*affiliate links used

{faux pink peonies/white jars/cutting boards here, here & similar here/navy rugs/rug pads/marble tray/faux plant here & here/silver pendants/gray vase/similar bowl}

Alright.. let’s wrap this kitchen organization up today!  Actually.. I don’t know.  It’s kind of a fun topic for me.  I’m not so sure I want it to end. ;)

This is the 3rd post of what turned into a mini series on my kitchen organization.  If you missed either of the first 2 posts you can check them out here:

KITCHEN ORGANIZATION POST 1

KITCHEN ORGANIZATION POST 2

(All kitchen sources are linked at the end of this post!  I also updated my favorite things page.  A lot of my favorites are marked down!)

In my last post I shared the island cabinets across from the cooktop so today we are starting with the backside!

The cabinet on the left (if you’re facing this side of the island) holds some of my cleaning supplies.  I know.. I have a crazy amount of Meyers counter sprays and dish soap!  That’s because I’ve done collaborations with Grove for my blog so they sent me a lot.  (This was after sharing some with friends!)  I love Meyers multi-surface cleaners and counter sprays!  Recently I’ve been using the lavender a lot. :)  I also love this Screen Mom cleaner for our computers and TV screens, etc.  I keep the rest of my cleaning supplies in my stair closet and a few things in bathrooms where I use them.

I designed this middle section of the island to look like three drawers but it’s actually not!

It’s one tall cabinet that opens to the right.  I’m tricky like that. ;)  I didn’t really need more drawer space but I thought the look of drawers added some visual interest.  I have a hook in this cabinet that I used to use to hold all of my reusable shopping bags but now I keep most of them in my car.  It also holds two little stools in a stool stand.  We use these stools every day!  I’m short so I always need them to reach things in my kitchen.  Kole uses them all the time to reach the counter and help me cook things and I also use them when I’m taking pictures with my tripod.  Short people need step stools nearby. ;)

The cabinet to the right is just extra storage and since I’ve been on a cleaning frenzy it’s nice and bare at the moment!  Just holding a few extra OXO containers for the pantry and my favorite drink dispenser.  Ready to pull it out for warm weather and outdoor dinners!

Island cupboards open..

and closed.

I have to say that I learned a very valuable lesson when we moved into this house.  I had always lived in small apartments and a much smaller home before we built this house and I had to work really hard to purge often so that I could stay organized.  I remember thinking “if I only had more space..  it would be so easy to keep things organized!”  Then we moved into this home.  A larger home that I had designed myself with storage in mind and the first few of years living in this home I was the most unorganized I’ve ever been.  I had so much space for things!  So things filled up all the space.  Then I spent too much time moving all of our endless stuff around trying to compartmentalize it and failing miserably.  I finally realized (or maybe just finally remembered!) that the key to staying organized isn’t about having more space.  It might make some things easier, but the real secret to keeping your home organized?  LESS STUFF.  It just is.

Which brings me to the last section of my kitchen – the cupboards and drawers in this second island.  I never planned on having storage in this island (we really didn’t need it) but my architect convinced me to add it because we might as well use the space inside this island that was going to be here anyway.  In some ways I wish these were all fake cupboards and drawers because this island constantly becomes a dumping ground!

My architect also convinced me to put in a warming drawer.  I knew I wouldn’t use it much.  I remember joking with him about “what would I use it for?  To warm up my kids chicken nuggets for dinner?” ;)  I’ve used it a few times for our family and it has come in handy a few times when we’ve had catered events at the house for my husband’s office, but other than that not so much.  If Kenny isn’t home in time for dinner it usually means he’s eating out with clients so there’s never a time I make something and want to keep it warm for later.  In my opinion it’s something you could do without in a kitchen remodel/build.  I’d put your money towards two dishwashers instead! ;)

The drawer below this holds our cords.  I FINALLY got this space cleaned out and am determined to keep it this way!  The angels were singing when they saw this one finally organized. :)  I have to share the before’s of this one quick..

See what I mean by the danger of having too much storage space?  To just fill it with junk!?  What even WAS this mess!?  A dumping ground for cords and random electronic items.

The trick to staying organized?  Get rid of what you don’t use or love.  This is all we really need to keep in this drawer.

{organizers here and here}

Once this drawer was only full of the items we really needed to keep I rounded up some organizers I already had on hand.  Two containers from a set of fridge organizers I had (these big bins work better for me here than in the fridge!) and another random organizer with three long compartments to hold our cords and chargers.  Wow.. such a difference!

The top drawer on the right is our beloved junk drawer.  These expandable organizers have made it so easy for me to keep it looking like this!

