When we moved into this house, the kitchen was the drop zone for most of our boxes. We moved right after getting married, bringing along all our own belongings plus all the boxes from our registry. To say it was a disaster would be an understatement.

I made kitchen organization my top priority- unpacking and categorizing everything. I tried to find the best place to store things and ran into lots of issues- cabinets that were too shallow or too small, drawers that were not tall enough… and I spent lots of time trying to find the best place for things. When things were finally put away I felt like we could actually live here.

After living here for a few months, I took literally everything out of the cabinets and drawers and completely rearranged. You have to know how you use a space to organize it properly. I’m pretty happy with how we have things organized now- but kitchen organization is an ongoing project!

I’ve divided this post into countertops, upper cabinets, lower cabinets, and drawers. That way it’s easy to follow. Hey, I can’t help but want to be organized everywhere!

countertops

When we moved into our new house with our amazing kitchen, I knew one thing: I wanted to keep the countertops clear.

Well, I haven’t quite done that, but I’ve done the best I can! And it’s definitely an improvement on our previous kitchen. I wanted to keep only the basics out, which are things that we use regularly or things that don’t fit anywhere else.

So I settled on a few things: Our toaster oven, some basic utensils, paper towels, and our kitchenaid mixer. As we lived here I’ve also added a fruit bowl, salt, pepper, olive oil, vinegar, honey, and a decorative plate.

Oh, and if you’ve noticed how shiny and amazing our counters are, you can give all credit to my homemade granite cleaner!

It was important to me that small things didn’t look like they were left out accidentally. I wanted them to look purposeful. So I used this awesome acacia two tier tray to store salt, pepper, honey, and a few other things. Our olive oil and vinegar are in decorative bottles next to the stove.

I kept out only our nice looking utensils in a neutral color scheme. The rest are in a drawer. This is definitely a huge improvement for us- it keeps the space looking less cluttered while still leaving important tools within reach.

We also keep our paper towels away from the sink to make them less convenient. This means we don’t use them nearly as often, opting for sponges and microfiber cloths instead. We waste so much less paper this way! We honestly don’t even go through one roll a month.

So that’s about it for countertops! We made sure everything looked purposeful while keeping it uncluttered- which is so important for kitchen organization.

upper cabinets

Cabinets can be tricky. I love the layout of ours, but I’m the first to admit that they could be much more efficient. What we’ve got going for now works for us, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we change it in the future.

Upper cabinets are one of the easiest places to store things, so it makes sense to keep your everyday use things in there. Plates, bowls, everyday drink ware, and mugs all make sense.

Where we’ve been a little less logical is to keep much of our extra dinnerware and glassware in these cabinets as well. We registered for lots of extras because of Lars’s big family (between his siblings, step siblings, and their spouses we’ve got 20 people! All in his immediate family!) This works for now but I can see myself moving our extra stuff somewhere less convenient if we need to make use of this space in the future.

I’m a huge fan of cabinet organizers– they’re super important for our kitchen organization! We got most of ours at an estate sale for $1! You really can’t beat that. I’ve made use of them to try to keep stacking to a minimum. The less stacking the less weight each piece has to bear, meaning they will last longer.

I put our dinnerware to the left of the stove because they are directly across from the dishwasher. When emptying the dishwasher, dinnerware is the bulk of it. So I put them where it was most convenient.

We’ve got a lot of height in our cabinets, which you can’t necessarily see from the pictures. I’m 5’8″ and I can just barely reach the third shelf in these cabinets. Top shelf is step stool territory. So logically the things we use every day are kept lower.

For our drinkware, we keep our drinking glasses and commemorative mugs on the lowest shelf. The mugs that came with our dinnerware are on the second shelf. The top two shelves are for less frequently used glassware- champagne glasses, wine glasses, beer glasses, martini glasses, cocktail glasses… why does each beverage need it’s own glass?! Luckily we have the space for them!

This cabinet is one of my favorites. It stores all our pitchers and long trays and cutting boards. I used a maple rack to keep the trays in place. It just makes me happy to look in this cabinet and see everything easily accessible.

Finding a place for our bakeware was a little trickier. The only cabinet that was deep, wide, and tall enough was the one above the pantry. We had previously stored kitchen appliances here, but I found a better spot for them.

Once the appliances were moved out and the bakeware was added, I felt like I had finally found the right place for things! We used a wire organizer to keep baking trays separate, and kept our cute nesting casserole trays in front.

lower cabinets

These are definitely my favorite! We’ve worked really hard to make our lower cabinets work for us. Kitchen organization is tricky, so it takes trial and error. We don’t have very many lower cabinets, but the ones we do have are put to good use!

