Next up is a peek inside our kitchen drawers and cabinets! When we redid our kitchen a couple of years ago, we removed at least half of the cabinetry, and we love how it turned out because it really opened up the room. But, we did drastically reduce our storage, which, aside from food storage, has worked out totally fine since we are really minimal in the kitchen. Yes, my cupboards are a little fuller than I would prefer, but we have reduced our inventory to only what we use regularly, and it all fits! (To see how the kitchen looked when we moved in, see here.)
I'll start with this side of the kitchen....
I think of this top drawer as a junk drawer, and it kind of looks like it here, but it's actually a little more purposeful, and it holds our electronic stuff (cameras, cords, walky-talkies, flashlights, batteries, etc.), although a few other things often make their way in!
The second drawer holds our kitchen towels, washclothes, napkins, and bibs.
The third drawer is where I corral all of my lids. Mason jar lids and all of the lids for my Pyrex dishes are in here. I like having them all in one spot where they are not falling out of my cupboards. =)
The bottom drawer holds our water bottles and our plastic lunch boxes that we use when we are out and about for the day.
The cupboard under the sink is pretty standard...garbage, recycling, compost, dish soap, as well as our extra paper and plastic bags.
Then on to this side of the kitchen...
My teapot stays on the stove...we use it several times a day, so I leave it there. The knife block lives on the counter, mostly because I haven't found a better place too put it!
The drawer under the oven holds a few pans, my standard cast iron, my pie pan, two glass loaf pans, and all of the lids for my pots.
These shelves are the only upper storage we have now. The top shelf hold my smaller bowls, the butter, my basket of most frequently used spices (salt, pepper, garlic, cinnamon, and my misto oil sprayer), and a decorative candy dish. The bottom shelf holds coffee supplies and all of our mugs.
This is a pull-out cutting board, but I use it most frequently when I need a little extra counter space, like for cooling pans on baking day! =)
The first drawer holds my potholders, three mini waffle makers, and an apron.
The next drawer is our cup drawer...I really like using small mason jars as cups, but they keep getting broken, so I've started switching to stainless steel cups. We have about 10 cups total, not including the 6 the kids use as water cups.
The first cupboard is where most of our dishes reside.
The top shelf holds our silverware caddy, our plates, bowls, mixing bowls, cast iron dutch oven, and cutting boards. We have enough silverware, plates and bowls to usually last us a day. Occasionally we use extra and run the dishwasher again or wash a few by hand to get us through the day, but most days we just run the dishwasher once. We have two cutting boards, a large stainless steel bowl, a large glass bowl, and two slightly smaller glass bowls that we use for mixing and storage.
The bottom shelf holds all of our pans. I have a cast iron griddle and a pizza stone, both of which I also use as baking sheets. I have a large cast iron pan, then a set of 6 stainless steel pans. They have to stack just so to fit in the cupboard, which is not my favorite, but we use them all frequently. For glass baking pans, I have an 11x14, two 9x13s, an 11x7, an 8x8, plus two smaller pans that we typically just use for storing and reheating leftovers. They all stack together on the left side. There's one cookie rack down there, too.
This cupboard can be a little annoying, too, but I have arranged everything based on what gets used the most. These are my kitchen appliances, and the food storage starts here.
In the very back corner to the left, which is difficult to get into, I keep a few plastic storage containers that I use when taking food to someone. Then I have a stainless steel colander, a toaster, a crock pot, a rubbermaid container that holds our homemade bread, and a wheat grinder.
Tucked in the very back corner of the bottom shelf is a set of plates that we use on holidays, and our popsicle molds. The rest of the shelf holds our Vitamix, an air popcorn popper (behind), some food storage in jars, and some extra food storage for things like chips and almond milk. Our food storage space is a bit limited, so I kind of just put things wherever they'll fit, but I know where everything is, so it works out! ;)
The first drawer above this cupboard holds our cooking utensils; wooden spoons, spatulas, ladle, potato masher, peeler, whisk, garlic press, can opener, etc.
The next drawer holds our rolling pins (the smaller one is for the kids), grater, and measuring spoons and cups. I have one set of measuring cups, and a couple sets of spoons. We try to always measure dry things before wet so we don't have to wash measuring cups out while we're baking, but sometimes we do and it's not a big deal. This drawer also holds the spices that I use frequently, but not daily. ;)
Turning the corner, this drawer holds ziplock bags, our cloth snack bags that we use in the car, and tea.
The last drawer is kind of "my" junk drawer. I keep some of my paperwork and random things in here; things that I don't want people just to take without asking.
The last cupboard is where a lot of our food goes.
The top shelf holds open bags and food that we're going to be eating soon. Some canned goods that we'll be using in the next week or two, open jars and bottles of honey, vinegar, things like that, and crackers, cereal, nuts, etc., that are open. I also have small bags of beans and extra tea and a few random things at the back of the shelf.
The bottom shelf is my baking shelf. Extra flour and sugar are at the back of the shelf, along with the aluminum foil and extra ziplock bags that I use only occasionally. Towards the front are all of the baking supplies that I use frequently; flour, sugar, oats, oil, salt, etc. I also have a small bin of spices that I use only occasionally.
I have a few things on the counter above...a basket of more fragile fruits, a few cookbooks, a basket that holds our vitamins, and my weekly planner.
The crate on top of the fridge holds paper (the kids go through sooo much paper, that I have to limit it a bit), and the basket holds treats and some special snacks that I keep on hand for my kids with allergies.
Some of our fruit goes in the fridge, but it can't hold a lot, so I also use this basket for the overflow.
I thought I'd give another look at the shelf in our laundry room, since this kind of serves as our "pantry".
The bottom shelves holds most of the food that I buy in bulk. The buckets hold wheat, oats, beans, and rice. I also keep our potatoes here.
The top two shelves hold the dry goods...cans of food, extra jam and honey, crackers, pasta, chips, etc. I have onions here as well. My stockpot also lives here, and since I only use it once a month or so, in between times it also holds all of my mason jars.
We do also have small deep freezer in our laundry room, and I primarily use it for overflow. I keep open packages, small items, and things we'll be using soon in the freezer above the fridge.
Just a note...I can fit about a month's worth of dry goods/freezer food in our house. I try to do the majority of my grocery shopping once a month, then do a quick stop every 7-10 days to restock dairy and produce.
And, I think that's it! =)
