More Organization

While I was taking pictures of the cabinets, I decided to take pictures of my kitchen drawers.

Bill’s cabinet clients come to our home for the design process and our cabinets are his models. Bill consistently hears comments about how organized my cabinets are. So here’s how I do it.

I went through one drawer at a time and pulled everything out (and cleaned the crumbs out, too). Then I really evaluated exactly what I used. If I used it all the time, I kept it. If I only used in once in a while, I put that in a different pile to decide on later. If I never used it, I got rid of it. A sample of what I got rid of: spatulas of various sizes and flexibilities that I NEVER used. I have been cooking and baking for Bill and I for almost 16 years. I know what I use! So, toss it.- it’s not worth the space and ease of accessibility.

I have really big drawers and I don’t like it when things slide around (no matter what the drawer size). I had seen these great drawer organizers in Target (kitchen section). I liked the fact that 1) they were stylish (not white plastic), 2) they were big for those large utensils 3) they had various sizes to be consistent in the whole kitchen. So I just purchased a bunch and got to it.

This is all I have! I don’t have another box or drawer or any other place holding my kitchen stuff. Strike that- I do have a utensil container holding my most used spatulas and wooden spoons and a knife block, both on the counter and I have another drawer with some miscellaneous items such as my rolling pin and kitchen scale.

How this really works for me is that I don’t like a lot of gadgets in my kitchen. I don’t have a garlic press or a quick chop Pampered Chef thing because if I’m chopping garlic, chances are I’m chopping something else that neither of those two items can do. I have a knife and a cutting board. This system also helps the kids (and Bill) find and put away things more easily.

In the “junk drawer” I don’t have junk. Those two round containers are from World Market and hold rubber bands and paper clips. Nothing else gets put in there. Pens and pencils are on the counter in something else. But again, all the pens work, all the pencils are sharpened. I get rid of it if it doesn’t work.

I stay on top of it all, but it’s not hard to do. When Bill’s client come, I want them to see his cabinets for how great and functional they are, not for the junk inside of them. I don’t worry about the insides. I mostly work on wiping off the gunk on the outside that has been encrusted by 1 – 4 children.