Keeping a Home - An organized kitchen

Warning... this is a long one, folks!

It's done!  My kitchen re-organization and farmhouse update is done. I am not going to lie, it was a lot of work but I am thrilled with how it turned out. 

Before I show you the details of the farmhouse part of it, I want to share the re-organization with you.

Our home was built in 1954.  It is two story, less than 1500 square feet with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a long narrow living room, a nice size dining room and a 12 x 12 square kitchen.

If you have watched as much HGTV as I have then you know about the all important kitchen triangle.  Well, in 1954 there was no such notion.  You got a stove, a sink and a place for a refrigerator...period.  Where ever they fit, they fit.

With my kitchen being square, everything is pushed against the walls.  The stove is right next to the refrigerator with no counter prep area and the sink is four feet away from the dishwasher because in 1954 the wife was the dishwasher (still is come to think of it, but now she uses a machine to dry the dishes).



When we purchased this house the previous owner was using the empty space in the center of the kitchen as an eat in with a small square table pushed under the window.  I opted for a small island in the middle of kitchen so that I would have some prep area.  This worked okay but I really needed more workspace than the little island provided.

Enter mom...When my mom moved into her smaller home she re-gifted me with a pine island that I had given her many years ago.  After much pushing and pulling I was able to bump both the islands together and create one large preparation/baking area.  (Lest you think the islands were a perfect match in height, they were not.  I was able to add enough fillers to the bottom of one of the islands to match the height pretty closely.)



Now I have plenty of room to keep my butcher block cutting board, Kitchen Aid mixer, mini food processor, assorted spices and my cooking utensils out and still have plenty of open work space.  I moved my dried beans and pasta out of the pantry and into these plastic jars.  They fit perfectly on the shelves of one of the islands.

I tucked a basket for shoes, which seem to always end up in the kitchen, behind the island along with a small step stool.  I also added a small basket to collect sunglasses and badges and clutter that ends up on the kitchen counter.



I purchased the baskets to gather the spices in at Joann's, the spice bottles at IKEA (I wrote the name of the spice with a sharpie) and the oil decanter and adorable pepper mill faucet at Target.



I had already re-organized my pantry areas and have been fairly successful in keeping them up.



The coffee station pretty much stayed the same with the addition of this cute plaque.

I do dishes by hand every day so it makes sense to just leave out my drying rack.  I purchased a black drying pad for underneath just to clean up the look.

I bought an assortment of little plastic bins for the drawers.  Most were very inexpensive but a few, like the ones holding my cooking knives, were a bit pricier because I wanted the safety of the rubber grip on the bottom.

Well, there you have it.  I really thought things through when I put everything back together.  I wanted the kitchen to function well over the long haul.  I figure if the storage makes sense then it should be easy (easier) to keep it organized.  Hopefully, my family will get used to it and stop complaining that they can't find what they are looking for.

There is one drawer that I didn't touch...the junk drawer.  I had to leave in a little touch of reality, right?

Next week you get to see the pretties.  I promise.

xo, Patty