Over the last 4 posts, we shared the progression of our kitchen remodel. In the last post, Kitchen Remodel – Part 4, we were almost done. We had the cabinets painted, the countertops installed and the hardware on.
Now came the hard part – putting our stuff away. Even though we had carted boxes with dishes, pans, dish towels, and small appliances to the thrift stores before and after we moved into our new home, we still had lots of stuff left to put away. As a reminder, we had two full kitchens in our previous house. Who needs that?? To be honest, I liked it because I had lots of cabinets to store all sorts of stuff that wasn’t ‘kitchen’ related. Vases, craft items, seasonal dishes, and decorations. Items that I now had to unpack and see what would fit, along with our dishes, cookware, glasses, coffee mugs, etc. You get the idea.
The Good
I now have plenty of cabinets in the kitchen. Cabinets for everyday dishes. Drawers for pots and pans. A pantry for food. And a dishwasher! There was not a dishwasher in the kitchen before the remodel. It is a tight fit, but it works.
The cabinet to the left of the dishwasher holds baking and cookie sheets. The cabinet door to the right of the refrigerator is where we store cutting boards. Putting them in with the cookie sheets made them harder to access. We used a large cup hook for the cutting boards. It will hold 3 of this type of cutting board.
In looking for ways to organize and save space, I found a pin on Pinterest for hanging measuring cups. It works great!
I like the corner cabinets because there is no dead space in them. I can see and access the whole cabinet. This is the upper corner cabinet to the right of the sink. When putting in the hooks, we needed to be sure we were clearing the shelf. Also, the cups only fit one way without hitting items on the shelf. That is why I labeled the hooks.
I really like the pantry. (Except for the cabinet over the pantry, which I will talk about later.) All the food is easy to access and the drawers are adjustable.
I also like the cabinet on the right of the microwave. That is where I store the spices and other baking ingredients. I have them in the small baskets setting on a tier rack. This allows me to take them down without knocking everything else over. I am still looking at other options, however, this is working for me now. Our key rack also fit there nicely.
The Bad
We also have what is called blind or dead space corner cabinets under the counters. These are bad because I have to crawl back there to put stuff away and I can’t see into them. Here is a peek into the one by the refrigerator.
The cabinet under the kitchen sink goes all the way back to the corner. This one is not as dark because of the two cabinet doors, however, it is no easier to access items. For both of these cabinets, I have put the heavier and little used items. I find that I need something from one of them about 2 or 3 times a month.
The cabinet over the pantry also falls into this category, but I think it is related more to my needing to organize it better. Or add another shelf up there. Take a peek back at the picture of the pantry and look at the top cabinet. When I need flour, sugar or other baking ingredients in canisters, I have to get on a step stool. And remove items to get to these, because they are in the back! Ok, enough whining about this one.
The Hmm
We also have shelves so tall that I need a step stool to reach them, such as the top shelves in the corner cabinets. Before I put something up there, I have to really think about it. I sometimes wait until I have several items to put away before I get the step stool out. This is when I think about moving things around, putting some items on lower shelves, and moving others up. That is why I call these the Hmmm because I am still thinking about them.
I have been exploring different ways to make the cabinets more organized. And also ways to modify the blind cabinets to make them more accessible. If you are interested, check out our Small Kitchen Remodel and Storage board on Pinterest.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are enjoying our blog and our adventure remodeling our kitchen. If you have any questions on any of our projects, just leave a question in the comments.