Kitchen Organization Challenge: Freezer Reveal

Alright so in order to catch up on my goals, and because I found I STILL hadn't spent all of the Container Store gift card our Realtor gave us when we moved into this house 6 years ago, I organized my freezer today. I about had a contraction while trying to inventory the chest freezer but I got it done.

Let's take another look at the before.

Before:

 Icky, messy, and I would rather buy something new than try to find something in this mess.

After:

My original plan was to purchase the medium sized version of the top tall bins and not bother with the bottom. Then I found the smaller bins and thought that I didn't need tall sides so I would just fill my freezer with the short bins. When I got to the store I found the taller bins that have the same footprint as the short bins. So I changed my plan and decided to go with the tall bins on top and the short bins on the bottom. In the change-up I forgot how many bins fit on the bottom shelf and bought one less than I needed. Now I have one space that will probably become a mess again until I make the trip back to the Container Store to get another bin. Perhaps I will reconfigure my categories and it won't matter. We'll see as things evolve but I am so glad to have the bones needed to organize this normally messy place

Freezer Inventory:

I decided, at least for now, that I am just going to keep my freezer inventory on my grocery list clipboard until I decide if this layout and these categories are going to work for us. It is also printed on scrap paper. :o)   Once I decide that this is going to work I might mount it inside the medicine cabinet just right of the fridge. Handy and out of sight.

So to recap:

Ooooh so much better.

As with most of my organizing and decorating projects, things are left a little undone. Apparently I like that sort of thing, gives me something to look forward to. Either that or I am a little lazy. Mostly both.

Now for those naughty spices.

~And So That's What She Did.

Kitchen Organization Challenge: Reveal(ish)

First let's review the goals that I had.
1. Create a Lunch Prep Station for My Beloved
2. Spice Storage
3. Organize Freezer and Maintain a Freezer Inventory List

We'll start with the first one because that's the only one I really did.


1. Create a Lunch Prep Station for My Beloved
Here is the before picture:

And once I moved them to their new home here is how the drawer looks:

Much better and right next to the fridge. I didn't do anything different to the basket that is in the fridge because it's working just fine.

From here I deviated completely from my goals. Once I moved the baking goods and the pasta to make way for the snacks, then the baking goods and pasta needed new homes. So here is what I DID do:

Pasta Drawer Before: 

This is the drawer below where the snacks now live. I didn't really NEED to move these except for the fact that I wanted them to be where the snacks had been.

Pasta Drawer After:

It's not exactly complete in the beautiful and organized sense but it makes much more sense as far as the location goes. This cupboard is right next to the stove. 

Also you can see I use the term pasta loosely it's really more like pasta, grains, beans drawer. To be fair I am in need of quite a few of my normal pastas so this drawer will be a little more loaded after I do some grocery shopping, we'll see how well it holds up. I'm hoping to find containers for pasta. I had found some at Ikea but when I went to purchase them they were not as air tight as I would have liked so I passed on them.

Then there was the baking drawer where I wanted to put the snacks.

Baking Goods1 Before:

I moved the drawer under my other baking goods drawer, literally just pulled the drawer out and traded it the drawers. Then I pulled everything out and contained it, labeled it in my good enough fashion, and now it looks like this:

Baking Goods1 After:

Oh mason jars how handy you are. Thanks to you I spent $0, nothing, nada on any of these drawers. 

As I mentioned the drawer above this one is also a baking drawer and it was organized before. I didn't do much to it but I did need to add a few things to it that no longer fit in drawer 1.

Baking Goods2 Before:

Baking Goods2 After:

I am really pleased with my game of musical drawers. Things make SO much more sense and I love that. In a brain where logic and emotion are in a constant battle for king of thoughts, having a kitchen that works for me and not against me is one less stress.

I didn't spend any money on these drawers but I did buy two little baskets for my potatoes and onions. I stopped by Fred Meyer to see if they had some storage containers for my freezer. Instead I came home with these:

 They just screamed onions and potatoes. So being the obliging human that I am I granted their silent wish.

