Jennifro

Inner Beauty

Organizing my kitchen this past year has, hands down, been one of the best things I've ever done to my house. I told Nick that part of the cost of the redo had to include new stuff. I mean what's so great about pretty skin if your lungs are filled with tar? I'm not kidding when I say I got rid of everything inside my cupboards and drawers except for a few pyrex dishes and two cookie sheets. Everything went.

My hutch is now in order. The kids have a drawer they use to set the table. Tablecloths are folded and put where they should be.

The kitchen aid is no longer on the counter but is still super accessible. This sort of seemed like a waste of space but I wouldn't trade it..

The corner cabinet is the only original piece that remained from our old kitchen. I'm glad we kept it; you should've seen how shameful this cupboard was before. Yikes!

Behind the brooms and mop is the fridge set into the wall. This used to be our pantry closet. It's nice because it still serves a useful purpose. I painted the dry wall with chalkboard paint and found it's the perfect place for this stuff. All our excess food is now down in the basement in a large pantry. It's been so great keeping only what we need in the kitchen.

In the breakfast room I keep most of the baking stuff and extra food. I cannot believe that my cupboards look clean and truly organized for the first time in a million years.

We opted for some split drawers and they have been wonderful. It helps me avoid stacking everything; that was a large part of my last kitchen's dysfunction. Basically an avalanche every time I tried to pull something out.

Another pick me up. It's therapeutic to have only what you use under your sink. Holy cow how did I live before with everything from silver polish to motor oil under there?

What a thrill to get all knew dishes. Martha Stewart from Macy's.. awesome price and a really bright white--not grayish like a lot of other white dishes.

Papin built us this awesome little shelf under the range hood. I love having salt and pepper here and the timer. I swear the little details are the best..

I got new silverware for my birthday from Natalie and I love it. I am so happy she gave it to me because I'm sure this is not something I would've splurged on.

This is my favorite drawer of all. It just makes me feel like I know what I'm doing because it looks so good. I've always wanted to have an organized spice drawer. I got the bottles and all my drawer inserts/organizers from the container store but most of my new kitchen utensils I found at Marshalls and TJMaxx.

I no longer have 75 pointless mixing bowls and mismatched tupperware. I swear I feel like I've been let out of jail when I see this...

...and this. I bought new pans which fit perfectly into this cool pull-out thing. I told Nick I feel like a newlywed again.. ahem, in the kitchen that is. It's so fun to start over in one area of your life. This time around I absolutely know what I need and use and am smart enough to realize the riff-raff just weighs you down. Sadly, I still have three horrendous organizational nightmares left to tackle: the attic, the basement and it who cannot be named it's so evil (garage). At least I have hope and vision now. Progress takes time.. and money; both can be a little hard to come by. So for now I'll try to focus on the good spots.