November room Challenge- Kitchen! - Page 2

[LilMama23]

My kitchen is a mess. There is just too much stuff that I don't use that takes up too much space! It's also full of big white walls - this month, I want to pick up some cheap pictures or something to hang on the walls to balance out the stark whiteness of it all. Maybe that will make me more inclined to keep the room looking nice and not let it get out of control!

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by Oliver's Mama

whew, I'm about finished, and took tons of pics. I figured I'd take a pic inside every cabinet to hold myself accountable. nothing to hide!!!! these are all my cabinets, minus the food cabinet and cleaning/laundry cabinet.

http://oliverquinn.shutterfly.com/38

Wow, what a lovely kitchen. I love the salmon paint with the white cabinets!

[slsurface]

I'm game. No promises for getting it done quickly, however. November is going to be a wash of a month for me. I go in for surgery next Monday and expect to be at home recovering for two weeks. I have a couple of problems with my kitchen right now that I would like to deal with.

#1 Our kitchen opens up to the back side of the house and we use this exterior door the most often. However, I want to sew a quilt to hang over the door and seal it off over winter. It faces west and we loose a lot of heat out this door. We need to start using the side or front door instead.

#2 The kitchen is the dumping ground for bills, mail, library books, shoes, etc. I have a lot of counter space, but it is often cluttered and it drives me nuts. I need to devise a better method for containing the clutter.

#3 My mom and MIL unpacked my kitchen stuff for me over a year ago. I HATE where they put things. I need to do a massive reorganization and purge of my kitchen tools to make it less cluttered and more usable.

Wish me luck! I'll be keeping an eye on this thread and : to see what others are doing and how.

[Krisis]

Originally Posted by slsurface

#2 The kitchen is the dumping ground for bills, mail, library books, shoes, etc. I have a lot of counter space, but it is often cluttered and it drives me nuts. I need to devise a better method for containing the clutter.

Argh, this is true for us as well. I have no idea what to do with it all. My husband uses our kitchen for his workspace so most of the time we have his computer and papers EVERYWHERE. It drives me nuts.

[missmich]

My kitchen is actually the most organized of all my rooms. I don't have any drawers though! Isn't that weird? They didn't put any drawers at all when they made this place and I rent so can't do any major renos! Eventually I'd like to buy some sort of drawer unit for some extra counter space and drawer space. For now I have a bookshelf that holds my utensils and other things. There's one lower cupboard that I refuse to use for kitchen stuff b/c it's smells iccky t me and has pipes going through it!

When I have a little extra money I need to make a trip to the $ store and get a few things I'm missing like measuring cups etc... and some vegetable bins.

[SkylarJulesmom]

I'm making some pretty good headway. Today I scrubbed out my microwave (For something not used everyday it was pretty dirty!) I completley cleaned the counter that it was on and all though everything is on the kitchen table to be sorted before it goes anywhere I feel better about having at least one surface clean!:

[triscuitsmom]

We're in. It isn't bad, but it definitely needs work on organization etc.

Now that I'm able to be up and about more I can hopefully tackle this challenge this month

[Drummer's Wife]

I need to work on my kitchen! Here it is, it's not bad but I'm not showing pics inside the cabinets. My kids art closet it awful though and needs to be cleaned out. I'd love to get as organized as Oliver's Mom

What I need to do is add some life as well, I don't have much as far as decorations/pictures so it's a bit boring. Even a pretty table cloth would probably help, rugs for the floor... something!

stove area

table

sink (this is a bit messy)

how it looked before we moved in (I'd love it to be this uncluttered )


thanks for the motivation

[kirstenb]

Glad I am not the only one whose kitchen counter is the gathering spot for all sorts of random papers and items!

Drummer's Wife and Oliver's Mama, I love both your kitchens! I'm especially jealous of all the cabinets.

[CanidFL]

Hi ladies, I’m new to this area of MDC and want to join the kitchen clean up. It’s actually a coincidence that I found this thread and so glad I did. Our kitchen is really really bad. I’m embarrassed to admit all this but I feel like once it’s out and I join this thread and move forward with organized cleanliness.

Here are our issues:

1. DH and I bought locks for the cabinets about 5 months ago. To date, he has installed 1 set to keep DS out of the dangerous dish soap, cleaning supplies, etc. The other cabinets are all unlocked and our pots, pans, Tupperware, etc NEVER stays in the cabinets. It is all over the kitchen/dining area.

2. We just don’t have a good place for our garbage can so the bags are currently on the counter and we collect our garbage there. I hate this. DH doesn’t care. I really need some ideas for where to put the garbage can so that we use it and garbage isn’t sitting on the counter.

3. DS is so messy when he eats. It does not get picked up every night. DH and I are working on this because we made an agreement that if I clean up my mess while cooking, he will clean up DS’s area while I do bath time.

4. We have general tidy up issues. It’s embarrassing so I will stop there.

5. We have a little Bar courter top between the kitchen and dining room. This area is a magnet for junk. Anything that doesn’t really have a place to go but we don’t want to throw out goes on the counter.

6. Our drawers are pretty organized other than the utensil drawer. We shove everything in their from pizza cutter, spatula, ladle, etc. I want to organize that drawer.

