How to Easily Organize Your Kitchen

We all dream about the perfect house with the perfect kitchen but we all know dream houses are made and not found. I'm going to help you begin this transformation by talking about organizing the kitchen you have and make it feel like the dream kitchen you want.

Another area that often gets overcrowded in the kitchen, and is in desperate need of a makeover, is the utensil drawer. This drawer often becomes a catch-all, collecting not only silverware but twisty-ties, vegetable peelers, and other specialty utensils. The first step is to go through the items in the drawer and send anything you don't use to the thrift store. Do you really need those little cheese knives or the melon baller? If the answer is no then send them packing. And remember, when you send these items to the thrift store you might be able to claim these donations on your taxes, be sure to ask the collector if this is an option. I know many Goodwill stores do provide slips to claim donated items on your taxes! I havePurple Heart pick up my donated goods on my front porch. All I do is schedule the date and set out my items and they do all the rest of the work, plus I get a tax deduction!

Sometimes very simple and less obvious changes to our surroundings can make a big difference in the aesthetics of our kitchens. One very simple, inexpensive change is how you organize the cabinets. My spice cabinet was over flowing, I could never find the spice I wanted when I wanted it. To combat this situation I bought two three-tiered shelves so my spices are at different elevations and I can easily find the one I need. Below I have provided several options for this shelving unit, I prefer to use anything made from bamboo since it is a renewable resource. The beauty of bamboo is that the plant quickly re-grows, making it virtually inexhaustible, and the products made from bamboo are much stronger and more durable than conventional wood products.

Now that you have decreased the number of utensils in the drawer it is time to organize them. Matthew and I have a small bamboo utensil organizer in our drawer. If we had a bigger drawer I would love to have the expandable bamboo drawer that I have listed below. An expandable drawer leaves you options and can be moved to another drawer later if you decide to reorganize the kitchen. If you know that you only have so much space, measure it out and get an organizer for that space like we did. Next you take the specialty utensils that you do use and put them in their own place. We use a ceramic pitcher we received as an engagement gift, but I prefer bamboo so I've included a bamboo utensil holder for this purpose too! Now all your utensils have their own location and are easy to find.

Another way to take your kitchen from drab to fab without big bucks is to add akitchen cart. I think kitchen carts are very under rated for the work that they do for your kitchen. These handy carts provide a mobile work station and most of them have cabinets to store items away in. A kitchen cart can be used for a mobile baking and prep station. Mixing bowls and prep bowls are stored in the cabinet section and a KitchenAid mixer is on top of the cart ready to rock and roll.

So remember there are simple ways to begin to find that dream kitchen that's buried deep within the one you already have. I'm sure I'll be talking about this more later on but this will get you all started for now! Good luck everyone!