Alright friends. Kitchen organization. Let’s do this. :) I’ve been working on getting my kitchen organized from top to bottom. At some point I’m going to do a post that shows inside every cupboard/drawer in my kitchen – how everything is organized and where everything is located. But that post overwhelms me because it’s so much picture taking. So I thought I’d show you my kitchen organizing progress along the way. Then at some point I’ll combine what I’ve shared along with a few things I haven’t shared to make one BIG organized kitchen post. Should be a party. :)
Our previous kitchen didn’t have a lot of storage so when I designed our new kitchen I went a little crazy with storage. I added a lot of fun features to help me stay organized (coming soon!) along with plenty of cupboard and drawer space. I have a lot of storage in this kitchen. Truth be told, I have more storage in this kitchen than I really need. I mentioned in my secret to staying organized post that having so much storage has been a challenge for me and has actually made it harder for me to stay organized. 
Here is a lovely example of this. I love having two islands for the counter space, but the drawers in our second island are just extra storage I don’t really need. So we basically have three junk drawers. Every one of them drives me crazy. :) The far left is my husband’s drawer where he sets letters/papers he needs. The middle drawer has no purpose and the far right drawer is our true junk drawer.
Time to clean things up!
I always dump the whole drawer on the counter and wipe things down and then I’m very careful about what I put back. 
Much better. The bowl is usually full of change but my 5 year old recently took it all and put it in a crayon bank in his room. He’s been “collecting monies” for a while now. :) (These organizers are from Home Goods.)
Most of this drawer was garbage or things that really belong somewhere else.
Nice and clean now! I’m still trying to determine the purpose for this drawer (everything needs a set, assigned place if I’m going to keep it organized). For now it holds our iPad, headphones, extra cords, cards and sunglasses. How’s that for random. :)
Since I took this picture I’ve added other random cords that are popping up in spaces I’m organizing. I’m corralling them all with my Martha Stewart Tags. These work great for chargers you don’t use as often. They keep cords tidy, labeled and out of the way.
These two drawers for “extras” are now sparkling clean and I plan on keeping them that way! As for my husband’s drawer.. I was about to organize it when he politely asked if he could have just one drawer in the house that wasn’t wiped clean and “full of my crazy containers, organizers and labels.” Ha! Well.. if you really feel that way babe.. you can have your one drawer. ONE. But just know that now that the kitchen is so clean (aside from your one drawer) I twitch every time I open it and it’s all I can do to not organize it. Leaving it alone is a true sign of my love for you. ;)
We don’t use paper utensils and bowls often but I love having them on hand for when my kids have a lot of friends over. I used a few of my silver mesh drawer organizers from The Container Store to hold the utensils.
In my previous kitchen I just kept paper plates in my pantry. I use a drawer for them now because I have the space. I keep them right by my micro drawer which comes in handy!
Below my micro drawer I keep our sacks. I never took the time to organize them..
until now. :)
My mixing bowl cupboard was getting messy and I knew there were things in it I could toss.
It just holds my essential every day items now! A few mixing bowls (this set from Williams Sonoma is my all time favorite), my strainers and our favorite popcorn bowls. Which get the most use of all. :)
I’ve been a bit scattered in my organizing – popping around from place to place, but I’m checking things off of my 2016 list! It feels really good to have my kitchen organized. I’ll share more soon! Happy organizing friends. :)
Can I have that black and white bowl with the handle? :-)
:)
Can you organize mine?!? I feel like I just did this, and everything is messy again. I blame my 4 kids!
I know Stefanie! It’s so hard with kids! I am SO determined to keep things clean this time around! Fingers crossed I can make it happen.. :) xo
Great job! I would be opening those drawers all day, just for the thrill of it.
With the bags, I’m at a whole other level of crazy and fold them into little triangles. Drives my husband mad but they look so pretty!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cidF66-LXng
Oh my word Samantha! I’m dying!! You really are taking it to a whole other level! I’d love the folding, but it would drive me crazy to undo every time I needed a sack! Ha! But what a great space saving solution! And they do look very pretty. :) xo
I love organized kitchen drawers and cabinets. I am drooling and dreaming about all your kitchen space. Good work. I can’t wait to see your big post and what you put in to help organize when you designed the kitchen.