7. We have a huge pantry area (like 6’x6’) and it’s a complete disaster. It turned into a storage for all our crap area. I need to organize this and I think we will need to buy some shelves to get this under control.

8. All our walls are so blank. I want to hang up a picture that has been in the pantry for over a year.

Wow. Ok that’s a lot to tackle in 2 weeks. I will see if I can post before pictures later after DS is sleeping.

So can I join in? Please don't judge me too bad once you see the pics

[kirstenb]

Welcome CanidFL! If you post your before pics people here can help you come up with solutions that may work for your kitchen.

[SAHDS]

I just reorganized my pantry - yea!

Unfortunately, my kitchen was out on the back burner because I've been focusing on my entry (which is DONE) and dining room. All my kitchen needs is maybe a plant and something to go on the wall over my stove. I've been looking for mosaics on Etsy but no luck yet.

[CanidFL]

Originally Posted by kirstenb

Welcome CanidFL! If you post your before pics people here can help you come up with solutions that may work for your kitchen.

Thanks. I’m still debating the pictures….

But I did set the timer for 30 minutes last night and managed to gather 4 garbage bags worth of junk/garbage and get it out the door. I also threw out an extra coffee table we had (yeah no idea why we kept that in the kitchen for 2 years : ). I threw out the tray to DS’s high chair too because we just pull him up to the table now. I will work some more this weekend.

[slsurface]

Ok, I had my gall bladder removed on Monday. I had hoped to get some decluttering done while I was home from work this week, but I was in a lot more pain than I bargained for . Anyways, after sleeping most of the week, I did manage to tackle the drawer organization step of my kitchen declutter. I finally got all my husbands tools out of the kitchen and back where they belong! It took about an hour, but I was exhausted and shaky by the end...I obviously need more rest before I can tackle any bigger projects. Maybe I will sew the door-curtains tomorrow, maybe.

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

I need to work on my kitchen! Here it is, it's not bad but I'm not showing pics inside the cabinets. My kids art closet it awful though and needs to be cleaned out. I'd love to get as organized as Oliver's Mom

What I need to do is add some life as well, I don't have much as far as decorations/pictures so it's a bit boring. Even a pretty table cloth would probably help, rugs for the floor... something!

stove area

table

sink (this is a bit messy)

how it looked before we moved in (I'd love it to be this uncluttered )


thanks for the motivation

I think your kitchen looks lovely and not messy at all! Your appliances make me drool (mine are 30+ years old ).

[mollusk]

i am so in. this is a great idea....
these are my goals and hope to get pics up too...
i'm writing these more for me and putting them out there so i have to stick to it!
-organize the counter top and find space for everything
-clean the microwave
-clean out the fridge AND WIPE IT DOWN ewh
-clean out the pantry, get rid of all the foods that are so old and organize
-organize the drawers, get some rhyme&reason
-dust the blinds
-wash the windows finally
-can this really all be done in a couple of weeks?!?
-get an area rug to the floor can stop taking a beating, get an entry way mat for the upcoming wet season. try to get these at a bargain!
....i'll keep you posted

[mollusk]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

I need to work on my kitchen! Here it is, it's not bad but I'm not showing pics inside the cabinets. My kids art closet it awful though and needs to be cleaned out. I'd love to get as organized as Oliver's Mom

What I need to do is add some life as well, I don't have much as far as decorations/pictures so it's a bit boring. Even a pretty table cloth would probably help, rugs for the floor... something!

stove area

table

sink (this is a bit messy)

how it looked before we moved in (I'd love it to be this uncluttered )


thanks for the motivation

YOUR HOME LOOKS SO OPEN AND UNCLUTTERED!! LOVELY :

[Drummer's Wife]

aw thanks for the compliments on my kitchen, it is roomy and I've never had this many cabinets before (apt living with hallway type kitchens). My problem is I'm not organizing all my stuff very well. (I have two big drawers that are just "junk" to start with). I also have these neat roll out shelves on all the bottom cabinets yet I have to be careful what I put down there because my youngest comes along and pulls everything out.

I've realized that more counter space = more junk collecting. I have a problem with stuffing bills and paperwork in a cabinet above to get rid of the mess quickly and it drives my DH nuts that I don't take them elsewhere in the house. I think I'm going to plan on organizing one drawer/cabinet/pantry a day next week and find a place for everything.

SLSurface I hope you are healing well. I would be just resting for awhile and definitely not worry about cleaning much less de-cluttering and organzing stuff.

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

I also have these neat roll out shelves on all the bottom cabinets yet I have to be careful what I put down there because my youngest comes along and pulls everything out.

I put all of my pot and pans on them.

I've realized that more counter space = more junk collecting.

I'm the opposite. I HATE to have anything on my counter. The other day, I put the coffee pot away in a cabinet and DH rolled his eyes and said "Everyone in America has a coffee pot on the counter, it'll be okay".

[slsurface]

I finished the door-quilt today. My mother-in-law took me out to get some backing fabric. We found a lovely, heavy corduroy on sale. Once DS went down for his nap, I sewed it up and now it's hanging. I really want to post some pictures, but I'm out of space on flicker for the month. I'll upload them as soon as I can. Thanks for the support!