Ask Anna...: Day #6: Organizing Kitchen Cabinets

Welcome back to the Challenge! Did you enjoy your surprise 3rd day off? I hope it gave you lots of extra time to catch up! I just couldn't pass up celebrating my 1 year Blogiversary!!!

Today we are in the kitchen. Was that a groan I just heard?
Don't worry this is going to be easy and at the end of today your cupboards will look fabulous! There is a lot to tackle in the kitchen, too much for one post, so today I'm going to show you how to organize your spices, tupperware and kid stuff.

Are you ready? Let's get organizing!

First let's organize the spice cupboard.

It may not seem like it, but this is a very important cupboard. I am in and out of my spice cabinet all day long, using different things for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So it is important that it's organized, and the items I use most frequently, are easily accessible.

Here are a couple of important things to know when organizing your spice cupboard:

1. Items used most should be on the bottom shelf and be easy to access

2. Store baking spices and cooking spices in different parts of the cupboard. Rarely do you need baking spices when preparing dinner so storing baking spices along with cooking spices will only create more clutter. Storing them in a separate space will make them easier to find and easier to access when it's time to bake.

3. Store items used infrequently at the top of the cupboard so that they are out of the way.

4. Store weekly menus and recipes close by so when it's time to make dinner everything you need is in one location.

#1 To organize your spice cupboard start by taking everything out.

#2 Wipe down shelves and place one or two Bay Leaves on each shelf. The Bay Leaves will keep the weevils away!

#3 Organize the cooking spices into alphabetical order.

#4 Start putting items back into the cupboard, starting with the everyday items: salt, pepper, oil, toothpicks, recipes, etc.

#5 Next put your spices back into the cupboard. I finally purchased a tiered organizer, because I've been wanting one for years, and it was on sale at Target. If you don't have one, it's okay. Start by placing the highest alphabet letters {w, x, y, z} in the back, and then work your way forward. You should have Bay leaves, Cayenne pepper, etc. in the front.

#6 Add baking items back to the cupboard. This will include spices like Nutmeg, Cinnamon, All Spice, Baking Soda, etc. We store our flour and sugars in the pantry but if you keep them in the spice cupboard then they would also go on this shelf.

#7 Place remaining items back into the cupboard, in an organized way. Every one has different items that they cook with so organize the rest of your cupboard they way you need it to function.

Moving right along to the tupperware. Tupperware can seem daunting to store but it's actually very easy. I have a designated spot in on of my bottom cupboard for all of my tupperware storage.

Use a basket to store lids and arrange them smallest to largest so the size you need is easy to find when you need it.

Then stack your tupperware inside of one another. I do actually have a lot more tupperware than this but it's all in the refrigerator right now with Christmas leftovers! I would say I have about double this and it all stacks very nicely into one another.

Place lids and containers in the cupboard next to one another so they are easy to access and you never have to waste time looking around for a mismatched lid!

I use the same concept for storing my daughter's plastic cups, plates, lids, etc. I purchased this basket, 3 for $1, and placed all of the lids in it. They are organized by size and are easy to access when I need them.

I have the bottom shelf in an upper cabinet set aside for "kid stuff". Everything is stacked neatly and easily accessible.

Here's another look. The bowls in front are the bowls that we use every day. The larger bowls are only used from time to time so they have been placed in the back, out of the way.

All of the sippy cups are stored on the next shelf up. We have a lot more, they just all happened to be in the dishwasher {man I guess I really need to do the dishes!}. The sippy cups and coffee cups share this shelf, oh, and my husband's GU {he's an avid runner}.

This is a great way to store kid's dishes. If you don't have extra cupboard space you could easily apply the same organization tools in a drawer. Use baskets, or drawer dividers, to contain lids, cups, bowls, plates, etc. Here are a couple examples that I found on Pinterest.

Have fun organizing your kitchen today! I promise, when you are done, you are going to love the results! Organizing the spice cabinet, the tupperware and all the kid's dishes will make your kitchen much more functional and it will make your life so much easier!