Organize that kitchen!

Just like everyone else, I've got the urge to organize. And it is bad. So I will show you how hard I've been working on my kitchen. I don't have good before pictures but I am so excited about the after pictures that I will proudly show them off.

Here's my one before picture. Well, really it isn't "before" because I took them all out of the cabinet and put them on the table. This is all of my tupperware that is getting the boot. I plan on replacing all of it with glass containers to avoid all the junk that plastic gives off like BPA and other chemicals. I'm finally jumping on this bandwagon...

I like being environmentally friendly and recycling and all of that, but I get so sick of the hype of it all that sometimes I just throw in the towel. If you remember, I was a vegetarian for about two months before I got pregnant with Josie. I did this because of everything I was hearing about the meat industry and what was happening to the animals and even more so because I found that my body did just fine without meat. I was no longer ignorant (sometimes that's not a good thing). But pregnancy won in the end, and my cravings and general appetite required it. 

I am all about trying new things and finding what works best. I try so hard to balance what is good for this beautfiul earth that God gave us and what works for us because if I tried to be the "greenest girl in the world" I'd be completely overwhelmed living in a hole in the ground; I'm sure of it.

Baby steps.

So here is my cabinet that had been packed full with tupperware that was worn out and obviously in need of replacement. I purchased some Pyrex bowls (a set of nine bowls with lids) and another set of three that were smaller but still matched). These glass containers take up about the same amount of space, but I don't have (or probably need) as many of them. I'm sure I'll add to my collection eventually but they are expensive (and way longer lasting of course) so it will be a work in progress.

Aren't they pretty?

 The next thing I'd been wanting to do was use the space on the inside of the cabinets. I keep seeing this brilliant idea of putting hooks up and using that space for more than just a door. Who'd have thought? So I found some cheap hooks at Target and put them up in two different cabinets. Voila!

This added a lot of room to one of our very few drawers that was poring out and getting jammed shut all the time. Pictures of that exciting update will come soon.

Then I moved on to the canned foods cabinet. If I had a before picture, you would have seen cans filling the bottom two shelves and pasta along with other random things that don't have homes filling the top shelf. I went through my canned foods and set aside everything that was expired (much to the dismay of my husband who insists that canned food cannot go bad). It left me with half of the cans left. That is so gross. But it also shows me that we don't use canned foods all that much. Why are we storing all of it then? So out it went, and it will not be replaced (until we use some more of the current-not-expired cans). 

I also added this little shelf that matches a shelf we have to separate our plates and bowls (completely made my week when I got it the first time and of course didn't fail me this time). These things work miracles. So lovely to go up vertically instead of just wasting all of that space!

I rearranged our lazy susan (Susan? Since it's a name, should it be capitalized?) which also had a lot of wasted vertical space and filled in the bottom shelf. I haven't perfected good ole Susan yet so that will have to have follow up pictures later. 

I mentioned before that hubby had added roll out shelves to the pots and pans disaster corner. Here they are:

It makes my heart go pitter patter. No joke. I actually grin like a fool when I get to take something out or put something away. I'm sure it will wear off, but I'm determined to enjoy it while it lasts.

More updates later (because you know there is more. I don't ever do something just a little bit!).