Also, just don’t open your hubby’s drawer and pretend it doesn’t exist. ;)
Good tip JC! I agree! Out of sight out of mind. ;) Thanks cutie! xo
Lookin’ good! My Kate Spade glasses have the same case! 😊
Love it Beth! :) xo
Doesn’t it feel good to do this? I’m amazing at how messy things get so quickly, but I’ve just decided that’s what happens with 3 kids :)
So true Michele! It’s hard with kids. But I find once I really organize a space (closet, drawer, cupboard) I can keep it clean. The day to day messes from life with 3 kids will never end! :) xo
Oh Erin! I have the opposite drawer problem…when we redid our kitchen I got less drawer space! I’m drooling over those nice big drawers (oops, did I do that again)? LOL And each one is definitely full. I had never even heard of a microwave drawer until I saw that picture you showed of your daughter working on her science project, I think. What a cool invention! Anyway, organization is key with too many or too little. I think you are doing a fantastic job! I love to look at clean, organized spaces. I also agree with the previous comment about just not opening your hubby’s drawer. Hopefully, you won’t get twitchy about it. Hee, hee! Thanks for sharing. I always look forward to your posts. I end up with a happy smile on my face. Have a wonderful weekend. :)
Thanks sweet Jeanne! Oh my word.. we love our micro drawer! I hadn’t seen one either until we discovered it building. I love having it low so the kids can reach it! I am so determined to keep my kitchen organized. LOVE opening clean cupboards and drawers! :) Enjoy your weekend too cutie! xo
Your kitchen is so spacious and beautiful! I love those cute tags from Martha Stewart. Those are going on the list for sure! I take old Lysol wipes containers, glue cute paper or use contact paper over them, and stuff my plastic bags inside. It makes them easy to pull out. When I have too many to fit inside, those go to the recycle tub at my grocery store. (This is also a great way to keep bags in the car.)
Thanks Daria! That’s a great idea too! xo
I almost mentioned that I fold my bags into triangles when I posted yesterday but decided not to…Glad someone else does it. For us, it is a space factor.
It’s a great idea if you are short on space. Wish I would have known about that little trick in my last house! xo
Love your kitchen! Where did you get your pendant lights ? Can you tell me what the name or model is and how much they were? They are beautiful.
Thank you so much Amy! I’m traveling right now and don’t have that info. with me. E-mail me in a week and I’ll find it for you! xo
Hi Erin! I’m also interested in your pendant lights!! Can you tell me where you purchased them? Thanks.
Hi Jennifer! So sorry for the delay in this response. For some reason this older comment just popped up in my dashboard! My pendant lights are from Capital Lighting. :) xo
Hi Erin!
I love, love your blog, but I have a request. I live out in the country and we have very slow “high speed” Internet. Yours is one of my favorite blogs but when I visit it, the homepage takes FOREVER to load. I think it’s because all your pictures are very large when you upload them, and also full blog posts load on the homepage rather than just a snippet of each one.
I was wondering if you would consider maybe reducing the load size of your homepage so that people like me can read your awesome posts without waiting so long for everything to load. :-)
Thanks so much for considering! Happy Friday!
Sarah
Oh my word Sarah.. I’ve been working on this! So sorry to hear it’s loading slow for you. I might have to start truncating my top post. I recently started resizing my pictures and just this January I started paying our server more to provide faster bandwidth so hopefully that will help! Let me know in a few weeks if it’s loading any faster. Thanks so much cutie! Happy you still attempt to read my blog! :) xo
Thanks for sharing Erin!!! always love your organizing techniques!!!
Thanks so much Lily! :) xo
You really do have amazing storage in your kitchen, and it’s always fun to see how you organize things. My kitchen is fairly large, and really does have very adequate storage. One thing that my hubby did was to make slide-out shelves for all of our lower cabinets….definitely saves on my aging back!
Warm hugs,
Carol
SMART hubby. Or smart wife? ;) Either way I love that idea Carol! xo
This is the dream! Can’t wait to see more of how you organize the rest of the kitchen.
Thank you Katrina! xo
I can’t imagine anything in your house would be messy. You are always so organized and inspiring!
We have plenty of messes around here! Always a work in progress. :) Thanks Sam! xo
Your house is stunning!!! Is there a place on your blog with paint colors?! Also is there a place to see the entire layout/blueprint of your house? Can you move to michigan and design our future home?!!! Thank you!
Thank you so much Courtney! I wish I could come to Michigan and help! Would love to visit there someday. :) I don’t have a post with paint colors, but I REALLY need to do that at some point. Let me know what rooms you want the color for and I’ll send you info! I’m not sharing the floor plan of our house on my blog, but if you read it long enough you’ll get a general feel for the layout. I post a lot of house pictures. :) xo
I’m in the process of a kitchen remodel. I love everything about yours! The organization is inspiring! What are your kitchen countertops?
Thank you Tanya! So happy you like my kitchen! My counters are Quartz – “Raven” on the perimeter and “Organic White” on the islands. Good luck with your remodel! xo
Would love to see more kitchen organizing!
Hopefully coming soon! :) xo
What color gray is on your walls and island?
Hi Brittney! I wrote all about my paint in this post:
https://www.thesunnysideupblog.com/2016/04/favorite-gray-paint-paint-colors-throughout-house/
Hope that helps! :)