the kitchen cure

something had to be done.

i appreciate mom unpacking my kitchen 5 years ago. (i also appreciate her doing dishes all day every day she is here visiting, but that's another story). i had a new baby, a new house, a newly remodeled kitchen and i was grateful to have one less thing to do. five years later i am ready to reorganize and purge things from my kitchen. its a small kitchen with lots of storage, but most of it out of reach for little me. the very reachable space is also very accessable to two curious kids who i think are finally old enough to know what they can touch. claire is as obsessed with my glass blue beehive blender as i am , so i will keep it out of reach since she accidently broke my last one!

i digress.

i've been ready to really get after it, but i really needed the help of a friend to help me make decisions, and two days without the kids around. then really, if i get a friend, and two days without the kids, would we really clean my kitchen??

then i saw this post on a blog i occasionally follow. BINGO! a month is much more reasonable length of time for me to do a makeover on my kitchen. the motivation i needed and the weekly checklist to go along with it!

so, last week was the pantry and the refrigerator. seriously, even that was a lot for one week!

i'm going to bare all and show you the before and after photos

a.) because YOU are really the ones that will hold me accountable to continuing this!

2.) i am already really proud of myself

3.) it is fun to see before and after shots!

d.) i'd love your feedback - ideas, suggestions. i still want more counter space and more cuteness

so, here are the before for the spice shelves and pantry! snug, i know!

not too bad, but a lot of spices dusting the bottom shelf, and the basket full of misc spices and jars

the pull out drawers are awesome, but (aside from the bottom two) there wasn't really a place for everything.

and after.....

i know, it still looks crowded, but when you cook from scratch, the pantry IS crowded. what you might not notice is that claire and i labeled jars! we also consolidated and put nearly everything into jars (rather than plastic bags from the bulk food section)

the bottom drawer is snack stuff - nuts, fruit, popcorn

the second from the bottom is dry goods - grains, beans

the next shelf up is baking goods - sugars, misc flours, oils

then there is the adult snack shelf - chocolate, a few boxed mixes, more chocolate

then i moved my foil and wraps to the next shelf (they had been above the refrigerator in a sloppy stack that always fell over). behind them are the rice papers for making spring rolls. seriously, keeping those from getting broken was crazy as they balanced on top of other things - behind the wraps - brilliant.

top shelf is very misc stuff that i don't use often - the bulk bags of bulk teas, steve's jerky making ingredients, white sugar

and the spice cupboard? the hubs noticed before i even told him i signed up for this gig! it might not look too different, but i purged at least 10 jars of spices we just don't use, some old coffee from the top shelf and a few jars with unmatched lids.

found: box of vegetable bullion, extra cumin (my favorite!), and the perfect jar for the bag of home grown oregano

the satisfaction will continue as i battle the refrigerator!