Let’s Tackle It Together: The Kitchen Cabinets
We’re back with another two-post feature where we invite you to tackle a house project right along with us. Last summer it was cleaning out our garage, and more recently it was straightening out our chaotic closets (read about part one here and part two here). Well, hold onto your hats ladies and gentlemen. This time we’re turning our attention to those dreaded kitchen cabinets.
There’s not much explanation necessary as to why our two big double cabinets need a serious dose of structure and organization…
Yup, between these two spaces (which house every edible item in our kitchen other than the stuff in the fridge) there’s definitely room for improvement. Especially when there are cookie cutters mixed in with cous cous and lasagna noodles in a completely different spot than spaghetti. So this weekend we’re planning to pare things down, group like items, and just generally add some easily maintainable order to our “pantry” of sorts.
So who’s with us? Anyone else down for a little spring cabinet organization? Whether your food storage is calling out for a hefty dose of structure or your glassware, servingware, pots and pans or other cabinet-bound items are in need of some attention- let’s tackle it together this weekend. And you know we’ll back to share the full photo rundown of our process and our cabinet makeover early next week. Stay tuned…
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We are getting ready to move to a new city at the end of the month, so I have found myself organizing and getting rid of everything I possibly can. Nothing like moving to make you realize how much stuff you don’t need. Good luck with the overhaul.
ahh, I LOVE seeing y’all’s ‘messy’ side.
We did that about 3 weeks ago. We are fortunate to have 2 pantrys in our kitchen area; one is smaller (next to the fridge) and holds boxed goods, bread, and extra staples like aluminum foil, etc. The second is a walk in pantry that holds canned goods, extra dishes and so on. Tackling that was an all-weekend process but it is done for the year! It is amazing how much stuff we end up with but we are determined to keep it clean this time. This weekend I am taking my mom to a day spa for her Mother’s Day gift (and of course I get to go too) so I will be thinking of you as you clean out.
Looks like fun! My cabinets are really organized… it’s my pantry that needs a little help! We have a large walk in pantry with extra storage in the back… it is so hard to keep everything organized… the food, the central vac, extra serving pieces… My plan is to organize by food group and maybe put a cute rug in… make it more homey!
Can’t wait to see your progress!
Lindsay
My kitechn cabinets could use some help – there sre too many things that I never use and should just get rid of. I like the corkboard idea though!
Looks like fun! My cabinets are really organized… it’s my pantry that needs a little help! We have a large walk in pantry with extra storage in the back… it is so hard to keep everything organized… the food, the central vac, extra serving pieces… My plan is to organize by food group and maybe put a cute rug in… make it more homey!
Can’t wait to see your progress!
Lindsay
Cabinet cleaning/organizing is definitely on my to-do list. However, I wanted to comment that I LOVE the cork inside of the cabinet…. I’m going to use that idea. Right now, important notes/papers/etc are stuck to the refrigerator with magnets which is oh-so-(not!)-appealing!
I was just thinking about how I was going to tackle this exact same problem! Except now I won’t be doing it along with you this weekend, I’ll wait to see your results and then use your ideas for myself:)
I just tackled our food closet last night. Just the little bit of straightening cans made a huge difference!
I, like Amanda, have been slowly going through every nook and cranny organizing and weeding out things in preparation for a move. I have moved so many times in the last 12 years and I have found that this is the best way to stay organized:)
I am so in! I moved into a new home a few months ago and other than getting our food out of sight, nothing has been done to organize it so far. (Guilty, I know.) I can’t wait to follow your tips and do the same thing at my house!
I’m moving in a month from now so I’ll be excited to follow what you guys are doing and learn for July. I already know I’m going to get some sticky pretty paper to put on the back of the cabinets. We are moving to an apartment. I would love to see you guys do a feature on ways to do up a rental so it looks modern but not too much permanent stuff. We will be able to paint but I want to be limited on that b/c we have to pay to have it painted back. If you need test people for doing some apartments posts I’d be glad to donate ourselves. We live in Raleigh, NC if you ever drive through.
Bed, Bath & Beyond has some very affordable lazy susans (perfect for organizing spices!) and other racks to help make kitchen cabinets much more functional. And I just love the OXO Good Grips clear containers for food storage…and great for bathroom (or baby stuff?) storage as well. They’re well worth the price. Can’t wait to see the finished makeover.
I think I’ll be tackling this with you…but probably not this weekend. We just got a new kitty and have tons of responsibilities this weekend — it’s not an excuse, we WILL do this NEXT weekend. :-) Good luck with your organizing! Oh oh oh, plus I get to see your ideas for organizing food spaces before tackling my own, how lucky!
I’ve been thinking all week about tackling my pantry this weekend. I believe your post has sealed the proverbial deal. Thanks!
My pantry space is so small! I am envious!
Perfect timing! The contents of all of our cabinets (and yes there are 24 full cabinets worth of “stuff”) is in boxes scattered around the house right now as we paint the kitchen cabinets inside and out! We’re not quite ready to place it all back yet, but when we do we’re going to need some serious organization and parring down! Can’t wait to see what you guys come up with to aid us in our efforts!
