabinet are pans, serving dishes, baking dishes and more.

This cupboard gives me a head ache.

On the other side are all my small appliances plus more baking pans.

On the other side of the kitchen is a similar set of above cabinets.

I have my baking cabinet plus tea, coffee and hot chocolate mixes.

The counter top has the coffee maker, kettle, TV and small canisters for tea and sugar and a holder for cooking utensils.

In the above cabinets are all my home canned goods as well as oils and vinegars. On the middle shelf are canned goods and jars. On the bottom shelf are all my herbs and spices, as well as spill over baking supplies.

The drawers underneath hold silverware, tea towels, sandwich bags and foil. This is pretty well organized.

Over the stove are more jams on the top and dried fruit and nuts, as well as more tea bags on the bottom.

On the wall is my family pin board which is covered in out-of-date information!

Finally, in the middle is an island where we eat, I bake (the top is marble) and prepare food. Underneath is where I store large pans. Two baskets on the bottom hold onions and potatoes.

As you can see, I don't need more display space! Because this is an old house, there is no pantry so I have to make the cabinets work for both food and pots and pans. I don't need the inside of the cabinets to be pretty, but they need to function.

I'm sure you have some suggestions for me based on what you see. Please feel free to share in the comments!

On Tuesday I'm going to show you how I reorganized to create a drinks cabinet and prep area. Did you notice how many different places I had tea?

See you in the kitchen,

Sue

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