This cabinet came with pull out drawers, which I absolutely love. We keep our cookware in this cabinet, which is to the left of the oven. We ended up moving the top drawers higher so that we could keep some taller cookware on bottom.

You know I love cabinet organizers- I’ve made use of this awesome one to store our pans. They fit perfectly in the cabinet drawer.

You can see that I keep our pots and saucepans in the other section of the cabinet. Finding lid storage is always a challenge. I’ve used one of the door mounted lid racks before, but the lids fell off if you slammed the door too hard. So we kept ours in the upper drawer of this cabinet. It works so well for us!

This narrow cabinet baffled me for a while. It is such an awkward size- there isn’t much you can logically fit in there! I stored some of our bakeware in there for a while, but it was still too narrow. When rearranging I realized it was the perfect size to fit small appliances!

So this awkward narrow cabinet became our small appliance storage. We keep our waffle maker, fondue pot, immersion blender, and mandolin slicer in there. It’s one of my favorite organization ideas to date.

And if you have trouble with the cabinet under your kitchen sink- that’s a topic in and of itself! Which is why I already wrote an entire post about it. Just click here to read it! 

drawers

Drawers can be tricky- it’s easy to just toss everything in there and forget about it. Which is why drawer organizers are so important!

We have an awesome huge drawer to the right of the stove- so that’s where we keep the rest of our utensils. We also keep knives, baggies, tin foil, and wax paper there. I’ve made use of some drawer dividers so far, but I plan to build our own custom drawer dividers sometime in the future- so be looking out for that project!

Tupperware has always stumped me. I just never found a good way to store it! My current system is working for us, and I think I’ve solved the issue. I’ve made use of 2 deep drawer dividers to keep our tupperware sorted.

I keep the large tupperware (and our awesome reusable bowl cover) in the left section. Normal size tupperware goes in the middle, and lids on the right. It makes it easy to find everything and put it away. Let’s hope it works long term!

Now for my favorite drawer- the spice drawer! These spice drawer liner inserts were the perfect size to fit our drawer. I just laid them down, and then added all our spices. Now they are always in reach and easy to find. Maybe one day I’ll put them all in color-coded matching containers and be in organization heaven, but I’m not there yet!

So there you have it- that’s how I keep our kitchen organized!

There’s no secret to kitchen organization- you just have to find what works for you. Making things easy to find and put away is key- and be open minded! If it makes most sense for you to store dinnerware in a drawer- do it! Work with what you have.

Good luck organizing- let me know how it goes for you!

things that keep our kitchen organized

The post Kitchen Organization: Cabinets, Countertops, and Drawers appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

This week I was popping some veggies in the oven, and I actually took a good look inside for the first time in a while… Gah- it was so dirty! I can’t be the only one who always forgets that the oven is dirty… when the door is closed you don’t see it. And it’s so easy to be distracted while cooking and not actually look at how dirty your oven is.

But I saw it this time. And man was it dirty. I knew I had to come up with a solution.

So I opened my cupboard to check out what ingredients I have- and I decided to whip up the world’s simplest homemade oven cleaner. It only uses 2 ingredients, and it costs less than 25 cents! You really can’t beat that. Plus- it works!

Can you guess the ingredients?

Baking soda and water!

(and essential oils, if you want, it will make it smell amazing!)

You may or may not know how much I love baking soda… but I’m kind of crazy for it. So just why do these two ingredients work?

When you mix them together, they form a paste that is just abrasive enough to remove set in stains while also being gentle enough not to scratch your oven. Baking soda is great at cutting through dirt and grease.

All right, here are the official instructions:

You may or may not appreciate how difficult the burnt in stains are to remove from your oven, but baking soda really did the trick! I had to scrub pretty hard on some of the worst spots, but my homemade oven cleaner did a great job cleaning.

Just check out the before and after below:

What a difference! It’s amazing how effective such a simple combination of ingredients is at cleaning.

I’m so glad my oven is clean now. Next time I open it up, I won’t have to cringe. Together with a round of my awesome granite cleaner, my kitchen is gleaming and clean!

So what do you think- ready to clean that oven? Let me know how this homemade oven cleaner goes for you!

supplies used in this post

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I love having stainless steel appliances! But you would think that stainless steel would never actually stain… but it does! Leaving that pan soaking in your sink for too long can take its toll. I learned this the hard day, when one day I found a rust stain in my new sink. I’ve tried scrubbing it with dish soap, with all purpose cleaner, with granite cleaner, and just about everything in my arsenal. Until I finally found something that did the trick- and in under 10 seconds!

