This weekend, we had just one goal:
Set up the new place.
…with the aid of a couple beverages. =)
First up, in today’s post: the kitchen pictures. If you recall, it looked like this last week:
Saturday morning, I got my organization on after a trip to Solutions – a huge home organization store similar to The Container Store in the US.
Eric took one look at my loot and laughed.
“Since when did you turn into an organizer?”
I tried to tell him with a straight face that I’ve always been organized, but I just couldn’t.
People can change!
I also couldn’t bring myself to take our old, gross plastic cutlery tray with us, so I took this opportunity to start fresh with a bamboo cutlery tray.
So easy…so rewarding…
Ugly, bagged spices now hide on the side of the fridge to free up a drawer:
What do we have here? St Patrick’s Day stickers, Valentine’s Day cupcake liners, candy molds, and onion goggles.
Sounds about right.
After:
Ok, I could probably do better than that…but I won’t.
Spice cabinet before:
and After…with mini turn tables for easier locating spices:
Thanks for the ideas on the turntables, by the way. Love them!
I put a shelf extender in the dish cabinet to fit an extra row of dishes. Now there is just enough space.
I also picked up this container to store my measuring cups and small kitchen things.
Yes, that’s a lot of measuring cups! You’d be surprised though…some days I easily dirty all of them.
Eric also had this great idea to store my “rarely used” dishes on top of the cabinets, saving me a ton of cabinet space. In addition to my casserole dishes, I put a wok, huge salad bowl, and empty mason jars on top.
You can see the storage in this photo below:
We also set up Grundtal Ikea shelves for my mason jar storage, so they didn’t have to be crammed in the cupboard anymore (thanks to Emily for the idea!!).
They come in 120 cm and 80 cm lengths and we opted for the 80cm. I grabbed matching hooks for the bottom so I could hang my apron and other things. Apparently, Eric is using it for his sunglasses and keys too….you’re on my turf, Liddon. ;)
I was so nervous that the shelves were going to break, but they are very sturdy. I just hope Sketchie doesn’t try to jump up…
Top shelf (left to right): Rolled oats, millet, walnuts, pecans, raw buckwheat groats, speltberries
Bottom shelf: Pearled barley, dried chickpeas, raw almonds, short grain brown rice, red lentils, raw cashews, and hemp seed.
I have a few more jars stored in the cupboard, but it has opened up a lot of cupboard space. Two thumbs up!
You know, initially I was worried about transitioning into a smaller kitchen (I was spoiled with the size and storage space in our old house), but with a few adjustments I’ve cozied right into this space and love it more each day.
I ended Day #1 with Sketchie cuddles on his favourite “blankie” (Eric’s sweater), and he was a happy cat once again.
Coming up: Living/dining area, laundry, and hallways.
I want to love those magnets, but I ended up throwing all mine away. They are not air tight. :-/ Course it just dawned on me that I could have at least left them in baggies in them, and it would still be better than my piles of bags of random herbs that end up all tasting the same because they are a little too cozy with each other….
Your kitchen is beautiful. :)
Your kitchen looks fantastic! I’m moving in August and will definitely be stealing some of those ideas :)
What size are you mason jars on the top shelf? I can’t tell if they’re gallons half gallons, etc…
Love love love this entry! I was organizing my kitchen too last night and this gave me lots of gret ideas.
I LOVE the spices on the fridge idea!! I’ll have to try that sometime :)
Wow, it all looks great. But….onion goggles? Are those a real thing? :-D
Love the pic of happy Sketchie too. :-)
yessss and they rule
After seeing this post I ran to Ikea as fast as I could and grabbed 2 of the those shelves, a pack of hooks, and 3 little basket/pots to hang. I gathered up a mass of glass jars and I now have the most beautiful addition to my breakfast room. I had been meaning to fill a certain space and this was the perfect idea. Thank you so much! It was a fun, easy project! Also – my first trip to Ikea. I had my 2 and 3 year old with me and although it was an adventure, I’ll get a sitter next time. :)
I am so grateful for your article post.Much thanks again.
you are a lot more energetic than me, so you might not have this problem. but i found that i don’t get to the top of my cabinets as much as i’d like, so the dust collects. i put newspapers underneath my bowls and other things on top of my cabinets and when i finally get to cleaning all i have to do is pull up the papers and dust off the things on top. cuts cleaning time!