I'm still working on a freezer inventory. I think perhaps my best bet is going to be framing a check sheet similar to my cleaning list thus creating a dry erase surface with categories that don't wipe off. I think I might need to rethink the wall next to the fridge that houses my kitchen towels as well as my grocery list and cleaning schedule. So I'll keep you posted on that and the spices that I still can't decide how to handle.

But next month we are moving on to Linens and Loos. Which is good because both of those areas are a little overwhelmed in our house.

~And So That's What She Did.

Kitchen Organization Goals

Yo folks, iHeart Organizing is doing a monthly organization challenge and February is kitchen month. Now I am not usually a participator, it's just not my thing, but I do love me some organization and I thought perhaps, just maybe you would want to see what I come up with. So children's attitudes permitting here is what I hope to accomplish this month.

My kitchen organization goals:

1. Create a lunch prep station for my Beloved.
I want to move all of his lunch needs to one location making sack lunch prep uber easy. Here are a few of my inspirations.

For the cupboards:

ApartmentTherapy

 For the Fridge:

iHeartOrganizing

I have a bit of a start on this, but they are on opposite sides of the kitchen. That bugs me.

For the cupboard:

For in the Fridge:

In this box I keep lunch meat, sliced cheese, carrots, sting cheese and the small containers are for ranch, but this week they have fudge inside :). I haven't put the ranch ones in yet, but I will. I try to restock this after I grocery shop but sometimes it gets a little neglected. 

I would like to find storage on the fridge side of the kitchen for lunch prep. I have my eye on two drawers on that side. They currently house pasta and baking goods. I think the pasta could fit on the shelf that currently houses the snacks but I may need to get creative about the baking goods. I like things near where they are used but I can't fit everything on the stove/oven side of the kitchen.

2. Spice Storage

This is an on going issue for me. And one that I think if I can solve I might have a home for the aforementioned baking goods.

I previously housed my spices on a double tiered lazy susan in the cupboard to the right of the microwave. However, I decided that my cookbooks would do better there and so moved my spices to a drawer. I  labeled the tops of the jars and placed them in. I don't have photographic proof of this because as the spices were used the containers they came in were tossed and I often forgot to save the lid for the new container. Now when I need a spice I spend several seconds, sometimes minutes, searching the drawer for the one that I need.

Here are some of my inspirations for this project.

iHeart Organizing

Raising up Rubies

I've been thinking for some time that I need to go to universal containers but this scares me. Mainly because I sometimes buy a small container of a spice and other times a large container and what do I do if there is excess spice? I don't have room to store excess spice! And I keep a LARGE stash of spices, at least large compared with what I see in blogland cupboard photos.

Here is my spice drawer in it's current state of MESS:

My other concern with universal containers is they have to be easy to obtain that way if I buy something out of the ordinary it's not hard to maintain the cohesive look of the space.

3. Organize Freezer and Maintain an Inventory List

I have a confession, I have been coveting. . . for sometime now. . . I have coveted this freezer:

iHeart Organizing . . . yes again!
I can't get enough. It's become a disease. . . perhaps a disease of the heart? Probably just in my head though.

Wouldn't it be lovely to open your freezer and see this loveliness staring back at you? I've tried a variation but my boxes weren't large enough and they just over flowed and now I am stuck with this:

We have loads of frozen berries, vegetables, meat, breads, goodies and msg laden frozen foods for lazy days. Oh hey I think I just came up with my categories!

This? . . . well this doesn't bother me. Actually I love this! This is a freezer FULL of beef! It's just a little baby freezer, but when it's full it means I don't have to think to put beef on the grocery list. If I need it, it's probably in there. And I've re-organized it since this picture was taken. We had to use a bit before I could make each category easily accessible. Mmmmmm beef.

