Days 3 - 5 of the 91 Day De-Clutter Challenge Week #1: Kitchen & Pantry

Pantry, Cabinets, Drawers

I have already worked over my pantry, cabinets, and drawers not too long ago. You can see these posts here:

• The Pantry (post 1)
• The Pantry (post 2)
• The Spice Cupboard
• The Storage Cupboard
• The Gadget Drawer

Now, I am not quite finished with all the cupboards, nor all the drawers, however I had a bit more work this week than I originally expected and was unable to get to all the things I had planned in the kitchen. Mind you, I still have a couple of days to go.

In order so you have something to look at, here is a video of our bird, Taz, rearranging my gadget drawer:


Taz is a Senegal parrot. She is 18 years-old in this video. She has been living with us for approximately 6 months now. She is a plucker but we are trying to gently break her of that habit. Her feathers are growing back, but some will never grow back. Taz is a good girl and a very happy and healthy bird.

My husband came into the kitchen with Taz and she decided to help me with my gadget drawer.  She was being totally adorable and active. She slowed down when she saw I was filming and picked up again when I put my iPhone down. (All those measuring spoons went through the dishwasher after she was through with them.)

I need to re-arrange my kitchen to add a computer desk and work station in it. I will take the rest of this week to do that and will post about as soon as I can.

91 Day De-Clutter Challenge Week #1: Kitchen & Pantry

http://maryorganizes.com/

Mary from Mary Organizes Blog has set up a 91 day challenge to help people declutter their homes. I've decided to join along and try to declutter with her. I don't have some of the rooms she has on her list so I will do other rooms/areas during those weeks.

Schedule

I thought I would start with the before photos. I should come clean (pun intended) and give you full disclosure.  I did let the kitchen go for a couple days in anticipation of this challenge. I wanted to make the after photos more dramatic. These photos were taken after supper and before doing the dishes (and the after supper cleaning). I also had gone shopping earlier in the day and had not put away the non-perishables. Now I am thinking I should have taken the photos after the dishes were done and the rest of the groceries put away.

Kitchen Before View (before dishes are done, too)

The rest of the before photos of kitchen.
This is the side that really needs declutteing.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Storage Container Cupboard
Before | After

I got a head start on the challenge with the cupboard that I store my storage containers. It had become quite chaotic and needed a thorough going through. Any container missing lids and any lids missing containers were disposed of. 

Potatoes and onions are kept here because it is cool and dry. 

There are a few microwave pots and Tupperware, neatly stacked, as well as a rarely used food processor and slow cooker. You will notice that most of the lids are stored vertically with a plate rack. It makes it easier go find when needed. The rack was purchased inexpensively at Dollarama.

On the upper shelf (left side) cutting boards are also kept vertically. As I need a cutting board, I take the one on the right (by the lids) and replace them on the left (by the wall). This allows the cutting boards to be rotated often and used evenly for wear and tear. They are discarded when they are well used and falling apart.

Now I am ready to start the challenge.

The Kitchen Wall

Our kitchen is large for an apartment but like many kitchens there is very little usable storage space. Luckily there was a large empty wall by the stove. I decided to use it as both a decorative and useful space. On this wall I have many of the things that I need to have near at hand when I a cooking. 

I have even added the dry measures to the side of a cupboard where I can easily reach them. These help to add colour and interest to the area.

This wall is the focal point of our kitchen. It turns a boring, dull space into a colourful area of interest. I am very fond of roosters and chickens. It could be my Portuguese heritage coming through with the love of Barcelos's Rooster. (In truth, I am very fond of birds. Period.)

People who know I am an artist often ask if I painted the tree and bird motif on the wall. I did not paint the tree and bird motif on the wall. That is a wall decal that I found at a favourite shop. The rooster hooks are painted wood and those were found in a specialty shop many years ago.

All items are placed far enough from the stove to not interfere in cooking or be a fire hazard.

Here is a close up of the dry measure scoops. I have them on self-adhesive hooks. These are used nearly on a daily basis so they don't have time to collect dust or a fine mist of cooking grease on them. It is handy to have them so close and accessible. 

I hope my post has inspired you to think outside the box/cupboard/drawer in finding storage solutions that are both interesting and useful.

See you next Friday!

If you are just getting started with Evernote, DeClutter Artista suggests that you buy Brett Kelly’s remarkably practical e-book, Evernote Essentials, Second Edition. It is worth setting aside a couple hours to work through this brief, 95-page book. It will save you DAYS of learning Evernote on your own.

The Spice Cupboard

I call this my spice cupboard even though there are are plates and bowls in this cupboard. This cupboard is out of hand. Everything is shoved in there where ever these is a space. It is difficult to find anything in a timely manner.

The refills for the spices kept under the cupboard are kept here. The spices that are used more rarely, and for the bulk-size of the spices used daily, are also kept here. Once the spices are under control, the rest of the cupboard can get under control too.

The first thing to do was to remove nearly everything from the cupboard. I placed everything on the counter. It was a huge mess. I have way too many of those ramekins. Some will be used to house small items and the rest will find a new home.

The older, expired, spices were discarded. Any spices that did not have an air-tight container were placed in labeled zip-lock sandwich bags.

I picked up a small basket at Dollarama* (dollar store) that fits nicely onto the cupboard shelf. Inside I am placing all the extra spices and rarely used spices. I can easily slide the basket out when I need to access the items inside. I am planning on only purchasing enough spices (bulk store) to fit the spice containers, going forward.

It took a while to figure out where to put things in the cupboard. It is not 100% complete as we need to live with this for a bit to see if it is working.