YAY! I just told my husband that we need to do this. We live in Florida in an all-brick ranch built in ’53. There are the typical associated problems like only one electrical outlet in kitchen…and no pantry. Everything gets shoved into upper cabinets—-and it’s officially a hazard opening them now :) Time to get to work, lead the way youngsters!
That’s exactly what mine looks like except I only have one cabinet for food and it’s so full that stuff falls out when you open it. I am VERY excited to see what you come up with because I need serious fake-pantry help.
I’m a cookbook collector of sorts and have run out of space in my kitchen hutch, so this weekend, I was planning on moving them all to … a bookcase! I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner. By the way, totally off topic, but I’m curious … why are some commenters names in red and some in black? Love you guys!
Hey Patti,
Good question! Some of the commenters have a website (which they enter when they comment) so their names are a different color to indicate that they’re actually links to their sites. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
It’s so nice you do these things together. Every time I organize my cabinets, low and behold a week later they are back to a mess again. My husband claims there is not enough room to keep things the way I’ve put them. Ho hum. Good luck!
I am just impressed that you guys appear to have empty shelves in your cabinets. I always seem to use every square inch of storage space. I need to practice leaving a little breathing room I guess.
I’m so glad to see that YHL is human and has a pantry that looks like mine. Can’t wait to see what sorts of organization you come up with! We want to see your fridge too!
What did y’all use to affix the cork boards to the cabinet? I almost bought a 3 pack of those at office max but wasn’t sure how to put them up. Love it!
Ours actually came with little adhesive squares that we used to stick them to the door. You can reinforce it with Liquid Nails or some other glue for a stronger hold. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This will light a fire under my bum to organize my Tupperware cabinet. Its pretty horrible. I hate the cliche of lids and tubs falling out everytime I open it up! And of course you can never find a match!
Everything else is pretty in much order since I organize food cupboards right before we grocery shop. That way we know what we have and aren’t buying duplicates (plus it keeps things tidy!)And of COURSE- saves us some moolahhhhhh!
Hey John & Sherry!
Okay this is totally unrelated to the post, but have you two seen Planet 51? It’s cute, but all I could say though that movie was how much the astronaut looked like John. My husband laughed at me of course. Thought I would pass that along. I’m sure you needed a good Friday laugh.
Funny! We’ll have to put it on our must-watch list!
xo,
s
i always thought the pan lid organizer dealio (looks like a wire letter organizer of sorts) was kind of gimmicky…in a desperate attempt to organize the pots & pans in my tiny kitchen, i tried it. PERFECT. we don’t use the lids a ton so i put it in the back of the cupboard, smallest to largest (right to left so the biggest lid is against the wall). a lot less clanking around when i DO need a lid. that’s for sure…
I’ll be doing the same thing! Trying to make space for our baby bottles, etc, by cleaning out the pantry closet. Our son is due in 5 weeks, and our kitchen is sooooo tiny, that we need to put our thinking caps on to figure out how everything is going to get stored. We’ll take before and after pics!
I’ll be right there with you this weekend! Our kitchen cabinets (and closets!) are long overdue for some tidying up.
We have a 6 week old baby and this was actually a nesting project I was laying awake thinking about the night my water broke. I guess it is weird to admit that I was daydreaming about the $3 cereal containers from IKEA when I realized I was going into labor. I’ve been really ready to tackle this project!
My kitchen cabinets are in decent shape (though they could probably use a tune up) but my closets are hurting a little. I have a single shelf above the rod and I need to get those wire organizers to add a bit more height. Right now, it’s all just piled up there and that’s just not getting it done!
I have a pretty hellacious “junk drawer” that’s been a catch-all for any and every kitchen thing I don’t know what to do with. I should tackle it this weekend–you guys have inspired me!
your messy spaces still look better than many of my organized spaces!
with kitchen storage, sometimes ‘less is more’ when it comes to the number of shelves–often, I’ve solved a space issue by *removing* a shelf. That way, the large items (cereal boxes, etc.) can have their own dedicated shelf. I’ve then sometimes used that extra shelf somewhere else to have a really narrow shelf (for little kid things or small jars/containers).
I’ve already started doing this actually, but alas I didn’t take a “before” picture. It’s not 100% finished so maybe this weekend, I could tackle it.
I love organizing things like cabinets, drawers or my closet! Unfortunately, I live with my parents right now (I graduated from university in December and have been looking for a job ever since), and as much as I want to organize their kitchen or pantry, my mom would take it as personal criticism and be pissed! And even if I organized something, it sadly wouldn’t stay that way for long. Putting things back in their place doesn’t seem to ba a concept that works for my parents :D
I’m in!!! My cabinets and pantry are a MESS!!! I probably have a month’s worth of food in there but keep buying more because I can’t find everything I need. Sounds like an excellent project for the weekend!
