I keep promising to post some before-and-during pics of my kitchen re-do, but I've been so busy painting cabinet doors that I haven't felt inspired to actually start writing about the kitchen. And though I'm supposed to be painting right now, I grabbed my pretty pink digicam a few minutes ago and took some pics of the slide out baskets we recently installed, which have made a HUGE difference in the tidiness of our cabinets.
I wish I had a before picture of the inside of this cabinet, because it was a mess until right before Christmas. This is a base cabinet with doors on both sides, so the doors open in the kitchen and also in the family room. We had a huge mishmash of plastic storage containers in many sizes and shapes, including old Cool Whip bowls and margarine tubs, which girls like me have a problem with throwing out, even if said containers no longer have lids. Because this cabinet was so full, the lids were stored across the room on the other side of the fridge ... and they, too, were always in a jumble despite the fact they were contained in a basket.
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The old organizational principal for this cabinet was Open Door And Shove, which caused the doors on the family room side to start pooching open. We had too many of everything, and most of it stacked poorly, if at all. My goals were to get rid of the old storage bowls and the extra mixing bowls, buy new easy-to-store containers for leftovers, and find a way to keep it organized.
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Our previous home -- 23 years ago -- had fabulous roll-out shelves that practically organized themselves. I designed that kitchen from scratch, and it broke my heart to leave it behind after less than 2 years. Our current home has "builders custom" cabinets, which means they're built to absolute minimum standards. For the first 5 years we were here, we swore we were going to gut the entire kitchen and put in something we'd love. For the following 10 years, we talked about either customizing the insides of the cabinets or buying a different house. And for the past 5+ years, we've been planning to move out of state, so we didn't want to fuss with the kitchen until we were ready to move. Sound familiar?
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During those 23 years, Ray and I have gotten older, fatter, and less flexible, making it problematic to dig around on bottom shelves for heavy bowls and pans. I decided it was time to add some affordable roll-out baskets and kill two birds -- access and organization -- with one stone. I also decided that, after 25 years of marriage, it would be great if all our storage bowls matched again, nested nicely, and made the best use of space in the cabinet as well as in the fridge.
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The solution? Rubbermaid Easy Find Lids 44 Piece Food Storage Set, $24.99 at Target. I also bought a smaller set for about ten dollars less.
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These bowls are AWESOME! They're square, they stack in the fridge, they nest for storage, and the four largest sizes all use the same size lid. The lids actually snap onto the bottom of the bowl (if you want to store each bowl with its own lid), and they also snap together, so you can stack the lids or lie then down and they don't flop around.
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The blue paint is primer, the black is the new color.
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This shelf used to be crammed with loose packages of pasta and rice. You can see the old color of the cabinets at the top of the photo ... it's what I'm supposed to be painting, instead of sitting here typing.
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Side view of roll out pasta rack. My college-aged sons eat a LOT of pasta!
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Thanks for stopping by today. I'm going to get some more before-and-during kitchen pics posted soon, along with some inspiration photos and samples of the wallpaper for the breakfast room, which is becoming a French Bistro. Lots to do, and lots of time to do it.
Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by Susan at Between Naps On The Porch. To join in the fun -- and for links to this week's participants -- click here.
