21-day challenge: Day one- kitchen cabinets

Welcome to the 21-day challenge, day one: kitchen cabinets.Before we get started, let me issue a quick disclaimer I failed to mention in my first post: To join the challenge, you do not have to do ALL of the daily challenge. For example, if all you organize is one cabinet, you have participated in the challenge for day one :)



And now for the challenge :)  If you recall in this post, I re-organized all of my kitchen and pantry over the summer. It's been almost seven months, and while things were reasonably organized, they did need a little tidying up.

Our kitchen is small, but we have a lot of cabinets and they are a pretty nice size. We also have a large pantry, so we have plenty of storage. I sometimes wish we had more counterspace, but when I'm cooking, it is nice to be able to just turn around and grab what I need.

The biggest problem areas in my kitchen are the drinkware cabinet and the cabinet under the sink. Sometimes I think the drinkware cabinet is just too full. We have a very high, hard to reach cabinet above our fridge that we use to store our seldom-used items, like Christmas pottery. I chose to put our small "highball" glasses there. About the only thing these highballs are used for is orange juice (which we don't drink often) or summer drinks. So, up to the cabinet they went :) Another problem with the cabinet is how it is organized. I will admit it: I styled it after a magazine photo.

 One important lesson here is your organization has to be about what you need, not how it looks.
If you are reaching past six things you don't use everyday to reach something you do use everyday, then you need to make a change. True organizing is about making your life easier. See that blue cup in the back of the cabinet? It's my favorite. Yet, it is in the back.  Behold, my before-and-after photo:

Before:

 

After: No more stacked glasses on the bottom shelf. My favorite cup is in the front. We will soon be moving those medicines from the top shelf, but I don't have another place to put them for the time being.

Another problem was Emorie's cabinet. My kiddo has her own dinnerware and drinkware, as she is too little to use the glassware the hubs and I use. Her cabinet generally stays pretty cluttered, as she has several bulky cups that take up A LOT of room. I chose to move some things around and pack away the things she has outgrown. Check out the before and after:

Before: Admittedly, this doesn't look so bad. However, consider this: Look at the clutter on the bottom shelf. You can't reach in and grab a cup without knocking over three more.

After:  Not a lot changed, but there is less clutter on the bottom shelf. You can now reach in and get the cup you want without the domino effect. All of the things we no longer use are also gone.