We just bought a new house a couple of months ago and getting the kitchen organized has been a fun but lengthy process.
The Container Store has an awesome spice rack you might want to check out.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/pantryOrganizers/shelfOrganizers?Ntt=spice+rack&productId=10000899
We have a friend who has two, one for spices and one for baby gear (bottles, etc)
Oh, this post is right up my alley! I love having a little project game plan for the weekend! This week, the Hubs and I tackled cleaning the stove (the eco friendly way: a lot of scrubbing and baking soda) and cleaning out the fridge. We should move on to our kitchen cupboards next and join the YHL organizing fun! It always feels so good to have a fresh start, no? Another project we have on The List: repainting our garage door. Wish my luck, I am new to DIYing!
My kitchen cabinents are in pretty good shape, its my freezer that needs a workout. This is just the motivation I need to get that done this weekend. After your closet makeover, I overhauled our linen closet and added a YHL style wrapping paper organizer to the inside of the door – love it! Thanks for the great ideas!
ooo – exciting! i love re-organization projects! This one definitely relates as I have a pantry that is in need of some help…you may have already thought of this, but something my mom does that seems to work really well: she uses a lazy suzan in her cupboards for things like soy sauce, salt & pepper, sugar, etc. It makes these items very accessible as you can simply turn the lazy suzan to get what you what rather then just having them all lined up on a shelf and trying to hunt through multiple jars to find what you’re looking for.
Just an idea- My mom and I have had great sucess using lazy susans in our kitchen cabinets. I’ll put like things together on one lazy susan, and then instead of reaching around a million things, you just spin the wheel to get to whats in the back! Walmart and Target both make simple inexpensive ones!
hey YHL cuties…YAY for y’all! this will be SO rewarding, indeed!
we did a great post on organizing the pantry for UNDER $10:
http://www.casacullen.com/2010/04/before-and-after-cleaning-and-organizing-the-pantry.html
using some great lil’ plastic bins from dollar tree (hollah!)
and some eco friendly cleaning products…we got our EXPLODING and thoroughly unorganized pantry totally under control…
GOOD LUCK and now it’s actually a ‘mini-room’ in our house that i enjoy opening the door to! those bright pops of turquoise and blue make MY DAY!
xo – CasaCullen
It’s funny that I observed this but you must have taken these photos a while ago. The glass front cabinet is the old set up.
We were waiting for someone to notice that Angela. Good eye! The cabinet was looking especially messy a while back (when I intended to tackle this project) so I snapped the before pics- and (shame!) we’re only getting around to Project Organization now!
xo,
s
ok…… so you call that a mess??? you two are soooo OCD! lol!!! :)
this is one project i can’t tackle with you cuz our kitchen cupboards and our pantry are both recently redone, downsized, organized due to the recent kitchen/dining area redo!
gotta say i’m shocked that that is all the edible food you have in your house??? YIKES! you really, really are minimalists! i’m sure you’ll have some super cool ideas to show us once your organization is complete!
have a WONDERFUL weekend!!!!
I have literally 1/4 of that space for everything so my cabinet has to stay organized, otherwise I’ll never be able to fit it all in there. :-) I even have to keep aluminum foil, etc. in that cabinet. (Secret shame: I have been putting things on top of the fridge.)
This is a great idea. We have a large (formerly) messy pantry cabinet. My husband wouldn’t ever put away the cupboard groceries because he “didn’t want to put stuff in the wrong place.” A month or so ago I took everything out, sorted it into categories (pastas, soups, snacks, nuts, cereals, sauces, etc) and then put labels in the shelf. Although my husband laughed at the OCD of the labels, he just admitted last night that he loves it because he can find exactly what he needs and know where to put the groceries. It’s great!
I also did this project while nesting. I have to say though, that I HATE our cabinets. We can’t stand a box of cereal up ANYWHERE in our cabinets (looks like you guys have the same problem), and it drives me NUTS.
Three questions on cabinet organization – if anyone cares to weigh in:
1) How to organize those odd corner cabinets? I have one right now that is REALLY over-sized and has super hard to reach nooks and crannies – not to mention about 6 inches of wasted space at the back where I dare not shove things for fear of incubating a can of peaches till it turns into a humanoid life form.
2) I have thirteen-foot ceilings (!) and my cabinets are placed high up. I’m 5’11″ but even I can’t reach my top shelves. Any suggestions on a ‘pretty’ or ‘hidden’ step stool solution?
3) How do I keep my husband from returning EMPTY packages back to the cabinet and fridge. At least once a week I pull an empty package out, say “HEY! This is empty, you need to pitch (or recycle)!” That approach isn’t working (#*%&#!).
Anyone with advice for Tiffini? We’re planning to learn as we go this weekend…
xo,
s
I have the same corner cabinet conundrum,(like the alliteration?) so I would love to hear some suggestions!
I’m in! I just moved into a new house, and I need to get the kitchen cabinets in order this weekend… seriously, I can’t cook another meal without tackling it.