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Can you believe Spring is just around the corner? Like as in a few days away. You know what that means for all of us OCD ladies right? Spring cleaning. In my house we have accrued so many knick knacks. It’s been a long time coming to get rid of a lot of the stuff we are not using, especially tackling that “junk drawer.” Yeah that one, the dreaded drawer. So I’ve been on a major mission to tackle the clutter in our home. (and driving my hubs crazy with the obsessive cleaning ha) Where do you even start when it gets so bad? My first place of choice is the most frequented room in pretty much every house, especially those with kids…the KITCHEN. My drawers were a mess, my cabinets disorganized, my refrigerator looked like a Jenga game and let’s not even talk about my counter. So..what now? Make a trip to the Container Store. (Make sure you don’t miss an amazing deal at the bottom!)
But first…
- Analyze the situation. What do you need and what do you wanna get rid of? Now throw it out or donate it. The hardest part for me when organizing is throwing stuff out but I just remind myself that it’s not used and someone else can benefit.
- Assess what materials you will need. So me personally I knew my pantry, my drawers, refrigerator needed help and I needed functional storage for all the loose things my kids throw around etc.
- Purchase. So I went online and made an order for the Container Store. That place is heaven to my OCD soul. I have spent hours just walking around. As a matter of fact, my husband and I even included that as part of our date night once. We just walked around the Container Store. Organizing makes this momma happy. Luckily you can order online and pick up in stock items in store. It saved me a ton of time and I didn’t have to break down a ton of boxes.
- When you get home start with one area at a time or else it will just become overwhelming and frustrate you to the point of wanting to throw in the towel. So I started on my refrigerator first. I bought the InterDesign Linus Fridge Starter Kit and decided to build from there if I needed any more. You can also customize that in case you didn’t need wine bottle holders or something in your fridge.
- Throw away trash and donations as you go, just to ease the stress if anything. It becomes extremely overwhelming when you’re organizing because in reality it looks a lot worse because it looks better. This will help minimize clutter.
- Get to organizing! It’s like therapy for the soul. Nothing feels better than having a clean and organized space. Nothing. Just like the best day of every month is when my cleaner comes, any day I have an organized home is the best day and I can’t be upset. Clutter causes stress and if anything you owe it to yourself for peace of mind to get it all coordinated. Moms especially need this structure because it already feels like you can’t get ahead and can’t keep things in order. At least having designated places for your things will help elevate some of that stress.
Kitchen Organization Tips – Refrigerator:
Like I said instead guessing what I needed, I ordered the InterDesign Linus Fridge Starter Kit. We have a small refrigerator so I definitely have to maximize space in there. Also I buy a lot in bulk and I’m always afraid it’ll go bad so I bought a couple of green saver tools to keep my onions and lemons fresh longer.
I also wanted to organize the refrigerator so I could easily reach what I needed to (I used to have everything stacked like a jenga game and it was always a risk opening the door) but also so my 5-year-old has easy access to the things she wanted as well. I made her a special box to store all her foods for quick snacking.
- Greensaver Crisper Insert round Pkg/2 – “Vegetables naturally emit ethylene gas, which causes premature spoilage. Our OXO greensaver Crisper Inserts are easily placed in your crisper drawer to absorb ethylene with non-toxic enhanced carbon filters keeping your veggies fresher, longer.”
- Fresh Flip Lemon Pod / Fresh Flip Onion Pod
- InterDesign Linus Fridge Starter Kit(2) Wide Fridge Binz, (1) Narrow Fridge Binz, (1) Fridge Binz Egg Holders, (1) Fridge Binz Soda Can Organizer, (1) Divided Deep Fridge Binz, (2) Wide Deep Fridge Binz, (2) Narrow Deep Fridge Binz, and (2) Fridge Binz Wine Holders.
Kitchen Organization Tips – Drawers:
- InterDesign Linus Large Drawer Organizer Starter KitWusthof 14-Slot In-Drawer Knife Tray – I was really trying to declutter the counters so this knife organizer for my drawers was perfect to help.
