A Place for Everything....

For all my kvetching about putting everything back into the kitchen, and in a convenient and practical way that would maximize work flow, I did finally get 'er done. It took me the better part of two whole days, and some "D'oh!" moments where I filled a drawer only to realize something else should go there instead. In the end, however, we are pleased with our new layout; everything is nice and spread out, easy to find, and we even have some space left over to boot! It certainly helped that we did a purge of broken, useless, and otherwise unused items when we cleared the kitchen out before demo, so even with a few new purchases of bakeware, I think we moved less into the new kitchen than we moved out of the old.

Here are some pictures of how the filled drawers and cabinets look; I'll do half the kitchen today and half tomorrow so as not to completely bore you....I myself have never been too excited about seeing other peoples' fabulously organized closets or kitchens (they make me angry, really), so I completely understand if you find my "okay but not even close to Martha Stewart" skills uninteresting to the nth degree.

Also, please ignore any questionable food choices you may see herein; we are still easing out of temporary kitchen/convenience food mode!

Plastic container storage--every container has a lid for once!

Water bottles, cups, and plates for the kids--left over from the temporary kitchen. The comparable cabinet on the other side of the refrigerator drawers holds a trash can for the hole in the countertop.

Refrigerator drawer--the kids can even keep their own milk in here

The ice maker takes up a lot of room, but we can still fit waffles and snacks in here

Liked the look of these drawers in the middle of the pantry, but wondered what to do with them; they are perfect for all of our wraps and bags



Top of pantry with dry goods, teas, snacks and cereals



Bottom of pantry with rices and pastas on top pull-out, canned goods on lower pull-out

Under the double ovens; we also keep a large cast-iron griddle in here

Above double oven; serving platters, mixer, bread maker and fondue pots!

Left of hood--alcohol on a high shelf, liquid measuring cups, and oils/vinegars close by for cooking

Right of hood---vases, infrequently used spices in the middle, commonly used spices on the bottom shelf

Under the cooktop--oven mitts, spoons and spatulas, ladles and whisks (having the drawer right under the cooktop be usable space is awesome!)

Left drawer--metal mixing bowls, funnels, measuring cups, and measuring spoons in a flatware tray laid out by size (no more searching for the elusive 3/4 tsp!)  Right drawer--glass baking dishes

Left drawer--glass mixing bowls, more baking dishes, casseroles. Right drawer--pots and pans with lids

Bank of three drawers between cooktop and blind corner cabinet:


Top drawer--flatware. This drawer is in a convenient location to the dishwasher for putting clean utensils away.



Middle drawer---casual cups and glasses. I plan on putting some cushy shelf liner in this drawer to keep the glasses in their places and cut down on chipping.  I made this decision to put the glasses in a drawer because it is more convenient for the kids.

Bottom drawer---ditto the plates; much easier for the kids to help set the table, or get a bowl of cereal with the dishes in here.

If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me. I'll post the rest of the kitchen later. Off to make my beloved granola for the first time in eight weeks---yum!