Kitchen Organization part 1

 Lately, I have been working on decluttering and straightening up my kitchen.  So, I thought I would snap a few pictures along the way, to show you how I organize my kitchen.

Again, nothing too earth-shattering here.  This is just what I do, that works for me in my kitchen.  I didn't really reorganize anything.  I just straightened things up, moved a few things around to places that made more sense, and got rid of some things that I don't use.  So, here are a few pictures of the part of my kitchen I have done so far...

First up, I straightened up under my sink.  I should have taken a "before" picture because this would have made a pretty dramatic before-and-after experience for y'all.

Under the kitchen sink is kind of a tricky place to organize, and it isn't the most lovely of spots with all the plumbing and garbage disposal, but it does provide a good spot to store some essentials you need at the sink. Here you get a basic look at what I store under mine.

Dish soap, dishwasher tabs, and a few miscellaneous items are stored on this side.

While scrubbies, sponges, cleansers etc. are store on this side.  You can see my citric acid that I use when cleaning my dishwasher (you can find my tututorial on that here), and all my little toothbrushes that I use for cleaning. It does seem like I have a lot of them, but I use them often, and I also have my boys use them when they help me clean, so it is helpful to have a bunch.

After under my sink was under control, I moved onto the wall of drawers opposite the sink.  I have nine lower drawers on that side, and I store a lot of stuff in them.  I didn't give you a before and after under my sink, but I have a few for you on these drawers, because who doesn't like to see a good "before-and after"?

This is the drawer where I keep all my storage bags, plastic wrap, and the pre-cut parchment sheets that I love. 

Okay, no before and after on this drawer, because it basically looks like this all the time.  I just wiped it out and replaced everything

Next up is my big drawer that I keep a lot of miscellaneous kitchen items such as strainers, graters, hand mixer, vegetable steamer, etc.  It had become quite a haphazard mess.

I got rid of a few things, straightened this drawer up and it looks much better.

The next drawer down is where I keep my food storage containers.

After getting rid of a few things in this drawer, and straightening up, this drawer is looking better too.

Now, let me warn you, the before images on these next few drawers may offend some of you.  Yes - - they had gotten that bad.  What were once organized places had become crazy messes where my boys just tossed things haphazardly as they unloaded the dishwashers.  So be prepared, and don't fret, the after pictures will make everything right.

See what I mean?  Oh my goodness!  What a mess!  It is a wonder we could find anything in here.

I relocated a lot of things to where they rightfully belonged, got rid of some things, and placed what was left in their proper place in this drawer. 

Now some of you may think I still have too much stuff in this drawer, and wonder why I have duplicates of certain things, but I promise you, I cook and bake A LOT, and I use all of the utensils that are left in this drawer.

Well, all I can say for the state of this drawer that holds a lot of my cooking and baking utensils is that it made for a very dramatic before-and-after...

See, much better!

This drawer that holds my baking pans isn't quite as bad, but I still got rid of a few things, relocated one of the pans and the drawer is looking much better.

Yes.  Definitely better!

This drawer that holds my dishtowels and dishrags always looks like this.  (Except it is full when all my dishtowels are clean.)

This drawer holds all my mixing bowls and prep bowls.  It looks like this most of the time too, so other than wiping it out, I didn't have to do anything to this drawer.

This drawer holds my everyday serving plates and bowls.  It was looking quite a mess because my boys put a few serving bowls in this drawer that I normally keep in the bottom section of my china cabinet, so it had become a bit crowded. 

Once I relocated those bowls, I was able to straighten up this drawer and get it back into its proper condition.

As I continue to work on my kitchen, I will snap a few more pictures of how my kitchen is organized and share them soon.