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One Cabinet Completed
Organization 2 Comments »
One cabinet down, a whole lot more to go!
Before:
After:
This is the dry goods cabinet. I keep mixes, cereal, grains and legumes in here. Notice the crumpled bags all over the place. Those are there because I buy many things at the health food store in bulk. Then I never get around to transferring them to other containers. I am working on accumulating some more half-gallon canning jars. Mrs. Wilt at The Sparrow's Nest had pictures of laundry detergent in nice glass jars by Martha Stewart that she got at Kmart. I find them a little pricey, but it's cheaper than buying other types of jars. I did find some similar jars at Target for a little bit less. I'd like to get some. I also have been buying canisters at yard sales. I bought a set of four for $2. I don't like the pattern on them, but I plan to print out a pattern I like on my computer, then decoupage it to the outside of the canisters. You'll see them in future photos as my kitchen clean-up progresses.
I chose not to clean the cabinets yet. Although it would save time in the end to clean them now, I decided it would get me off track, and I'm more likely to organize them if I can just do it quickly in five or ten minutes, without having to get out cleaning supplies and a step stool. There's also a few things that I probably could get rid of, like the Atkins food, since we're not doing Atkins any more. But I'm still deciding what to do with them (will I use them, donate them, or toss them).
The beans were put into half-gallon canning jars. I couldn't get them all in, I only had four of them. Each jar holds approximately three pounds of dried beans, usually with a bit of room left over. Although the jars do take up more space than stacking the bags of beans flat, it looks nicer and will be easier to use. And really, I have quite a bit of storage space in the kitchen. It's embarassing, some of the "before" pictures I took have empty drawers and cabinets that I actually forgot about, lol! Seriously, since I never use them, I forgot they existed!! But others, as you will eventually see, are crammed full of small appliances, bags of sippy cups and who knows what else.
The other bags of beans are stacked into a small plastic tray. I used another tray to hold packets of organic instant oatmeal. I re-used a plastic cous cous jar for brown rice. Then I got rid of some things that didn't belong in that cabinet. It only took me about ten minutes--would have taken less if I wasn't dealing with the kids eating their lunches. :-)
I wouldn't say the cabinet is 100% done. I may add more containers. But for the most part, it's done. I plan to attack one more cabinet today, then get to the laundry monster. I can't decide if I should do the baking cabinet, or the really bad corner cabinet. We'll see how it goes!
Before:
After:
This is the dry goods cabinet. I keep mixes, cereal, grains and legumes in here. Notice the crumpled bags all over the place. Those are there because I buy many things at the health food store in bulk. Then I never get around to transferring them to other containers. I am working on accumulating some more half-gallon canning jars. Mrs. Wilt at The Sparrow's Nest had pictures of laundry detergent in nice glass jars by Martha Stewart that she got at Kmart. I find them a little pricey, but it's cheaper than buying other types of jars. I did find some similar jars at Target for a little bit less. I'd like to get some. I also have been buying canisters at yard sales. I bought a set of four for $2. I don't like the pattern on them, but I plan to print out a pattern I like on my computer, then decoupage it to the outside of the canisters. You'll see them in future photos as my kitchen clean-up progresses.
I chose not to clean the cabinets yet. Although it would save time in the end to clean them now, I decided it would get me off track, and I'm more likely to organize them if I can just do it quickly in five or ten minutes, without having to get out cleaning supplies and a step stool. There's also a few things that I probably could get rid of, like the Atkins food, since we're not doing Atkins any more. But I'm still deciding what to do with them (will I use them, donate them, or toss them).
The beans were put into half-gallon canning jars. I couldn't get them all in, I only had four of them. Each jar holds approximately three pounds of dried beans, usually with a bit of room left over. Although the jars do take up more space than stacking the bags of beans flat, it looks nicer and will be easier to use. And really, I have quite a bit of storage space in the kitchen. It's embarassing, some of the "before" pictures I took have empty drawers and cabinets that I actually forgot about, lol! Seriously, since I never use them, I forgot they existed!! But others, as you will eventually see, are crammed full of small appliances, bags of sippy cups and who knows what else.
The other bags of beans are stacked into a small plastic tray. I used another tray to hold packets of organic instant oatmeal. I re-used a plastic cous cous jar for brown rice. Then I got rid of some things that didn't belong in that cabinet. It only took me about ten minutes--would have taken less if I wasn't dealing with the kids eating their lunches. :-)
I wouldn't say the cabinet is 100% done. I may add more containers. But for the most part, it's done. I plan to attack one more cabinet today, then get to the laundry monster. I can't decide if I should do the baking cabinet, or the really bad corner cabinet. We'll see how it goes!
You are making all kinds of progress! Well done!
just wanted to let you know I posted your contest on my blog. :) Pretty pattern!
Thanks!
Yeah, the pattern is cute, isn't it? I debated a while before deciding to give it away. I'm stuck now, lol. But really it would just collect dust. I prefer bib aprons, because I'm a clumsy slob and I have little children, which equals big messes. Not to mention a ton of newborn spit-up. :-P So I'd rather pass it on and bless someone else.