Sandy’s Kitchen Cupboard Organization

See how I organize my Kitchen Cupboards

I thought I’d show you how I organized my kitchen cupboards since my remodel.  They are now sorted, cleaned and in the proper place.  Let my kids and husband put dishes away a few times…and they won’t look as neat – but that is part of what we deal with.

Our plans are to remodel the kitchen at our farm next and move there in another year.  Going through this kitchen remodel was necessary in order to sell this house… but I’m glad we did it when we did. We will get to enjoy it for a little bit before we move.

When I went through my things as I cleaned out the cabinets and also as I was putting things back in, I had time to look at each item.  I went through the same thought process that I teach you and my clients.  Do I need it?  Do I use it?  Is it worth keeping and taking up valuable space?

I didn’t take a lot of time on each item, I moved quick…and did end up with a box of things to donate.

With my plastics, I made sure I had lids that fit the bowls. If there was a lid without a bowl….or a storage container without a lid …then it is outta here.

I don’t use expensive organizational products, I like using baskets to help separate items and keep things neat.  I can find those at the dollar store… so yeah for that.  You don’t have to have  highfalutin things to be able to organize… use your imagination.

You got to see my kitchen freshly organized… by the way I do use my counter tops.  I know some people like to have completely bare counter tops… Not me. I don’t like too much up there, but our toaster gets used daily, the coffee put is out, my kitchen knives and kitchen utensils  sit on my counter.

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Kitchen Remodel – Cupboards are In

Yeah, my Kitchen Isn’t So Bare Now

So what do you think?  This kitchen remodel is coming along isn’t it?  Do you like my new cupboards?  I do.. and that is what matters since I have to see them everyday! So… I’m glad I like them.  I actually love cherry. But with a small kitchen, and one we probably won’t be in for more than another year or so, I went with the maple.

Here is the other side.  I still have no sink to use. We are eating out mostly – thank goodness Dave’s kids are with their mom this week. That is helpful.  But having no sink or water in your kitchen really throws ya.

Yes I can pour that bowl of cereal and eat it, but then to rinse the bowl out…. I have to use the bathroom sink. Of course I have to make sure there are no food particles in it. So I have a nice little bin with dirty dishes that can’t wait to be washed!

The cupboards are configured the same way. The one thing I have noticed is that my drawers are different. I had 3 drawers before. Now I have 4. You might think… oh good more drawers. They are in the same amount of space. I had my silverware in the top drawer. Then the 2nd drawer down was our bread drawer, the 3rd drawer was the cookies and snack food. Now I have 3 thinner drawers and only 1 big one. I will have to rethink this. What I should do is just get rid of all the cookies and junk and then I wouldn’t have a problem…. we would all lose weight and the world would be a perfect place. LOL  Oh yeah… like that will ever happen.  (Believe me, if it does I will be blogging about it!)

Jerry from Brand Homes is doing a great job on my kitchen so far… Thanks Jerry & Mike

Kitchen Remodel

It Really Needed To Be Done

You might be thinking, “Well… that doesn’t look bad”.  (Or you might be thinking… OMG she is right.. She HAD to redo it).  Actually when I look at this picture I don’t feel a kitchen remodel had to be done either.  But there are things you can’t see in this picture…. but look below and you’ll see more!

Notice the missing drawer to the right of the dishwasher?  I used the space for the bottled water… Why not use that space right?  The cabinets were made out of melamine, not wood. There were a couple other doors that had small cracks on them. The kids like to open them and while they make things in the kitchen I’ve seen them put their knee or foot on as a prop. Or lean on them… This stuff isnt’ that sturdy.

This cupboard door was warped from the heat of the toaster below.  If you look close you can also see where the edge if peeling at the inside bottom left of that same door.  There were a lot of edges doing that on the drawers and cabinets.

These are things that need to be taken care of before you can put a house on the market. Especially THIS housing market.  We aren’t planning to move right away. We are thinking about it for 2012 after my step son graduates.  We would move up to our farm (and that kitchen needs to be remodeled too!)

But we thought we might as well do it now and get a little enjoyment out of it ourselves.  Oh… our disposal also decided to die.  We have been wanting a deeper sink. This one is like the cheapest one you could put in a house.. It wasn’t deep at all.  So… new sink, new disposal… you might as well do the rest of the kitchen right?

