How to Organize (even when you’re sick!)

Sorry for not posting for a couple of days, but I’m fighting a nasty sinus infection and am just not feeling so hot!  I think it must be the weather here in KY….one day it’s almost 60 and the next day it’s 16….holy degree difference Batman! :0)

Since I’ve been sick I’ve been watching TV at night because my head has been hurting too much to sleep.  I watched a mini marathon of Hoarders and I’ve decided that show disturbs me,  BUT it makes me want to clean house and organize…a lot!  (how do you not know there are dead cats in your house??  Oh my!)

After watching several episodes I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to start cleaning…sick or not!  I swear all I have to do is watch a couple of those shows and it kick starts my cleaning gene every. single. time. !  (that and I took a 12 hr Sudafed that made me hyper as can be! I’ll NEVER do that again!…well, at least until it’s time to organize again in the middle of the night! lol)

Since everyone sleeps upstairs I decided to start organizing my kitchen.  (I apologize in advance for no before pictures….remember it was in the middle of the night and I was in a crazed cleaning frenzy from watching that show!)  I started in my corner cabinet where all our coffee, tea and mugs are stored.  I have kind of developed a plan when I organize.

1.  I first remove everything from the area that I’m organizing
2.  then I throw away and condense as much as possible
3. then I put it all in like groups. 

For instance, I had multiple boxes of the same tea, so I condensed them into one big jar and threw away the bulky boxes. I also try to put things in areas that make the most sense.   The reason all our coffees and teas are in that cabinet, is that it’s closest to the tap water and the coffee maker, so I don’t have to run all over the kitchen to make a cup of tea or coffee, it’s all right there.  I also try to re-use things….see the three big glass jars? 

We buy cherries at Sam’s Club every year to make chocolate covered cherries  for Christmas, we save the jars and re-use them.  (and yes, those jars will eventually get little tags that say coffee, tea and creamers….cause I LOVE tags!) Oh, please ignore my scratched up cabinets…it’s time to paint them again after a couple of years of abuse….glad the scratches are only on the insides! :0)

I left specialty teas in their own boxes because there weren’t very many of them and they’ll be gone in no time flat! (did I mention I like hot tea?) :0)

I put our mugs on the 2nd shelf because it was so shallow and there was no wasted space.  The plates etc on the top shelf are just extra we use when we’re desperate cause I haven’t had time to run the dishwasher. (can you say, “not enough time in the day”?!)

The next cabinet I tackled was the dreaded baking supply cabinet!

I condensed as much as possible by putting like spices together…i.e., I had 4 bottles of cinnamon which I was able to condense down into 2. (don’t ask me why I had 4 bottles….who knows around here!)
I also put in a little hanging basket shelf…those things are wonderful! They make an extra “shelf” so you can use all the space in a cabinet or closet..I have them in several areas of our home.  I put all my sprinkles and baking spices in the little shelf area and stored my Wilton cake decorating books underneath. 
(Have I ever told you I used to do wedding cakes….lots of wedding cakes! Don’t really have time anymore, but it sure was fun when I was doing it!)  See the Tupperware container on the shelf?   I put all my MANY cupcake papers in there….it takes up much less space than all those little cupcake paper containers and it closes up and you can stack them..I love containers!

Next I did this….

Not much you can do with an appliance cabinet…I just wiped it out and rearranged.  I think I should purge some appliances, but I really do use them all.  Such dilemmas!

Under my sink (and hopefully everyone else’s) is always a mess.  To me, it’s the hardest place in the house to organize.  I have grand plans to build some kind of storage device down there, but for now it was purge, straighten and close the door. :0) So eventually this will be my before picture instead of my after!  (oh, and see the Finish dishwasher detergent box (the blue and red one)…that is the best dishwasher detergent I have ever used! Just sayin’)

The next area I tackled was the cabinet beside my stove.  I keep all my pots and pans in that cabinet because…well, it’s beside the stove..duh.  :0)  I have my crockpot down there that I got as a result of a review because of my blog….I love blogging!

Here’s the other side…more pots and pans and some Pampered Chef stoneware.  After looking at these photos, I’m thinking I need some new cookware…mine is looking a little shabby. :-/  I rearranged everything and made a little more space. I keep my cutting boards vertically down there for more storage space. (hey look, you can see my pink house shoes in the reflection! lol)

The next cabinet is the one that we re-did when we did our cottage kitchen makeover….we put glass in the doors.  When you put glass in your kitchen cabinet doors, you really better be sure you’re gonna have pretty stuff to put in it, or at least make sure it’s super organized.  I chose to keep all our regular dishes white and glassware plain and clear..it makes for a much neater looking cabinet.

I know this post is going on and on, but I was up all night organizing, so somebody needs to appreciate all my work, so stick with me! lol

I did our cutlery drawer next.  I have found that stacking our forks, spoons etc, makes it much easier when unloading the dishwasher…..not to mention it just looks nicer.  I did a little purging in the drawer areas of our kitchen and just straightened them all up a bit…..

Can you see my affinity for pink even creeps into my utensil drawers! I would LOVE to have all the Kitchenaid utensils in pink, but I just can’t afford them, but hey I got two!

Cookbooks and baking pans oh my! To say I have a lot of cookbooks would be an understatement, but I have managed to get them all in one cabinet on one shelf.  Here’s half of them….

and here’s the other half…… :0)  Again, all my pans to bake with are in the cabinet on the other side of my stove for easy accessibility.

The last place I organized was the bottom of my hoosier cabinet.  This is where I keep things I don’t use very often, or items that I keep extras of like pasta’s, cake mixes and sugars.

I put labels on the front edge, inside the cabinet, to show where everything goes……. (looks like I need to add some shelving paper too. Nothing like pictures to make you see your stuff in a “real light”)

Oh…I did want to show you that my pantry that I re-did at the beginning of last year, is still nice and neat.  That was one MAJOR re-organization and prettification project, but I still LOVE the outcome! You can see that project HERE.

Well, that’s it.  That’s what happens when you take too much Sudafed and watch too many episodes of Hoarders when you have a sinus infection.  Most people sleep….I organize.  Pretty much sums me up in a nutshell! (I’m a nut) :0)

Hugs to you all!
Missy :0)

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