where I cook

So, as I've mentioned many times before, I love to be in my kitchen. I though you might like to see what it looks like for those of you who don't already know.

There is it! So tiny cozy. Storing all our appliances and kitchen items in this small space is a challenge but the key is organization. Everything has a place.

Food is kept in the cabinet on the left. I chose this side because it is closer to the oven and microwave as well as the peninsula which is where most of our food prep is done. The cabinet to the right holds our dishes because it sits right above the dishwasher making the chore of dish washing less of a hassle. Our coffee items sit on the bottom shelf which rests right above the coffee maker. Marvelous!

Inside the food cabinet I use a lazy susan to keep taller things organized and this spice rack to keep shorter items in full view.

I keep a basket in the cabinet to hold items that don't stand well on their own and otherwise get lost amongst everything else.

I'm not a big fan of food packaging so I'll often swap it for something better. I put my steal cut oats in an old jar and quick oats into another. One day I'd like to find some small jars for my spices but thats a project that will just have to wait.

No, there isn't much space...

So we focus on using it well. Every spot in our kitchen is packed but well organized. Our drawer has stayed this way for years without getting cluttered. I blame the drawer liner for keeping everything in the right spot.

We even put the wood column that stands in the middle of our kitchen to use by hanging some essential tools from it. Very convenient. The nails were already there when we moved in. Bonus!

The interior walls of our apartment don't go all the way to the ceiling (apart from the bathroom of course). Our bedroom is on the other side of that wall.

There was just enough room under the overhang of the counter for a small shelf that I have had for awhile. It used to belong to my sister!

We hung the shelfs that sit over the counter. Well, my Dad did. But I picked them out from Ikea. I also decided to leave the wood unfinished. To match the wood column.

Sure theres a lot I would change if we could... but I'm more than happy to cook here.

cheap and creative storage

In our short lives my boyfriend and I have already accumulated an impressive amount of stuff. Unfortunately a lot of it is useless junk. My boyfriend has this big stereo/CD player that I've been trying to get him to toss for years. It's been hibernating in one of two very small closets in our apartment, taking up valuable real estate from our true storageables. I've set it up in the past, foolishly thinking it might get some use. Nope. I guess digital music is here to stay. And the stereo will stay in the closet until he decides he doesn't need it anymore.

Because our lack of closet space would bring a shoe lover to tears (thank goodness I'm not one) I must stash my stuff elsewhere. And it was when we got our BRIMNES bed from ikea that my life changed forever.

Yeah! Those are drawers! Four of them... and I make no exaggeration when I say they are freaking huge. 

It was when I started filling them up with stuff that I realized there might actually be too much room. There was no structure. No order. My stuff had too much freedom and things were more chaotic than ever. I needed a way to keep everything organized and I didn't have much cash to spend on dividers. Then the idea struck. Cardboard! I got a few boxes and went to work. I started by placing different sized boxes in the drawers and fit them together like puzzle pieces. Notice that I have boxes on top of boxes and boxes within boxes to create layers for maximum organization.

This is an idea that will work in any drawer. Just take a good hard look at what you've got and make the best out of it. You can get very creative with cardboard to figure out a way to suit your needs. The best part about this organization method is that the boxes come out easily. If I'm doing a project with ribbons I just take the box with me to my work station then pop it back in its place in the drawer when I'm done. Genius!

All the dividers are immensely helpful to my craft drawer. Before it was a mess of fabric, ribbon, beads, yarn, paint, pencils, you name it. Just look at these before and after shots!

Now I can open my drawers and find exactly what I need in no time. Although this process still takes me awhile as the lovely organization is quite distracting.