Cupboard Organization

My goal this summer while I'm not working is to organize my house. I decided to start with the kitchen, since it drives me crazy! I started last week and bought some cupboard shelves. Why I didn't think of these earlier, I don't know. They saved me a ton of room because I was able to stack stuff and all the dishes are way easier to access. Now I don't have to pick up a pile of little plates to get a big plate. :)

After I bought those shelves last week for the dishes I decided we needed more for the food and baking cupboards. I hate squished bread and it never failed that my bread got squished by some pasta or cracker box. I will have no more squished bread my friends! Seriously, if you have tall cupboards you need to invest in some of these.

Next it was on to the spice cupboard. Now let me remind you that I don't cook, but I participate and do the retrieving. Especially in the summer when the hubs is grilling and shouting from the deck "grab the ____ spice". Which then means I am left to literally climb on top of the counter to be able to see the spices because I am too short to see what's behind whatever the heck made it's way to the front. So I found this nifty little step spice rack thing that works perfect to set the spices on so I can actually see what's in there.

The last cupboard to tackle was the baking cupboard. I bake about three times a year. Most of my "baking" ingredients end up being made into some slimy, goopy, putty, play-doughy, sensory project for work. But, none the less I still have the basic ingredients. I wanted an easy way to stack them all and be able to see what I was running out of without digging through the cupboard and opening all the bags and boxes. So, I made my way to the dollar store and picked up some smaller jars and pored the ingredients into those. I got the large jars from Michael's and the mason jars were extras from some other projects I've done. Then I added some chalkboard labels to the front that way I can change out what is in the jars if needed and Ta-Da organized cupboard. Now let's hope it stays that way.

My next project is the pots and pans and bake-wear lower cupboards and I have no idea what to do with that mess yet! Any suggestions?

Here is a tutorial on how to make the Chalk-board labels.

What you need:

• Full sheet sticky back mailing label (got mine at Office Depot) OR you can use the larger rectangle mailing labels.
• Paper punch
• Chalkboard Spray Paint
• Chalk or Chalk Marker (I used the marker, I was able to write with it better)

Steps:

1. Spray your mailing labels with the chalkboard spray paint. Let Dry.
2.  Use your paper punch to punch out the shape of your label. Skip this step if you used the ones that are already separated.
3. Write on your labels. (Yes it does really work to erase and re-write)
4. Peel the back off and stick on. Simple as that!