Is there a part of your house – a drawer or cabinet, perhaps – that drives you bananas because it’s such a mess and you can never find what you’re looking for but you don’t fix it because it always drives you crazy when you’re in the moment doing something or rushing somewhere and by the time you have some time to address it you’ve kind of forgotten about it? Anyone??
Well this kitchen drawer was that thing for me.
No big surprise, I’m sure, but it was practically impossible to ever find the utensil I was looking for in this disheveled tangle without some measure of digging and disgusted “Ugh!” sounds coming from yours truly.
Finally, finally, this past weekend I took 15 minutes and fixed the problem. Seriously, 15 minutes. WHY did I not do this sooner??
First step was emptying the contents of the drawer and separating into two piles: “keep” and “toss.” One only needs so many soup ladles! The “toss” pile got, you guessed it, tossed, and the “keep” pile went into two further piles: “drawer” and “counter.” Smaller items went into the “drawer” pile and larger ones into the “counter” pile. I had a spring-loaded drawer separator in the drawer already that just needed to be repositioned a bit before I neatly placed the remaining items back in the drawer. Approximately 7 minutes later I had this dramatic before and after.
But remember I said it took 15 minutes? Well it was so easy and gratifying a job I moved on to the drawer underneath and did the same.
The “counter” items, utensils I use often and are handy to have right at my fingertips, went into two containers – one for whisks and spatulas on the counter where I typically prep items and the other for ladles, large spoons, and other cooking utensils, near the stove.
I realized I haven’t shared too many photos of my kitchen, so here’s a quick little photo tour.
Sink side of kitchen
Stove side of kitchen
Have you ever kicked yourself for not making a simple organizational change sooner? I’m so happy with the way this new setup is functioning for me just these last few days!