The kitchen is truly the heart of the home. It is that beating place that nurtures us, sustains us, call to us. My kitchen does not have a lot of the things that Martha Stewart might consider necessary. I don’t have a work triangle, granite counter tops or all stainless steel appliances. What I do have is a lot of light, tons of cabinets and a huge sink. As I got out my notebook yesterday and began to look at my space with a critical eye I found a lot more to recommend it than to criticize.
What I needed most was to reorganize. I am getting rid of all the plastic in my kitchen. I can store nearly everything in mason jars. I have a good supply of 1/2 gallon mason jars and other 1/2 gallon jars. I spent some time yesterday saying some (under my breath) bad words as I emptied cabinets and moved shelving to accomodate the larger jars. Passing on most of my plastic containers freed up a whole cabinet. After thinking about it for a while, I moved the appliances I don’t use every day to that cabinet. The plus is that I have a lot more space on my counters. The minus is that I have to get them out before I use them. Some things. like my food saver, I use a lot. We will have to see if I am willing to get it out and put it away after each use. If not, it will go back on the counter.
I store a lot of rice, beans and wheat. I can dozens of jars of tomato sauce each year too. These food need spices to keep them interesting. I spent a good deal of time on my baking/spice cabinet yesterday. I tossed some outdated spices but, for the most part, I go through them so quickly, that seldom happens. I have been collecting baby food jars to store the spices herbs I grow or buy in bulk. Bruce is working on the plans for a tilted shelf that will hold the jars on their sides. Right now, I have spices and herbs in several different kinds of jars and tins and I sometimes have to search for what I need.
Today I tackle the drawers. I am heading to town first. I will hit the Good Will and look for some drawer dividers or shallow baskets to keep my huge supply of kitchen gadgets organized.
I have learned some organizing lessons over the years. I used to try to do a whole room in a day. Now I break up a big project like my kitchen into manageable chunks. My fucus is to make the space functional with an eye toward needing it to work well in a crisis when I might be feeding a lot more people with minimal energy available.
December 29, 2009 at 9:26 am
ok, first I get “mud room envy” and now I have kitchen cupboard envy! I’m not sure I’ll make it through your whole house! lol
I find that a cyclical reorganization and cleaning usually works well for me…putting things back in the right spot, removing things that haven’t been used in a year. I keep a big tub in an odd cupboard for those items. If they haven’t been used in a year after that, they get passed on.
December 29, 2009 at 10:05 am
That’s such a good idea. I am bad at it but the idea is good.
December 29, 2009 at 10:13 am
Kathy, please write more about your shift from plastic to glass (perhaps I missed a post recently in which you detailed your plan). Are you concerned about chemicals in the plastic contaminating foodstuffs?
My top kitchen organizer is a “gadget-go-round” tiered turntable that keeps my most popular kitchen tools handy on minimal counter space. We received two new cookbooks for Christmas, and I have no idea where we’ll store them — perhaps under a bed with the bulk toilet paper!
December 29, 2009 at 10:56 am
We tried to sell our beautiful colonial farmhouse a couple of years ago, in the hopes of downsizing to a smaller property (this was right before the “crash,” and now I suspect that we will never actually leave here at all!) In any case, the realtor explained that many of the comments focused on “all the work that would need to be done in our kitchen” – this and that would have to be knocked down, would there be room for a sub-zero fridge, should the wide-plank antique flooring be taken up (aaack!), etc.
Funny thing is, I’ve always loved our kitchen more than any other room in the house. The cabinets are simple pine, the floors are worn and lovely, it has a million good smells and happy memories, the sunsets over our property are literally breathtaking. For a while after we tried to sell, I actually felt a bit disappointed in my kitchen, because so many other people hadn’t “gotten it” – they wanted new, sparkling and “done.” But I am back in love with it – and maybe those cupboards deserve a bit of New Year’s organizing and cleaning after all!
Best,
Kate
December 29, 2009 at 11:36 am
I keep my spices in the freezer to make them last longer. This is more important for ground spice than for whole spices, which will naturally last longer. Both the dark and the low temperatures preserve the spices longer. Worst place to store spices is on the counter near the stove.
To keep them together in the freezer and make it easier to find what I need, I keep all the bottles in a shoe box and write the name of the spice on the lid of the jar. It helps to write it on masking tape with a ball point pen. Other types of ink blur from condensation when pulled out of the freezer. It’s also a help not to have the tall and narrow, side-by-side sort of freezer that I’m currently stuck with. The best is if you have a stand alone freezer with drawers, but even an over-the-fridge type is better than what I’ve got. I just pull out the box and sort through it on the counter rather than leaving the freezer hanging open.
This sort of storage and labeling project might just be right up your hyper-organizational alley right now, Kathy.
December 29, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Nothing like cleaning out the kitchen cupboards to be surprised by what you find!
I cleaned out two cupboards, one above my fridge, the past week and was amazed to find 5 intact and usable coffee makers carafes. The coffee makers are long gone.
I also found a plentitude of various baskets and two Christmas serving dishes I have never used.
I saved one of the glass carafes for using to make teas.Everything was wrapped up carefully and taken to the Good Will.
It makes a lot more room in the kitche.
Peace, shamba
December 29, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I like that you are “showing” us how you are doing it versus telling us how to do it. It’s much easier to envision manageable chunks with the posts like this.
Have a Happy New Year!
December 30, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Great post! I understand completely about doing things in small chunks. We have an awesome kitchen w/ a moderate amount of storage but everyone is always shocked when I start pulling stuff out. I do use plastic for storage but it is the Tupperware modular mates given to me years ago. They use every inch of space available which has been great for us since we are often times in military housing. Spices are kept in shallow round tins which fit nicely into a kitchen drawer. The overflow is kept in a shoe box in the freezer or “pantry” (i.e. underbed or laundry room food storage, previous house it was the garage.) We will be moving across the continent next month so I get to do it all over again. New kitchen, a 2 car garage (first ever in my entire life), but 400 square feet smaller than current house. I am really looking forward to the challenge! No to see what we really need and what gets to go into the spring “yard/garage” sale!!
January 25, 2010 at 7:10 am
A roommate encoraged me to look at this website, nice post, interesting read… keep up the good work!