I had a lot of goals for January, we’re probably not going to get them all done, but I’m proud of the progress we’ve made. A big goal of ours? Get some organization down in this kitchen. Our house is big, there are 2 of us, and we have a TON of storage, so why are we always a mess? Because all that space has no organizational properties. I started small and tackled our “junk” cupboard. It catches EVERYTHING (especially those things you need somewhere to shove quick when company comes over).
Why did I neglect to take a before picture…sigh. This is the cupboard in contention.
Our biggest organization challenge? Paper! We get all our bills electronically, so aside from birth announcements, magazines and wedding invites, our mailbox fills with a lot of JUNK. I don’t like to just throw full credit card announcements in the recycling for anyone to grab, so we would make a pile and cart it upstairs to the office to shred occasionally. I had a thought this weekend, why not save a step and put the shredder under the desk and shred things instantly. So I brought the shredder down and it was a success…except that the cord covered the drawer to reach the outlet. 45 minutes later, we had an outlet (yep, Steve was feeling inspired and got that puppy rigged right up).
Success. Next up, I had to tackle that drawer. It was full of everything random that we didn’t know where to put. A quick trip to Target and I found the perfect slim organizers for the drawer (it’s only 1.75″ deep)
The thing I love the most — empty compartments and space!
Finally, I tackled the cupboard, this was my favorite because with the assistance of the shredder, I emptied it!
Cookie cutters, magazines, and…wait, what is the photo album doing in there Elizabeth? Glad you asked.
I had a spare photo album laying around and I had an abundance of paint samples that I wanted to keep (since we clearly have a lot of rooms to go), so a few minutes of work and now I have a nice, organized paint book. I recycled all of the colors that don’t go with our existing color plans and badda bing, badda boom. No more paint chips all over the cupboard.
And that, my friends, is a quick and dirty organization of the junk cupboard. Anyone else organizing in the new year? Any fun tips you follow? I’m new to the complete home organization game, so I’d love to hear what you are working with!
okay seriously, organization is key this year in our house too! That drawer organizer is perfect. My goal this year is to really get our pantry organized. I’m over reaching for the pasta sauce and getting the cooking oil haha..
P.S. I just found your blog from “Decor & the Dog” =)
Hi Tia, thanks for stopping by!!
Love this…and that photo album is a fabulous idea! My next chore in the kitchen is trying to figure out a way to organize the pots and pans cupboard. Man. That thing is ALWAYS a mess.
We use a slide out organizer from Lowe’s for out pots and pans…if you have a cabinet to devote to it, it is AMAZING. Highly recommend.
http://diytheory.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/classy-cabinets-part-1/
This. is. AWESOME! I have to head to lowes this weekend for some other goodies…this is now on my list to check out. Thanks!!