The cupboard below our junk drawer I’ve been using to keep games and books, etc. for the kids.  Mostly Kole’s stuff that we pull out when we have an “I’m bored” moment. :)

The cupboard on the far left was full of Addison’s slime stuff but I have very happy news (for me!).  She is finally growing tired of the slime and moving on to other things.  Thank goodness!  I never thought this day would come.  I want to cry happy tears every time I think about it.  We recently cleaned this cupboard out and tossed most of the items that were here.  We kept a few things in case she ever changes her mind, but I have a feeling the rest of the slime supplies will slowly disappear.  Sometimes things like that happen in our house.

It’s a mystery that will remain unsolved.

;)

So that is how our second kitchen island is organized!  You might notice that I didn’t share the top left drawer.  When we moved into this house my husband asked if he could have one drawer to hold his random items that I wouldn’t touch.  A drawer I wouldn’t sort through, organize, label or compartmentalize.  One I would just leave unattended.  It was a tough sell, but I reluctantly gave him his beloved messy drawer.  I have to just not open it.  Because it bugs me.

And I want to sort through, organize, label and compartmentalize everything in it.

Second island closed and clean!

We have one other small section of the kitchen for storage that wraps around the perimeter.  The bottom drawer and cupboard on the left don’t open and are just for looks because of the three drawers on the front side of them.  The top three mini drawers are currently empty but I’ve used them before for school supplies when kids are working at the kitchen table.

I never took a pic of the inside of the little drawers when I used them for school supplies, but I found this pic I have of one of the Better Homes and Gardens magazine features of my organized kitchen and it shows them open.

The top right drawer holds our sunscreen and pool remote.  This is right by the french doors that lead to our yard and pool.

The cupboard below used to hold Addison’s slime.  Unlike her dad she doesn’t mind if I take charge and organize her stuff. ;)

Right now I’m using it to hold my small decorative mugs and bowls.

Did I mention that I’m so happy Addison is done with the slime? :)

Whew!  That wraps up my kitchen organization!  I hope this fun little miniseries gave you a few ideas for your kitchen!  I organized most of this space by just spending 15 minutes a day.  A drawer here.. a cupboard there.  Feels so good to finally have it complete!

Now time to finish up my closet.  Send prayers!  For some reason cooking accessories are a lot easier for me to part with than shoes and clothes.

;)

{POST SOURCES}

{faux pink peonies/white jars/cutting boards here, here & similar here/navy rugs/rug pads/marble tray/faux plant here & here/silver pendants/gray vase/similar bowl}

Happy Friday everyone!  I’m sharing part 1 of my organized kitchen today.  Woot woot!  A few things!  First, I’m breaking this up into two posts (just like I did with my organized office) because I’m sharing so many pictures!  I don’t want to break the internet or put you to sleep. ;)  Part 2 is coming soon!  Second, if you’ve been with me a while you’ve already seen a lot of these organized drawers and cupboards so I’m apologizing in advance for some repeats.  I’ve wanted to put this post together for a long time so that when people ask about how I organize my kitchen I have everything together in these 2 posts.  I recognize that we have a lot of storage space in this kitchen (something I worked into the design when we built our home after years of living in small kitchens with limited storage!) so items are more spread out and organized differently than I would organize them if that weren’t the case.  My hope is that regardless of the size of your current kitchen it will give you some ideas on how you can organize and make the most of your space.  I also hope this post better shares where things are located for those of you looking for ideas if you are building or remodeling a kitchen.

A few kitchen details: The counters are Quartz (Caeserstone) and I’ve absolutely love them.  The islands are “Organic White” and the perimeter is “Raven.”  My wood floors are custom but you can find more info. about them here.  You can also find a printable of the paint colors I used in my kitchen (and the rest of my house) by subscribing to my blog here.  My sinks are Shaw farmhouse sinks and the faucets are Rohl.  Kitchen decor sources will be linked at the end of my post (affiliate links used).

{flour/sugar canisters/marble & wood cheese board/similar bowl/faux plant/gingham bowls/Kitchen-aid Pistachio mixer/white terracotta jar/pink peonies}

Let’s start with my little butler’s pantry in the back left corner of my kitchen!  It’s feeling happy for Spring. :)

I had a lot of miscellaneous kitchen items I wasn’t sure what to do with (KitchenAid and dishwasher components, lids of jars, etc.) so I put them in this left drawer and corralled them in a tray.  (Trays work great in drawers for this sort of thing!  I find most of my trays here.)  I put my flower food packets in two small bowls.  The right drawer holds my nice seasonal kitchen towels.

In the cupboards below I store larger baking items and all of the lids to my pots and pans.  These pot lid organizers were a major game changer for me!  So nice to free up space for my pans in the pull outs I use to store them, especially since I only use the lids once in a while.