When I saw this solution from Passionate Penny Pincher, I thought it was too good to be true. No way it could be that easy after all the time I’ve spent scrubbing!

But it turns out… it was the perfect solution! I always say that green cleaning products should be simple, and this method proves that to a t! I’m guessing you usually have baking soda in your home, right? And usually a lemon or two in the fridge? Well then you’re all set!

To remove rust stains from stainless steel, all you need is half (or less) of a lemon and a tablespoon or two of baking soda. If the stains are really big, you might need more, but I used about one tablespoon. Just pour it out right on top of the stain.

Then just turn the lemon over to its cut side, and scrub the baking soda in. When I did this, I checked after a few seconds to see how much more rubbing I needed to do. But the stain was already gone! In less than 5 seconds.

How could it possibly be that easy??!!

I’m sorry the stain doesn’t show up better in the photo… I am always so excited to rush into projects that I don’t always take amazing before photos. But just look at the area with the arrow and you can see the little stain that was bugging me for over a month!

I know I keep acting all amazed by this solution, but it really is amazing. It’s green, inexpensive, easy, and effective. Just as all my favorite cleaning solutions usually are.

Who knew these two little ingredients were such a powerhouse together! They blew me and my scrubbing arm out of the water.

The baking soda has the perfect amount of gentle abrasiveness while the lemon has great acidity and the right texture for scrubbing the stain. It was love at first scrub.

I love looking at my clean sink! Now I can admire and appreciate it without noticing the little flaw of a rust stain that was stuck there before.

Let me know how this method to remove rust stains from stainless steel goes for you! I would love to see your before and after pictures, just send them to me!

The post How To Remove Rust Stains from Stainless Steel appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

It’s been two months now since I’ve moved into our home that has granite countertops. I love them SO MUCH- and I want to take great care of them so they can last as long as possible. I did a lot of research on the kinds of things that can damage granite, and I’ve found this to be the best homemade green granite cleaner. It’s super simple, inexpensive, and effective. It costs less than a dollar to make!

A lot of the homemade granite cleaner recipes have vinegar in them. Vinegar is one of my favorite green cleaning ingredients, but as with anything, it isn’t perfect. Vinegar is acidic, which will dull the shine of the granite. And I don’t know about you, but I want my granite to keep its fabulous shine!

So that’s why this granite cleaner is perfect. It cleans effectively, won’t damage your granite, and keeps them shining! I thought it was perfect for green cleaning month!

Ingredients:

• Rubbing alcohol: Cleans and disinfects while leaving a streak free shine
• Dish soap: Cleans and cuts through grease and food stains
• Water: Makes up the body of the cleaner
• Essential oil: I chose peppermint because I love the smell, and it doesn’t come from an acidic fruit.

Pretty effective right? I love a good before and after. Almost as much as I love a good shine on my granite counters.

This cleaner is so simple and effective. My favorite part about this picture is how you can see the reflection of the cleaner in the granite. That’s how you know it’s effective. For a minute I thought there was a smudge on my lens in this picture, but then I realized it’s the reflection of the oven clock.

I used an awesome glass spray bottle. We try to use as little plastic as possible, so these glass spray bottles are perfect for that.

So there you have it. This simple and easy to make granite cleaner is my new favorite. I can’t stop staring at my counters!

Let me know how making your own granite cleaner goes for you!

And don’t forget to check out the rest of my green cleaning month recipes here!

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We have a particularly tricky sink. There’s a lot going on in that cabinet. We have a dish disposal, instant hot water heater, water filter, and all the hookups for our dishwasher. There’s a lot of tubes and cords and whatnot under there, which makes organizing all that much harder.

I fond the perfect solution- this amazingly customizable Undersink Organizer. Seriously, this thing is ridiculously genius. It is able to fit around everything- even under our crazy busy sink! I am so excited about how much better looking and more functional that cabinet is now.

But please don’t judge me for how bad I let it get before we addressed it….

That’s pretty bad. As we’ve moved in, I just kind of threw stuff down there. It is getting to the point that it is no longer functional, so I had to address it.

Okay, so I’ll show you how I did it.

See how crazy our undersink situation is?

The first thing I did was take EVERYTHING out from under there. Every single plastic bag, brush, sponge, and miscellaneous nonsense. How did I get so much crap under there? This is always my first step to organizing. Without it I have no idea how much is actually in there and what actually needs to find a place.

Biscuit was pretty confused about all the commotion.

Then I cleaned out the cabinet- wiped everything down and used the handheld vacuum to make sure it was really clean. Then I laid out this adorable bright contact paper to make it look a little happier under there.

