Arranging the Kitchen: General Storage Zone

As I continue through my kitchen arrangement project, the kitchen is starting to feel new and much more orderly. My second zone to tackle was the general storage zone.



I followed the same process here as I did in the first zone.


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. I am amazed each time how much stuff is really packed into those cabinets!

2.) Clear off the counter.

I cleared everything off the counter. This part of the counter was a bit less cluttered than the island was since piles of papers don’t seem to accumulate in this part of the kitchen.

3.) Vacuum drawers and cabinets.

It was much easier vacuuming up crumbs before wiping out the cabinets and drawers last time around so I did the same thing here. It was a bit difficult getting up into the upper cabinets, but I just did a general sweep through to get all the big stuff.

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.

With the drawers and cabinets vacuumed, I ran a sponge through each one to pick up any remaining crumbs or dried spills. I also wiped off the top and sides of the refrigerator since it sits in this zone.

6.) Polish drawers and cabinets.

These drawers and cabinets were just as yucky as the first ones. 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.

Referring to my diagram, I loaded the upper cabinets first. Our drink collection went on the top shelf and our drink glasses, like the Mister’s special beer glasses went on the bottom shelf. I like the idea of having these items in the same cabinet and by using three cabinets, I was able to spread things out enough so it’s easy to get what we’re looking for.

The cabinets by the stove hold our daily lunch boxes and to go cups / water bottles. I found a lazy-susan for just $5 and put that in the cupboard directly next to the stove. It now holds all of my cooking oils and a can of salt for easy access.

 The lower cabinet by the stove holds our toaster and baking pans.

8.) Load drawers

Next, I moved on to the drawers. Up until now, two of the four drawers in this space were empty and one of them held just a loaf of bread. Since we don’t eat a lot of bread, I decided to store that in the fridge.

The top drawer is my new spice drawer. It makes me happy every time I open it. It’s so colorful and organized and easy to find what I need.

The second drawer holds our aluminum foil, ziplock bags, and parchment paper.

Next is our baking supplies like cookie cutters, rolling pins, cookie toppings, etc.

And the last drawer holds our trash bags.

9.) Add items back to the counter.

I moved our wine rack over to this part of the counter so it was by the other drinks and the wine glasses. Our utensils went back to their home by the stove. Since I moved my cookbooks off the bookshelves, they needed a new home and it seemed appropriate to keep them in the kitchen. We had a decorative box on the counter previously, so I just tipped it on its side and stashed the cookbooks there.

10.) Access the situation.

I took a step back and thought about how it looked and flowed. I think that I will need to work in the kitchen a bit to decide how this arrangement works. The counter feels a bit cluttered to me so I might do some rearranging there. Since I still have one more zone left to rearrange, I will wait and see how it feels when it’s all done before making any major changes.

Overall, it certainly feels clean and organized. Oh, and as I mentioned during the first zone, I wanted to add something to the counter on the island because it looked so bare. I moved a colorful blue teapot over there that used to sit where the wine rack is now. I also found some pretty lemons and pears at the dollar store and put them in a clear glass container for some more color. Our salt and pepper shakers sit there as well. And I did decide to trade out the teal tray for a wooden one. The teal was pretty but it was clashing with the other blue in the kitchen. 

See, it really is about trial and error (and me just liking to change my mind).