Arranging the Kitchen: Dish Storage Zone

When I first started my kitchen reorganization project, I divided the kitchen up into three zones. This helped the project feel less overwhelming and also helped me to define the space. If you missed the results of the first and second zones, click here and here. The third and final zone to tackle was the dish storage zone.

Again, I followed the same process here as I did in the first two.

1.) Empty all the cabinets and drawers in this zone.

I took everything out and piled it on the kitchen table and on other parts of the counter in the kitchen. For some reason, I felt like these cupboards were the most empty, but all the stuff in them covered the kitchen table and the island. I just kept saying, “How do we get so much stuff?”

2.) Clear off the counter.

I cleared everything off the counter which included sink supplies and a dry erase note board.

3.) Vacuum drawers and cabinets.

I actually skipped this step in this zone. The drawers and cupboards here hold dishes and small appliances. These items don’t create a lot of crumbs, so it was sufficient to just wipe them out.

4.) Clean counters.

I sprayed down the counters with an all-purpose cleaner and wiped them down really well. I got in all the corners, scraped off any dried on spills, etc. I also wiped down the back splash.

5.) Wipe out drawers and cabinets.

Like I mentioned earlier, I ran a sponge through each one to pick up any crumbs or dried spills. I also scrubbed the sink really well since it sits near this zone.

6.) Polish drawers and cabinets.

Following the same process as before, I used a sponge dunked in hot soapy water to wipe down the faces of all the cabinets and drawers. Then I went over them with some furniture polish to make them shine.

7.) Load cabinets.

I loaded our upper cabinets first. The cabinet between the sink and stove now holds our cereal and cereal bowls. 

The plates and bowls stayed in the same place but I added some shelf racks. Previously, all of our plates sat on the bottom shelf and our bowls were on the top. Since I’m a bit vertically challenged, it was really hard for me to put the bowls away when emptying the dishwasher. I tried to use that excuse to convince my Mister that emptying the dishwasher should be his permanent chore, but that didn’t go over well. So I picked up these shelf racks for just $5 and put half of the plates and bowls on the bottom shelf and half on the top. 

Our daily glasses are next to the plates and bowls. 

The final upper cupboard holds our coffee supplies and coffee mugs. I purged out quite a few coffee mugs in the process!

The lower cabinets hold an extra set of dishes for when we have large groups of people over. I also decided to keep our electric griddle in this cabinet.

8.) Load drawers

The drawer closest to the dining room holds our placemats and fabric napkins. The drawer next to that holds some of Mando’s treats and cans of wet cat food for our kitty. 

The drawers under the cereal cabinets hold our kitchen towels and hot pads, small appliances and large measuring cups, and large mixing bowls and colanders. 

The mixing bowls and colanders used to be in a cupboard in the island and they seemed to get lost in the back corners making it frustrating to get to them when I needed them. So far, having them in these drawers has been awesome.

9.) Add items back to counter.

In Zone 2, I moved our wine rack over so it was by the other drinks and the wine glasses. The coffee pot took its place and it now sits under the cabinet with our coffee supplies and mugs. 

My homemade dog treat container sits on the counter (above the drawer of other treats) and our dry erase note board sits next to that.

I spruced up the sink a bit too. I found a cheap oil dispenser and filled it with dish soap to replace that ugly plastic bottle. I also picked up a new hand soap dispenser that blends into the kitchen a bit better as well. Lastly, I added a divided tray to hold our sponge and pot scrapers.

10.) Access the situation.

I feel like I have a brand new kitchen. All of the cabinets and drawers are sparkling and shiny. Everything has a home and, so far, those homes seem to be making sense. It feels clean, organized, open, and functional. 

Here is the entire kitchen after the overhaul.  

I have been looking online for some clearance/discount hardware in a stainless steel finish. Our appliances and accessories are stainless but our cabinet hardware is a dirty brass finish which makes the cabinets look dated and dark. 

I think switching these out will further brighten the space and make it a bit more cohesive. After sticker shock, I decided it may be better to just spray paint our current hardware for now. Hopefully the weather will warm up soon and I can tackle that project. I’ll share pictures when it is complete!