I put together the undersink organizer. Seriously, there aren’t enough good things to say about this organizer. It is crazy adjustable so you can fit whatever you need and work around all the crazy pipes. You have to put it together in place- or at least I did. That made it slightly trickier, but it was still so easy to figure out.

Then I decided where everything should go. I keep most of my cleaning products in the laundry closet, but there are a few that I want to be able to grab quickly. My dusting spray and all purpose cleaner top the list.

Sponges, some microfiber cloths, dishwasher tabs, and plenty of other goodies go down there. Extra dish scrubbing brushes and trash bags I also like to have close at hand. And my foldable dish rack fit perfectly next to the organizer.

We also have this amazing roll up dish rack. It lays out over the sink so it doesn’t take up counter space. I love this thing- we use it almost every day. But when it’s not in use it rolls up conveniently and fits right under the sink.

I kept all my things that I use most often under there. Most of my cleaning supplies are farther away, but I like having a few things there. I would never replace trash bags if I couldn’t grab them quickly. Or do a quick wipedown of the counters if I had to go retrieve the sponge from somewhere. It’s all about convenience. If it’s not convenient, you won’t take it out or put it away.

So there you have it- the easiest way to organize under your sink. All you need is an amazing under sink organizer.

Supplies Used in this Post

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These 10 ways to make your kitchen greener are all easy to implement and don’t make you change your lifestyle in any inconvenient way. Anyone can do them, really. There’s nothing holding you back- so go ahead and make a few small changes to help your health and the environment.

1. Limit paper products

We all know it- waste isn’t good for the environment. And paper comes from trees that could have been providing oxygen and higher air quality. So do your bets to limit what paper products you use. This includes napkins, paper towels, and even coffee filters. If it’s paper you should try to get rid of it.

Luckily, this doesn’t mean never using napkins, towels, or coffee filters again. It just means finding a non-paper replacement. And the replacements are pretty awesome.

Cloth napkins are a no-brainer, especially if they are machine washable. Reuseable coffee filters are pretty easy to find too. And you can find the most adorable replacement for paper towels. I mean- they’re called unpaper towels. Super cute.

So get creative and replace any paper products in your kitchen.

2. Use biodegradable trash bags

Landfills are bad enough on their own- but even worse when the trash is in plastic trash bags that will take more than one lifetime to break down. It’s so easy to switch to biodegradable trash bags. Like super easy. Do your trash a little favor and help it break down!

3. No more plastic grocery bags

We all know that you are supposed to use reusable grocery bags instead of the plastic bags at the store. Some towns are even implementing bans on plastic bags in stores- they are so terrible for the environment. And the reusable bags are even more effective than any of the plastic bags you get.

So be serious about your reusable bags. Keep a set in your car. Keep a set by the door. Keep one bag in your purse so you never leave the house without it. Make the commitment.

And the checkout bags are not the only culprits- get some reusable produce bags too. We use ours every time we go to the grocery store, and I love them so much.

4. Compost

Even if you aren’t a gardener- you can find a way to make your compost productive. Lots of organizations accept compost donations or you can find a local compost pile to contribute to.

Definitely get a compost bin to add all your compostable scraps- you will feel better, you will create less trash bags, and you will be helping some more food grow somewhere!

5. Replace plastic where you can

Plastic itself, whether or not it is filling a landfill, is just bad for the environment. And human health. We are so used to plastic that we don’t think of it as such an unnatural thing- but it really is. The chemicals in plastic are absorbed by the human body and into groundwater. Not such good things.

Probably the most plastic you have in your kitchen is in the form of tupperware. The easiest thing to  do is replace it with glass tupperware. This doesn’t have to be an all-at-once thing, but if you do it over time it will make a difference. And don’t get rid of your plastic by throwing it away- donate it so it gets reused!

And even things you didn’t realize you can get in a reusable form- you can! Reuseable straws. How adorable.

6. Reuse it

Anything you can reuse- do reuse! Empty jar of applesauce? Keep the jar and use it as a new piece of tupperware. Cans can make a great addition to craft and organization projects. A spice jar can become a baking soda sprinkler for household cleaning. This one is kind of a no-brainer.

So before you go to throw something out- look at it for a minute and think of how you could use it.

7. Stay organized

One of the worst problems with first-world humans, especially Americans, is how much food we waste. And this can happen especially when you aren’t organized. I myself am super guilty of this.

Didn’t eat those leftovers because you couldn’t see them in the fridge? Time to reorganize. One of the things that Lars and I have done is get rid of the drawer in our fridge and use clear fridge bins. That way we can see what we have. The drawer was really just blocking our view.

