Sunday, November 6, 2011

Organizing a small kitchen

I love my little kitchen, but it's small. There are very few cupboards, so space is at a premium. I've taken to finding vertical space to solve some issues and make better use of the space I do have.
The first thing that started my kitchen reorganization was the biggest super saver of space. I installed a pot rack I found on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond from the ceiling above my peninsula. Warning: attaching heavy things from ceilings is tricky; I measured and measured and never used my stud finder so much! But it got up and hasn't fallen down (knock on wood -- it's been several months now).

I'm lucky (thanks to my generous grandmother) to own some lovely stainless steel pots that I'm more than happy to display. This one project saved me tonnes of space in my lower cupboard.


But the pot rack left me with a problem. What to do with all the lids? I found this idea on Pinterest.


However, I couldn't find the right magazine rack. This cupboard was also causing me a huge headache as it is pretty much my only lower cabinet other than the under the sink storage and it's a corner cupboard that's annoying to get into to boot! So I came up with this idea.


I installed two Bygel rails from Ikea (only $2.99 each!) along the sides of the cupboard and paired them with some Grundtal S-hooks. Works for all my pots lids as well as a colander.

The Dollarama has also been a great help. These racks to keep pans and cutting boards vertical are amazing. Getting these things in and out of my cupboard is so much easier thanks to these. I put two side by side and at only $2 each, no biggie!


Next I made some extra space in my stack of drawers by cleaning out an entire drawer buy using this little gem of an idea, again from Pinterest.


I used Ikea's Dokument magazine files in white for the job. They are great as they are a wire mesh and can easily be cleaned if something spills. It came in a pack of two, with one file slight smaller than the other. The smaller file was put to good use to corral take out menus, small recipe books as well as recipes printouts.


To make better use of that drawer space I cleaned out, I found some small baskets at the dollar store (2/$1) to house some smaller items such as measuring spoons and cups, as well as some smaller tools. They help keep the drawers organized, therefore making things easy to find! Bonus.


To make better use of some vertical space, I installed a Grundtal wall shelf so I could double the use of this piece of counter space. On the shelf I have two baskets I found on sale from Micheal's. One houses my supplements and the other my tea collection, with my pretty yellow tea pot in the middle. Underneath the shelf I have three bowls to keep fruits and vegetables that need not be refrigerated, such as lemons, garlic, ginger, avocados, and onions.


The dollar store is also awesome for finding great glass canisters. I have some almonds and red and white quinoa in these ($2 or less each).


Last thing I have to share with you is an unfinished project, inspired again by Pinterest, seen here.


Here's my version, again, under construction. I picked up a piece of stainless steel in the plumbing department at Home Depot. Thanks to my Dad, I have quite the toolkit that includes steel cutters, so I was able to easily cut my sheet down to size. I sized it so that it could fit 28 jars, in an 7 by 4 pattern. However, not every project goes quite according to plan...


The small 125ml mason jars are small, but still heavy... and one magnet didn't do the trick. I used hot glue to attach the magnets and that didn't hold up either -- now some magnets are falling off. I need to revisit this one... Maybe with a more heavy duty adhesive for the magnets. I also want to clean up the edges of the stainless steel sheet by applying a small strip of moulding. Stay tuned.

Have you undertaken any kitchen organization projects? Have you any great ideas to share?

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