My Kitchen Project

   It's probably no surprise, based on my apparent obsession with organization on this blog, that I've read a few organizing books and visited a few organizing blogs.  I also enjoy talking about organizing, not all the time, but I do.  I'll talk a little about each here and there, but I'm going to start with "It's Hard To Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys"  by Marilyn Paul.  This book was lent to me by my friend Jeni, and it was excellent.  What it helped me with the most was searching deep down into my soul to find my true reasons for getting organized, and staying organized.  I found that my reason wasn't just so I could find things easily, but because it made me feel more peacefull, I would save money, and I wanted to teach my kids to appreciate an orderly home.  Another thing that stuck with me was exploring what my idea of a "clean" home is, and what does a room look like when it's "ready" for use or company.  If you're looking for a good book to help you stop just picking up/getting organized only to let it fall apart a few days later, it's worth looking into.
   It's time for more pictures of my organizing process.  Obviously we want things to be in sensable places, and I was pretty good at that aspect of organizing, but had missed several areas/groups of things.  My friend Jeni has a friend named Sarah who is, so I'm told, a superstar organizer.  I've never met her but already know if she had a blog I would read it daily.  Come on Sarah, you've got so much inspiration, encouragement, and help to give... we need your blog! :o)   Anyway... one thing that I'm told she's great at helping with is getting everything in the most sensable and efficient place.  Here are my pictures of how I've arranged some of my kitchen areas so that everything is more efficient.  First you have to understand that my kitchen is very small and I really don't have to take more than a couple steps to get to anything in there, but it's certainly a time saver to have not only like-items grouped together, but related items kept near eachother.

This is a picture of my baby/kid cabinet.  Top shelf is all the kids cups.  I replaced a lot of cups of different shapes/sizes that didn't stack well together and went all over the place, with some perfect sized easily stacked cups that I got 6 for $2 at Target.  Top shelf also has the sippy cups and the dishwasher detergent.  Second shelf is all baby stuff.  Baby bottles, formula, cereal, snacks, bowls, and food live on this shelf. 

Directly below this cabinet is a drawer that now contains bibs and burp cloths.

Directly to the right of the kids cabinet is my coffee cabinet.  An entire cabinet dedicated to coffee, coffee cups, and coffee filters?  You know you're Jealous!!   Sorry, the point is that it is directly above my coffee pot.  The best part of this set up is that I can pour my first cup of coffee and make the baby's bottle all without moving my feet, which are very very sleepy when I wake up in the morning.

This picture shows where my towels and hot-pads are in relation to where the towels hang and the oven and range are.  The dish drying towels hang on the oven door looking pretty while they wait to be used while the hand drying towels hang from the handle of the refridgerator, which is directly across from the ovens.

   Pots and pans live under the stove and Tupperware lives across from the stove, next to the fridge so I can put leftovers into containers and then easily put them in the fridge.  Silverware should really be over on the fridge side where the plates/bowls are, but non of the drawers on that side are wide enough to hold them.  They live in the drawer next to the bibs, which works too since I need forks,spoons, and butter knives when I'm cooking on that side.  I took pictures of my revamped pantry situation as well but will have to save that for a different post because they are, I think, on my husband's computer. 

   To sum things up, check out that book I talked about and linked to, Sarah should consider blogging, and you have now had a partial tour of my kitchen.  Have a fantastic weekend!!