I’ve seen lots of great fridge organization solutions on pinterest- some people even use a lazy susan in the fridge so they can turn and see everything they have! So get creative with it and use a system that works for you.

8. Goodbye pre-made K-cups

Keurigs are so convenient- there’s no denying it. We have one. But Keurig waste is just building up and up. In fact, the trash from the Keurig’s just in 2013 would circle the earth 11 times. Sound like a lot to you?

So you don’t have to stop using the Keurig, but you definitely should switch to reusable K-cups. You don’t want to be a portion of the K-cups circling the earth.

9. Make your own cleaning products

One of the worst offenders in your kitchen is your cleaning products. You can buy green cleaning products- but they usually come with a huge markup and it’s hard to know whether they really are “green.” It is way cheaper, healthier, and easier to make your own.

If you need some help with this, check out my guide “Five Steps to Switch to Green Cleaning.”

With a little baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice, you can clean your whole kitchen. Trust me.

10. Reusable lunch bags

I used about a million of those brown paper bags in my school lunch days. And I never once recycled one. That all could have been stopped by using a reusable lunch bag. I have one now that is my absolute favorite thing. My neoprene lunch bag can fit weird shapes of food and it is even machine washable. I couldn’t recommend one more.

So any time you are bringing a meal out of the house- just grab an awesome lunch bag!

You will feel so much better if you implement even a few of these changes. Trust me. Get to greening your home and you won’t even know why you hadn’t done it before!

The post 10 Ways to Green Your Kitchen (Without Changing What you Eat) appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

When Lars and I first found this apartment, I was in love with our awesome galley kitchen. I’ve always wanted white kitchen cabinets. The problem was, it just didn’t have that much storage space. The cabinets are rather narrow and there aren’t very many of them. And we don’t have a pantry.

Well, I immediately went to work on pinterest finding organization solutions. And by the time we moved in, I knew where I was going to put all our kitchen supplies.

First things first: I wanted to make the most of the cabinet space we have. Before planning for any additional storage furniture in the kitchen, I decided what to put in each cabinet.

Dinnerware

The first and most obvious cabinet I wanted to focus on was the dinnerware cabinet. We have settings for 8 people plus 4 extra pasta bowls, a few extra glasses, and some novelty mugs. I had my eye on a set of wire cabinet organizers on amazon, but luckily Lars found this set at a rummage sale for only a few dollars.

The wire organizers make a huge difference in this cabinet. They make it so there is enough space for our pasta bowls, and they make more room for plates so they do not have to be stacked in such large piles.

Having the dishes color coordinated also makes the space look cleaner and less cluttered.

Pots and Pans

The pots and pans were what I was most worried about. I was bringing 5 assorted pots and pans from Vermont and my mom also gave us an old set of hers. I did not know how we would store it all. Well, making use of some more wire cabinet organizers, a wall mounted lid rack, some command hooks, and a cookware organizer, we were able to succeed at my goal of stacking as few pans as possible. 

The door mounted lid organizer was one of the best things to help keep this cabinet clutter free. The cookware organizer worked well for all the shallow pans. Keeping these pans on their sides is so much more space efficient and functional than if we had tried to stack them.

The wire shelves worked for stacking larger pans. The command hook allowed me to hang a strainer in the cabinet without taking up any additional space.

We even managed to fit our large cutting board and a few more plastic cutting boards in the pots and pan cabinet. They were all too tall to fit in the upper cabinets, and they worked perfectly in this space.

Spices

Next up- the spice cabinet. It made most sense to use the cabinet above the stove so we would have easy access to spices when cooking. Well, the cabinet is pretty tall. So we found an amazing solution in our pull down spice rack that allows us to reach all the spices! Yay!

Also- I got a tiered cabinet organizer so we could see all our other cooking oils and sauces easily. I am so happy with this cabinet- it is super functional.

Under the Sink

Next up- the dreaded under sink cabinet. So much to fit in this space. We keep the bulk of our cleaning supplies, dish towels, rags, garbage bags, extra dish drainer, extra large reusable shopping bags, and some laundry supplies under here.

Well, I managed to keep it from getting too chaotic. On the left I used a small bin to keep kitchen dish towels. Next to that is a bin with reusable bottles and cleaning pads (like the pads for our shark mop). Behind those bins there is another wire shelf to make the most of the space.

All the way to the right is a folded up dish drainer. Next to that is a bin with our microfiber cleaning cloths and other rags. And in the middle of the cabinet are all the cleaning supplies.

On the left door, we keep all our plastic grocery bags. On the right door we keep extra sponges. Don’t underestimate the power of cabinet doors for kitchen storage.

(continued on next page)

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