Kitchen Refresh

With the new year starting I decided to cross of something on my to-do list of the year right away and that was to organize the kitchen! When we (my boyfriend and I) moved in to the new apartment right before the first round of quarantine, we weren't in a rush to buy everything we needed for our new home. Then we realized we'd both be working from we decided to buy our furniture sooner rather than later. Every month I waited to get the notice that we would be back in the office, but here we are almost a year later and still working remotely. I love it in all honesty, but now that I'm no longer in denial about how long we'll be working remotely I decided it's time to step up the organization in our home. 

The biggest project was the kitchen. I shared in the apartment tour (click here to read) that our kitchen storage was...well, unique to say the least. Weird sized drawers and cabinets just don't make for a user-friendly kitchen. There were a few other projects I needed to reorganize, but the kitchen was the main focus.

The first thing I did was deep clean the whole apartment. I mean the living room rug was outside, I moved the couch, I took everything out of cabinets and closets and went to town. As I started to make donation, for sale and throw away bags, I also started to take note of what products I could use for organization. For instance in the closet so many hangers and space were being taken up by "work clothes." As most of you, I have worn nothing but leggings and sweaters for the past year so I'm not really reaching for those pleated pants or blouse, so I got a plastic bin and stored all of my work clothes in there. Freeing up so much space in my closet for more hoodies and t-shirts. We use the second closet in our bedroom for storage so again we bought more bins and really focused on how we wanted to utilize every corner of this small closet. I even bought these two plastic organizers that stick to the back of doors and cabinets and put all of the laundry pods and dryer sheets in one so I don't have to constantly stand on my tippy-toes to get it off the shelves. I made these little changes in just about every room, but the kitchen was the monster of a project I needed to tackle.

As I said before, the first thing I did was take everything out. Every cabinet, drawer, fridge, freezer and nook and cranny that I could find. I washed EVERYTHING. I did about ten loads of dishes in the dishwasher alone then hand-washed everything else. I got rid of expired products or products I just knew we wouldn't use. We gave our families a whole bag of non-perishable goodies that I knew we wouldn't touch and then Wal-Mart and Amazon became my best friends. I measured cabinets and researched the best products. I even drew out a sketch on my iPhone of how I want the everything to be laid out. Next I made a list of products to buy. I was able to thrift 90% of these products including canisters (glass and plastic). The wooden 3-tier shelf, Lazy Susan, pump dispensers, plastic drink dispensers and the pot organizer are all from Amazon. The glass canisters for the coffee corner are from Wal-Mart and everything else was thrifted. 

BEFORE

After I got rid of a ton of stuff and deep-cleaned the kitchen, it was time to put everything away. I don't know how to explain how I put things away, I just did what worked best for my boyfriend and myself. I do want to highlight some of my favorite new things in the kitchen. The fridge got a total makeover. We now have the green onions and chives in water to keep them fresher longer, the Lazy Susan has our most used condiments for easy access, the eggs in a clear plastic container and everything has a place. There's no more half opened items or foil wrapped meats and veggies. Everything is put away in containers (even the cheese) to keep them fresher longer and also to see how much we have. My coffee station is another favorite of mine. By putting a little more on the counter (which I usually hate) but its something I use every day. I'm able to make more room for things in the cabinets. Plus I keep it super organized and always put things back where they belong. I just love how refreshing it is to open a kitchen cabinet and not instantly be overwhelmed with stuff just being everywhere. I'm excited now to use my kitchen seeing as how I am no longer in denial about "when we're going back to the office."

AFTER

It was about a two-three week process, but now our kitchen is super organized, I know where everything is and I love it!

xoxo, Michele

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