DIY: Kitchen Organization

Cute Martha Stewart labels with hand stamped letters

Spring is here (sort of) and I know I'm not the only one doing a little spring cleaning and clearing out of clutter. I don't know why, but it feels so great to purge my house of all the things I no longer use or need. Along with the purging, it felt necessary to reorganize the very limited space in my small kitchen. Those of you with limited storage will know what I'm talking about; it feels like I'm always re-working my storage to try and make everything fit and function. So, I thought I'd share a few new strategies to try and wrangle all of that kitchen clutter:

My first idea was to dedicate a space to create a beverage station. I used to have all my teas, drink mixes, coffee, etc. literally stuffed into the spice drawer and overflowing into random other locations throughout the kitchen. The drawer that is now dedicated to beverage storage was previously a drawer for all my many random kitchen utensils. I purged out all the utensils that I never use and the rest fit into a beautiful antique jug that was my grandmother's. I'd been looking for a way to utilize the jug for a while and am thrilled it functions so nicely in it's little spot in the corner on my counter top.  

Now I have a drawer dedicated to my beverages and a drawer dedicated to spices! I still need to purge the old and unused spices. But in the mean time I'm just happy to have a place for everything and everything in its place.

My spice drawer, currently overflowing with spices. How on earth did I also fit my teas in here???

My new tea/beverage drawer!

Not having teas, coffee, cocoa, etc. scattered throughout my kitchen created space for a cubby for my cookbooks, coffee press + all my cocktail making utensils.

As in many small kitchens, we also have very limited pantry space and thus have decided to dedicated a few drawers in the main kitchen cabinetry to canned goods that were previously difficult to find and sort through. As a bonus, I think they look pretty sitting on the shelf and add a splash of colour to my white kitchen.

Lastly, (and btw I can't entirely take credit for this part since my hubby found the jars) we bought a bunch of glass jars with steel lids for like $2 each from the dollar store! We use them to store everything from flour to pasta. I found cute labels from the new Martha Stewart line available at Staples to label each container. Then I hand stamped them for an extra fun touch.

Don't forget to cut out the expiry date from the original packaging and tape it to the bottom of the container.

I know, I'm such a geek for getting such joy from this, but I can't help it. Hope you enjoy it too and get some ideas for your next spring cleaning project!