As for that inventory list. I did this once upon a time when I had more random items in the chest freezer. Now that it is almost strictly beef storage I fell out of the habit. So last night I defrosted some ground beef and seasoned up some taco meat only to find as I stowed the leftovers in the freezer, that there was a bag already in there! Seasoned and everything all I would have needed to do was thaw and reheat. Blast! Foiled again by my lack of a list. Well That Ends TODAY. . . well not literally today, but when I get around to the freezer project that problem is history.

Creative Organizing

I found this free printable and it's one idea.

I used to have a small dry erase board propped up next to the freezer and I kept that updated but that area is getting a little busy with my cleaning schedule, grocery list and hand towel so. . . this one is going to take some think tank juice to figure out. Perhaps I could place it under my grocery list on the clip board.

Or perhaps inside my household binder or the recipe one. . . . hmm something to ponder. (No, Aunt D., I will not start a whole new binder for this list . . . I don't think.)

~And So That's What She Did.

Toy Organization

A few months back I reorganized my children's toys . . . again. As this time it has worked pretty well I thought I would share it with you. There are a few toy areas in our house, I am of the mind that my children play in the living room and therefore there toys should be there too. Plus their bedroom is barely big enough for both beds, a rocking chair, and a toy box (made by my daddy). So here is the toy nook as I like to call it. It's really a hallway between the rest of the house and the office and laundry room (where I am standing to get this shot).

 So to break it down for you, the shelf on the wall is for toys that require a little more supervision or just extra crayon storage. The shelf on the floor is for spontaneous independent play. Books on the top two shelves, small toys on the bottom and bulky toys in the bin on the side.

 One clear plastic bin for each girls age appropriate toys and one for animals and people that they share.

 Labels are amazing. I know my girls can't read yet but it helps mommy and daddy be on the same page without constant pow-wows over where the toys go.

 The top shelf houses a bin for diaper changing supplies and an art bin (crayons and coloring books)

 I had the idea to help my girls learn to tell time by placing a clock low enough that they can see it. Emy loves it and often runs to it to tell me that it is 8 O'clock time for bed or whatever she thinks would be funny to say even if it is 2 in the afternoon. We found this clock at ikea for under $5 I want to say it was $1.99. Anyway I think it is perfect for this use, if it gets broken, no big deal. Emy wanted to help daddy hang the clock.

 Here is another toy nook in the other hallway. I am a big fan of these shoe box size bins I use them for everything! Sewing supplies, yarn, separating fabrics, and someday I will have to show you my bathroom cupboard!  They are indispensable. I try to only allow one or two bins out at a time which really cuts down on the clutter on the floor. Emy knows that in order to play with something new she has to put away what she is currently using.

This bin is strictly for library books. I feel that these should be read as often as possible since we will only have them a short while. Therefore I try to keep them at hand. It also makes it easy to find them when it is time to return them.

This is a different subject but I just thought these were too cute not to share.

Emy is helping daddy fix his "hick-up" truck.

So that is my two cents on toy organization. Any thing that doesn't fit into this system I throw into the toy box in the girls room. And once that is full it's time to purge . . . Which I leave to Dave because he is much better at that than I am.

Children's Laundry Day

This is the way we do the laundry around here. Well at least the girls. For their clothes I decided against a conventional dresser and opted instead for a system of bins in a shelf unit. I chose this specifically for this purpose.

When I pull their clothes from the dryer I tell Emy it's time to get out her bins and play our sorting game. She gets hers one at a time and I grab Elly's. We line them up in the same order so it is easier for her to find the right bin.

Then I sit on the couch and fold the clothes handing them to her to put in the correct bin. ( I never said they get put away neatly, particularly when Emy tries to use her teeth to carry them)

Afterward is the push back to the closet. Here Elly's trying to help but is caught on a box of diapers.

And we are done all the clothes are in and the bins are back in the closet.

She loves it, the laundry gets folded and put away lickity split. Happy kiddo, happy mommy.