Here are the samples of what I am going to use in my kitchen.  My dream kitchen would have cherry cabinets and granite counter tops. But… this isn’t my dream kitchen.  With it being a galley style kitchen, it is narrow and we knew we couldn’t go very dark. It would make it look too small.

You can see the maple cabinets we are getting. The counter sample is a laminent from Wilsonart. The tile it sits on is the back splash.

I called in a friend and fantastic house builder and he also does remodeling too. Jerry Brand of Brand Homes to the rescue!  I know I can trust him and I know he does quality work.

It is hard to tell what your kitchen will look like… these are the only samples I have to go with. Hoping I like it.

It is all being done this week… so I’ll take you along with me to see it step by step.

Kitchen Cupboard Organization

Simple solutions can make much needed room

Organizing your kitchen cupboards can be made easier with extra space. We are always wanting it, but may not have the resources to remodel our kitchens. Here are a few ideas that don’t have to be expensive. I’m getting the ideas from my Sister’s kitchen (which I would die for!!) but these cabinet ideas can be used in any kitchen cupboards.

You can’t see all of Sis’s kitchen in this picture.  There is another area behind me that also has counter, sink, cupboards.  (You’ll see that in another post)  She’ll want me to let you know that things were still not all put away from the party she had last night for my Dad’s 80th birthday – usually the counters are clear.

But I did want to show you some other ideas for storage.  Many of us can’t have kitchens this deluxe, but there might be some simple solutions that you can do to your own cupboards that can increase your storage space.

This cupboard is on the backside of her island.  But look at all the extra shelves that were built. You see so many of this size cupboard that are all open – or they may have a small half shelf in the back.  But this gives all kinds of extra storage. All those platters and trays that can be so hard to put away.

Here is another one that the shelves are more spaced out to accommodate the taller items. I would guess these are adjustable shelves, although this picture doesn’t show the holes.

Here is another example. These are some extra dishes she has – not her everyday dishes.

Here is another idea that you can use in your cabinets.  This pull out wire drawer works well to be able to store smaller things and still be able to get to them.  But that space above is not wasted!  Then if you have taller items there is still room in front of the shelves for those.

If you are having custom cabinets made be sure to keep these ideas in mind.  Make sure they make holes so that your shelves are adjustable.

Check your cabinets. Most cabinets do have adjustable shelves.  USE them!  You can make more room in your cabinets.  If you know someone even a little handy it wouldn’t take much to make extra shelves. Just good measuring and a couple of shelf holders that you can get at your local hardware store and you are in business.

Even if you aren’t able to have a kitchen this big and nice… you can find extra storage in your cabinets by making extra shelves.

More ideas from Sis’s kitchen coming up later this week!

Organizing Kitchen cupboards

Don’t you wish you had more cupboards in your kitchen?

I know I sure do! Insert SlideDeck So how do you organize those kitchen cupboards when you  have a small house with 7 people living in it? Believe me….I know it isn’t easy!   This cupboard looks ok now….but you should see it if one of the kids or my hubby puts dishes away.  The bowls aren’t stacked anymore….you might have that big yellow one on top of the smaller ones.

On the left…forget putting the lids in the slots they are supposed to be in and the plastic containers were they go. Aren’t you supposed to just throw them in that side?

Organizing can be really hard to maintain, especially if others aren’t as on board as you. It is all about the maintenance, but we aren’t going there today…today we are just talking about some ways to try and organize those cupboards.

Baskets

I love using baskets in cupboards.  You can see the red ones up on the upper shelf.  That is a hard place to get to things and it is a narrower shelf, so it doesn’t hold as much.  Those baskets hold the other plastic containers and lids that you accumulate.  They make it very easy to pull the basket out and get to what you want. They help keep things confined so that it isn’t falling all over your cupboard…and they are inexpensive!

Do you use it?

If you find there are things in your cupboards that you haven’t used in ages ….or you don’t have a lid for it and because of that you don’t use it (and you will!!) then get rid of it.  Why should you use that precious space on items you don’t use anymore?  The general rule is if you have not used it for a year or more then get rid of it.

Organizing kitchen cupboards isn’t necessarily hard to do.  But keeping it that way can be what is hard for many.