Kitchen Declutter....

So, I grew up in a home where everything in the kitchen was out... toaster, seasonings...etc. Everything. Both my grandparents' home were this way too. It was very practical, you need these things so they're easier to get to. However, I am married to a man who hates clutter. He wants everything clear. I am also a piler. I stack things into piles so when I clean up stuff, I just pile all my papers neatly and know what's there. It works for me but not for my husband. So... I knew I needed to figure out an alternative way to work on piles and organize my kitchen. haha! This weekend, I focused on my kitchen (and 2 hrs at the storage shed and cleared out about half the stuff in there, yay!).

I haven't repainted since we put in new counters so there's a little line that's not painted just above the back of the counters. I'll get to it eventually.

OK, here's the view from the entrance from the living room. Look at all those counters!!! YEAH!!! I went through cabinets and cleared out things we don't use. I even found something still with original wrapping we got for a wedding gift. Ooops! So, that's going to Goodwill with all the other stuff. 

Clearing out the cabinets allowed me a few shelves to put things occupying the cabinets into them. YAY!! Cleared off my counters.

This is my "mail station". YAY!! My pile is not neatly in a file thingy. The front level are my bills, the second level are things I need to do something about, the third level are my daily chores, menus and things like that and then I have a notebook stuck in the back. The jar has inspirational quotes from past General Conferences (I need those sometimes). The containers are from my 21 Day Fix program. hehe!! Those were just good places to put them and had nothing to do with the mail station.

So, I also went through our spices. I threw out any that were expired and then poured them into the empty containers in this nifty thing. I removed the labels on top and re-wrote them sharpie on the lid. This gave me an entire extra shelf and I can easily find my spices and herbs now. YAY!! :)

I also made a spices inventory list so I know what spices I have and what I need (I threw out a TON so my spices are seriously depleted. I don't even have oregano or seasoning salt anymore.).

I put the fryer in a cabinet and the dehydrator on a shelf. Ahhhh... I love it. It feels so open in there. It may not be as convenient as the kitchens I grew up in but at least all in this home are happy in my kitchen now. ;) YAY!!!