I didn't really touch the top shelf, except to move the peanut butter done an shelf. On the top shelf are the less used soup bowls as well as my manual food processor and a few larger bowls. A couple of larger bowls do sit on top of the dinner plates because they are used almost daily. It made sense to move the peanut butter down, as well, as I am often reaching for it. I used to keep it in the pantry but it kept making its way to the counter or this cupboard so I stopped fighting it and just gave it a home here.

Between the peanut butter and the measuring cups is a container of bag clips. We often use these and it is good to have a central home for them. By putting these in a visible central location, with its own label, I am hoping that they will find their way back home (instead of being left all over the apartment) and that my men will stop asking me where they can find one to clip their bag-de-jour.

The shelf, beneath that, has my smaller plates as well as the most used soup bowls. I have also labeled three of those ramekins to hold elastic bands, bread clips, and odds & ends. I need to label the small round wooden box, as well. It is holding the extra blades to my “Graty”.

Here is the spice end of the spice cupboard. Yes, I do use a lot of spices in my cooking! The dollar store basket is easy to pull out in order to refill the spice jars or to grab the seldom used spices. Everything is now in air-tight containers or bags.  Above that shelf I have more spices and my most used measuring cups. I also have little stainless steel bowls that I use when measuring out spices and ingredients. I like to get all my ingredients out and in cooking order, so that when I actually start cooking everything is ready to go. (The two clear things in the metal containers are caps you put on your soda-pop can so that you can drink from it, and then cap it, if you don’t finish off the can.)

If you are just getting started with Evernote, I suggest that you buy Brett Kelly’s remarkably practical e-book, Evernote Essentials, Second Edition. It is worth setting aside a couple hours to work through this brief, 95-page book. It will save you DAYS of learning Evernote on your own.

I love adding labels to help me remember where things belong, and to assist my family to know where to expect to find items. Labels are such simple things that make a huge difference in our mindset.

Overall, the cupboard is much neater and more user-friendly. We’ll live with this for a few weeks to see how it is working, and make any tweaks that we feel necessary.

See you next Friday!

*I have no affiliation to, nor am I paid by, Dollarama. It is just a local and convenient dollar store.

Gadget Drawer

BEFORE --> Extreme Chaos

Every time I opened this drawer I would cringe at the mess. I had to dig around to find anything. It has been on my to-do list to organize for a long time.

I picked up 4 plastic drawer organizers from Dollarama (a dollar store). I still need another, shorter, more square one to replace the red mesh basket that I have squished back in to hold my measuring spoons.

Plastic Drawer Organizer from Dollarama

AFTER --> Better

I may get one more of the long plastic drawer organizer, instead, for the measuring spoons and put those measuring cups in front of that.

The most used gadgets and measuring spoons are closer to the front of the drawer. The items that are used less are further back, but still within reach. I got rid of any gadgets I never use. There were some items in this drawer that are better kept elsewhere, such as plastic cutlery and larger knives.

That red mesh basket is bothering me, however, it will have to do for now, until I can get out again to get another clear plastic organizer.  Once I have this drawer more how I envisioned it, I will add sticky-tac to the bottom of the plastic organizers to keep them from shifting, and add labels to help me remember everything's place in the drawer.

I do use a lot of measuring spoons when I cook, but I may cull these a bit more.  I have a touch-less can opener and my garlic press together right behind the measuring spoons because I use those nearly every day.

This drawer will be revisited in the future, after I have lived with it for a while, to see what works and what does not.

If you have any ideas about organizing the gadget drawer, please feel free to share them with us.

If you are just getting started with Evernote, I suggest that you buy Brett Kelly’s remarkably practical e-book, Evernote Essentials, Second Edition. It is worth setting aside a couple hours to work through this brief, 95-page book. It will save you DAYS of learning Evernote on your own.

See you next Friday.

Spice Storage

Under cupboard spice storage system

This is how I store my spices for easy access. It has created extra space on my counter and in my cupboard.

View from the front

Side view

Magnet hot glued to top of spice jar. Labeled at bottom for easy legibility

To make this I attached a piece of sheet metal (2"x48"x1/8") to the underside of the cupboard (I used Elmers Ultimate Glue and had it held in place for 24 hours with c-clamps. (I put newspaper down on the counter and sink to catch drips).

Strong magnets were attached to the lids of spice jars using a hot glue gun. I wrote the spice names on address labels and pasted them on the jars.

When all was dry, the jars were attached to the underside of the cupboard with the magnets. They are easy to retrieve when needed and easy to put back when finished.

Currently there are 20 spice jars (seen here) but I have room for 7 more on this piece of metal and will be adding at least 3 more to this group.

If you are just getting started with Evernote, I suggest that you buy Brett Kelly’s remarkably practical e-book, Evernote Essentials, Second Edition. It is worth setting aside a couple hours to work through this brief, 95-page book. It will save you DAYS of learning Evernote on your own.

I have arranged the bottles with the ones I use the most closest to the stove (right) and the ones I use the least further from the stove (left) then by category as well (baking, savory, Italian, etc).  You can arrange alphabetically, by colour, by type, or whichever way makes sense to you.

I do have a spice cupboard, that I will be re-organizing in the coming months. In it I keep the rarely used spices as well as the refills for the jars.

See you next Friday!

UPDATE:

I was asked where I picked up the supplies to create this storage solution.

• I had quite a few of the spice jars from a spice rack that we received as a wedding gift 25 years ago. Dollarama sells similar jars and I picked up the extra jars there. 
• The spices are usually picked up at the grocery store or Bulk Barn.
• The metal bar that was glued to the under-cupboard, the C-clamps, and the glue came from Rona 
• The magnets were from Home Hardware
• The glue gun and hot glue were purchased at Michaels Arts & Crafts 

I probably could have purchased all the hardware at Rona or Home Hardware but I did not purchase everything at the same time.