Everything open!

And everything closed. :)  You can see there is a door to the right of these cupboards and that opens up to our pantry.

{similar framed cork boards here and lots of other options here}

I’ve loved having cork boards in our pantry!  A perfect place to hang my kids’ school work and art and all of the invites, cards, and other miscellaneous items I love seeing daily.

{similar chalkboard here & here/flour & sugar canisters}

This was a recent cell pic I snapped quickly of how our pantry is looking today.  I use the top shelves to store miscellaneous kitchen items and food is on the left and below.   These seagrass baskets are long time favorites of mine for organization and I have them in my bathroom too.  (You can see how my entire bathroom is organized here.)  I also love the OXO containers and have always used them in my various kitchen pantries through the years.

Drawers are all organized with my favorite drawer dividers.

I also love this Expand A Shelf (in the MEGA size!) for my canned goods.  You can see a full post with more details on my organized pantry here.

Moving on to this section of my kitchen!  I packed a lot of storage on this wall.  The cabinets on the far left are actually our fridge/freezer and then we have our double ovens on the far right.  I also put our micro drawer in this section and have absolutely LOVED having it lower vs. a standard microwave.  I wasn’t sure when I made that decision building but I haven’t regretted it!  It’s perfect for the kids to reach and so easy to just lean over to stir things and then cook them a little longer.

{blender/crockpot/Russell Hobbs toaster/electric can opener/similar kitchen towels}

I store dishes we don’t use every day in the top cabinets and then we have appliance garages below that slide up and back into the wall.  I keep our most used appliances here and have plug outlets behind them so I can pull things out and just use them right where they are on this counter.

{mesh organizers}

The top left drawer holds paper goods.

Magic Bullet Blender, an egg cooker (gave this one to my dad and he loves it), our Cuisinart Belgian Waffle Maker (this is the newest model), Panini Maker, Toastmaster Griddle (newest model).

Below that I store other miscellaneous appliances.

Below our micro drawer I store our garbage bags and reusable grocery bags.  I found this drawer divider for deep drawers and love it in this space!

Everything closed looking sleek and clean..

And everything open.. still sleek and clean!

I store my baking sheets in this organized cupboard with dividers above my ovens.  (You can see the molding we added to the hallway to the right of this pic.. can’t wait until I can get it painted!)

Below my ovens are items we use when we grill and other miscellaneous kitchen items I use but not every day.  (I corralled these items in a tray again.)

Organizing this section of my kitchen was one of my most recent projects and I’m so happy to finally have it done!  Now I smile every time I open these cupboards and drawers.  It took me a while to figure out how to make this space work for us and now that I have I know it will be easy to keep organized.  Organization is so much more than just making items look pretty in drawers.  You have to figure out how to make your spaces work for you.  Finding locations for items and setting them up in a way that will make your life easier every day.  THAT’S the trick!  Once you figure that out, keeping a space organized is easy.

Everything closed!  Nothing scary lurking behind these cupboards and drawers anymore. :)

Moving on to this corner of my kitchen near the cooktop!

{shelf organizer/marble tray/faux plant}

I keep our medicine, bandaids, first aid items, etc. in this top kitchen cabinet.  Once I bought this 3-tier expandable shelf organizer it was easy to keep our medicine organized!  I labeled bowls at the top to hold smaller items.

{madesmart organizers I used here and similar gray organizers here}

The top drawer is my go-to drawer for cooking!  It holds all of our most used cooking items and measuring cups.

The drawer below that holds all of my dish towels/cloths.  (These are my favorite dish cloths/towels by the way!)

The bottom drawer holds food storage containers.  I used another clear expandable deep drawer divider to keep my lids separated from their containers in this drawer.  Game changer!  I’m a huge fan of drawer dividers in case you haven’t figured that out yet. :)

I store all of our pots and pans below our cooktop in these pull-out drawers.  So nice to have the lids out of the way!  These drawers were always so cluttered before I moved the lids.

{kitchen rugs/rug pads}

Then the pull-outs to the sides hold my baking/party supplies and spices.  I was so excited about finally getting these cleaned out I felt like they deserved a post of their own. ;)

{chrome spice bottles}

Another section nice and organized.  Feels so good!  Everything open.

Everything closed!

We still need to move around the perimeter of my kitchen and then there is all of the storage happening in my double islands so stay tuned for part 2 of my organized kitchen!

One more space down!  More than a few more to go. ;)

*UPDATE – HEAD TO THE POSTS BELOW TO SEE THE REST OF MY ORGANIZED KITCHEN!

ORGANIZED KITCHEN PART 2

ORGANIZED KITCHEN PART 3

{POST SOURCES}