2/16/14

Kitchen Organizing -- More Please!


Hey everyone!  If y'all have followed me for any length of time, you know I love nothing more than tweaking and/or organizing things in our home.  It seems my craft room and the kitchen get most of this, and today I am sharing some changes I made in the kitchen.  The Man use to grumble a bit when I changed things in the kitchen & he couldn't find something.  Now, he just goes along, because I do almost all of the cooking, and he realizes that I need to change things up in order to remain motivated in my cooking endeavors after almost forty-five years!  My latest challenge involved my dried herbs & seasonings.  
This is what I had going on prior to the changes.
This was a gift from The Man several years ago after we had finished a complete kitchen remodel in our previous home.  It was a much better fit in that kitchen to have this out on the counter.


Well, my range of cooking and experimenting has greatly increased over the last couple of years, so I also had "stuff" in this cabinet.  As you can imagine, I never knew if what I needed was in the spinner or in the cabinet & often times I would end up with duplicates.

So......I took a look at my space and realized I had this drawer that was almost empty & quickly purged & cleaned it out to accommodate my "plan."  

I had discovered these spice jars from IKEA a few years ago and was already using them for my baking spices.  After measuring the drawer, I figured I could put 20 of these in the drawer.

A nice feature of the jar is this flat surface on one side so the jar can sit at an angle or tilt which would make it really easy to see and access.
After thoroughly purging anything old and herbs that I never use, I got out my trusty label maker and went to work.  At the same time, I made a list of everything that needed to be replaced.  Do y'all have WINCO stores in your area?  They have just about every herb, spice and dry mix you could ever want and they are in bulk form -- just scoop out what you need into little baggies, write the code # on the twisty and you are set.  The prices are a minuscule amount compared to the pre-filled jars you get at the regular grocery store.  I'm so happy with this new way of storing the dried herbs, and I like that they are not right next to the stove top -- that heat really diminishes their flavor fast.  And, yes, I have them alphabetical -- just makes it easier to find what I need!

For the herbs & dried mixes that I use a higher volume of, I utilized my blue Ball jars.

Hmmm.....I need a few more jars!

Well, sometimes I just cannot stop, so I did a bit of tweaking in my baking area, too.

I use the handheld mixer and the mini-Cuisinart all the time, so having them on this shelf in the upper cabinet feels like the perfect spot.  My rices, Quinoa, & other dry goods are just above.

Right next to that cabinet is my baking center area.  I'm fortunate to have enough cabinets to have this dedicated baking center.  I would not like having to go to my pantry for my baking goods.

My big mixer and canisters are located on the counter in my baking center.


When I'm baking, the door to this cabinet usually remains open.  I have also added cork squares to the inside of several doors to hold recipes as I'm cooking or other info that I use frequently.
I may be a bit strange (okay, very strange), but I just love walking into my kitchen & opening a door or drawer and seeing everything well-organized.  FYI -- sometimes I do this just to make myself smile!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  If you have any questions about anything I did or used (or my sanity!), just ask away!  Stop by anytime.

I may be partying with some of these fine bloggers this week:

The Tablescaper at The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays
Karen at Sew Many Ways for Sew Darn Crafty
Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Mondays
Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons for One Project at a Time
Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday
Leslie at House on the Way for Twirl & Take a Bow
Mary Beth at Cupcakes and Crinoline for Project Inspired
Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop
Karin at The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesday
Kelly at Live Laugh Rowe for Live Laugh Linky Party
Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home
Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

21 comments:

  1. Carol, your kitchen looks wonderful! This is a great idea. Love, love, love all the jars. How pretty and useful.

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  2. It looks awesome and easy to find whatever you are looking for. Great find at Ikea. Have a great week.

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  3. Everything looks terrific! I love the idea of those spice jars in a drawer. That seems really convenient. Unfortunately my drawer space is very limited here but I would like to do that too. I love the baking center as well, very convenient and organized!

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  4. I love a well organized kitchen, too, Carol. Yours looks great! I did a bit of that a couple of weeks ago and went through every single cabinet and discarded stuff and reorganized the rest. Feels SOOO good! xo Diana

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  5. It looks great! I really must do some kitchen organizing!

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  6. I love this jars from IKEA too Carol, but used mine in the craft room! But now, I think I should use them for what they were meant to use them for, I love how you organized them! I'm sure cooking will be easier and breezier!

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  7. Great look to all of your spicy areas :) I know we don't live too far away from each other (just a few miles) but I have never heard of WINCO??? How can that be? My kitchen is teeny tiny so I am unable to have too many items either in the cabinets, drawers or on the counter. I guess that is God's way of keeping me from hoarding too much, LOL!!

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  8. Your kitchen looks wonderful. I have more cabinets to tackle and I will definitely use some of your ideas. Great to have you at Seasonal Sundays.

    - The Tablescaper

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  9. Hi Carol. Nothing feels better than an organized kitchen and yours looks wonderful. Love those little spice jars. Thank you for popping in to see me.
    be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  10. Well if you ever decide to start a new career you could as a professional organizer! Your cabinets and drawers look great. I'm semi organzied, but not to that degree. Love those little spice jars you found at Ikea.

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  11. I love those little jars from Ikea! Your kitchen is very organized. We don't have a Winco, but our local grocery store has a healthy food section where they sell spices and all kinds of stuff in bulk. You're right...it's much cheaper to purchase them that way. I just bought some pine nuts in bulk and it was about 1/4 of the price of the pre-bagged ones.

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  12. I love your organization. Great job. I wish you lived near me. :)

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  13. WOW, so inspiring...it all looks wonderful! xo, Liz :)

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  14. Looks GREAT and inspires me to get going on some of those projects I have been meaning to do. :) Thank you for posting. Gentle Joy

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  15. You are definitely on a roll. Love this. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

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  16. Excellent job Carol. I am going to send this link to my sister!

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  17. Wow, Carol, I am so impressed. I love organization and am always looking for ways to improve. Thanks for these tips.

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  18. You and your beautiful kitchen are super efficient and when things are that organized, only delicious meals and delightful times preparing them are on the menu!!

    Thanks for sharing all your amazing tips!

    Poppy

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  19. I love those little spice jars! Do you mind my asking how much they cost? It's awesome to have all your spices arranged in jars that are the same size and shape! :)

    Hope you're having a great week!

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  20. I can totally relate! I have all my spices in one cabinet beside the stove and in alphabetical order too:) My baking supplies are all on the 2 tiered spin ning cabinet in the corner. Just the other day we got wire racks for the 2 doors on the pantries because the pantries (both TINY) were too darn crowded for me. My hubby cooks as much as I do now so we both want things easily accessed. I may just do a post like this!

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  21. It does feel great to have things organized doesn't it? I am so impressed with the spice jars in that drawer! What a perfect fit!
    -Shelley

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I truly love to hear from you and try to respond to each and everyone. If you have "no reply blogger," I will respond in my comments section and then visit your blog as soon as I can.

Make this a great day!
Carol