Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Organizing the Island

The cabinet project continues. I am sure that this story is a nail biter. 
I'm so perplexed why we lived with dysfunctional lower cabinet storage for 20 years.



We are all loving being able to actually see what is on the lower shelf of the cabinet
It is lighter and brighter, more organized and more user friendly.



The next cupboard on the agenda was the island. 
The island used to be casserole and baking central back in
the days when I actually baked.
Casseroles?
I remember those. 
Cheesy, chickeny, ooey gooey and not good for my husband. 
When he started having to eat better so did I. 
He lost 45 lbs. I lost 10 lbs…
 I'm not bitter! 
The island held mixing bowls, cake pans, pie plates and casserole dishes. 


I tried nesting all these and the front row usually looked pretty good.



Invariably someone would push off one of the top dishes and then the back row would be a mess. 
I got rid of some stuff like the springform pan in which the side didn't match the bottom. 
I'd love to purge more but realistically we need to keep several different kinds of cake pans in the event that I need to bake something.

The stacking storage worked great for the pots and pans, but I knew I needed something else for this cabinet - something bigger. 
Big Lots had this cube system.



It was $29.00.
Playing with it felt like building with Lincoln Logs. 
It wasn't going to fit "as is" so it needed to be reworked. 
Two long end pieces and the three dividers were perfect for what we needed. 
I was able to use the existing screw holes which was key.



This is laminate so it wouldn't have worked if I had to drill new holes. There was a perfect amount of room left for the outlet box.



It turned out to be a great place for the large tin foil and a rolling pin. 



It looks great.


I did a lot of cooking this past week. It functions perfectly. 



Can you believe Bill wanted to get rid of this vintage pink pyrex bowl?



I love this bowl.
It looks so cute with my other vintage pyrex.





The appliance cabinet is also finished.
I used the remainder of the pieces from the cube system for the appliances.


Last but not least, a stacking shelf was a good fit for stuff we only use for entertaining.



This whole makeover only cost $40.00 for all the organizers and $15.00 for the shelf liner. 
 Not bad considering that one new pull out drawer is about $100.00.



 I'm pleased. 
So far things are ending up back where they belong. Everyone seems to think the kitchen functions so much better because now we can see! 
Katie

7 comments :

  1. Getting organized leaves ones with a great, peaceful feeling. Knowing and have a spot for everything. Congrats on your feature for your hanging chandelier over at Kim's!

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  2. Great job, Katie. I did the same thing within the last month. I really like that cube system you found at Big Lots though. I could use something like that in one of my cabinets. xo Diana

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  3. That was a good idea to solve your problem. An organized kitchen really does make a huge difference, doesn't it? My cabinets came with a shelf already built in to the lower cabinets. It's more like a half shelf, so things can go below it and in front of it. That allows me to store taller pieces in the front. So far it has worked out well. My only complaint with my cabinets is the corner cabinets. They are deep and dark. Things can get lost back there pretty easily. It's no wonder that I store things I don't use much in them.

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    1. Oh, I know what you mean about corner cabinets. I had one of those once. If you have a lazy Susan, stuff falls off in the back. Annoying. Our sink cabinet is a corner and it can be terrifying back there. Thanks for coming by.

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  4. That was another area we left "undone" for years, too, Katie! Finally, my husband installed another shelf which helped tremendously. Only took about 10 years to figure that one out ;) I think it could still be improved. I need a better way to store my pot lids. Yours looks great, and I do love that pink bowl!

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  5. This looks great and seems to work really well! I need to get something like that for some of my 'unruly' cabinets :)
    Susan

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