- Silver Mesh Drawer Organizers Starter Kit – These have transformed my junk drawer. I keep everything in line with these drawer inserts.
Kitchen Organization Tips – Counters & Kitchen Storage:
- Double Turntable Stainless Steel – This turntable is multi functional. I personally use it to organize my dish cleaning supplies so they are not scattered around the sink.. But the possibilities are endless, it helps give you easy access to anything you need.
- Lacquered White Tray – Honestly I have trays everywhere my house because I basically use them as a catch all. This one in particular I use on my dining table to make it look more balanced. Also my oldest has started to use it to store her drawings against my wishes. Ha.
- Acrylic Clear Tray – The acrylic tray I got in a larger size to use on my kitchen island to store my cutting board and any other everyday essentials.
- Large Montauk Rectangular Bin (4) – I use these to store multiple things from kitchen towels, kid’s toys, and tupperware. Not only does it make it more organized, in some ways it has made it safer as my youngest is always pulling these things out of drawers. What I used to consider a train wreak area, I now look at as one of my most loved areas in the kitchen. ClearlyI love them because I ended up buying more to put in my pantry.
- Square Smart Large Store Tote and Medium Smart Store Tote – These totes help organize medical/health items and batteries so I can now store it out of reach from my children securely.
- 4-Tier Slim Cart w/ Wheels – This cart is ideal for space storage because it’s slim enough to be tucked in anywhere. I use it to store paper towels and cleaning supplies.
- Jumbotex Utility Cart – I love how functional this utility cart is…I use it to store counter top fruit, bottled waters among other things. I can also slide it in and out when needed.
Kitchen Organization Tips – Pantry:
- Elfa Utility White Mesh Pantry Door – This is seriously a pantry saver! It saved me so much space and I even got to move stuff from my kitchen drawers to the hooks. It is very functional. I will give you a piece of advice…make sure it snaps into place. I had mine fall twice but figured out it was due to not snapping in place all the way. I haven’t had a problem since. If you can swing the money you can even have it installed.
- Pantry Starter Kit – This was one of my favorite pieces and it can also be customizable. I actually ended up ordering a couple more Good Grips and another spice rack. I never knew how much sleeker your spices can look if you put them all in a uniform spice rack. Definitely looks much more fancy.
- (1) OXO Good Grips 5-Piece POP Canister Set, (2) OXO Good Grips POP Medium Cereal Dispensers, (1) Acrylic 20-Bottle Spice Rack, (1) Large Omaha Stacking Bin, (1) Medium Omaha Stacking Bins and (1) Small Omaha Stacking Bins
- Grey Fabric Storage Bin with Rope Handles – I used these medium-sized bins to put cups, plates, baking supplies and loose kiddo stuff because lord knows we accrue a ton of it.
- White Montauk Woven Rectangular Storage Bins – These things are my Godsend. They are so roomy and I stored all of my appliances that were stacked on the shelfs, looking like a huge eyesore,inside. It made it look so much sleeker. It can hold so much too.I put 3 on the top shelf and 3 on the bottom to keep everything out of eyesight.
- Mocha Water Hyacinth Bin – I used these to mess up the color scheme because I didn’t want a uniform white theme going on in the pantry. I’m a bit of an eclectic decorator and wanted the woven baskets to throw more of a boho vibe in there…plus they’re really cute!
The next step would be to sit back and enjoy that beautiful organization…because you’re DONE! Now you’ve just gotta maintain and let me tell you, it can be easy to let it get crazy again. The man advice I can give for that is to consciously put stuff away in the right place when you grab it because it’s so easy to just stick it somewhere quick. Also the BEST news for you is that Container Store’s annual Kitchen Sale is happening now through April 1 and you can find the majority of stuff I mentioned above 25% off. Plus hundreds more kitchen items. So if you were ever going to work on your kitchen, now is the time friends! Let me know what area you need work on or any suggestions for cleaning/organizing you might wanna see from this busy momma.
