My name is Leslie. I am a mom and housewife. I am also a Certified Interior Decorator, Home Stager, and Home Organizer, and work out of my home office with homeowners and realtors, but my main career is homemaking. I blog at Goodbye, House. Hello, Home! [5] Here you will find inspiring, creative, thrifty and fresh ways to make your house into a home. You will discover that what truly matters is not the furniture, the wall colors, the flooring, or the accessories within the house–or even the house itself — but the heart that gets put into the making of a home. As a professional organizer, I am excited that I get to share both my love of organizing with you, as well as the creatively frugal ideas that I use to simply keep my sanity in my own home. Maybe you can use some of these ideas, too. Today, we’re in my kitchen. I am one descendant in generations’ worth of bakers. Bakers that bake in bulk. One corner of my kitchen is the baking zone.
Last year, I was about to put this wardrobe mirror in the yard sale pile. As I added this lamp, I thought, “There must be some way to get more light in this corner!” I remembered the mirror, measured it to see if it would fit, and here it hangs across from the window, reflecting light and doubling my dry ingredients! It also gives a whole new meaning to “watching what you eat”.
Recipes from My Kitchen
(family and other frequently-used and tested recipes from the cookbooks I got rid of)
And, of course, the lowest shelf holds the larger, heavier measuring bowls.
This is the cabinet to the right of the one above.
Earlier this month, I prepared dozens of holiday cupcakes for my daughter’s classmates.
One day, I want to open a patisserie!
On the backside of the island is storage.
I keep the baked goods packaging supplies in here,
furthest away from the baking corner,
because I use these the least.
A picture holder is very handy to hold recipe cards while baking.
- Many times, things that are stored in cupboards aren’t actually needed in the kitchen; for example, fancy china, serving trays, special occasion utensils, crystal bowls, or vases. Move these to other areas (perhaps the dining room) to free up shelf space for your more frequently used items.
- Go through your cookbooks and remove the ones that you don’t like or use. Get your loose recipes into a 3-ring binder, divided into sections.
- If you don’t have a separate pantry, make use of stepped organizers, sliding shelves, and turntables inside your cabinets. Baskets work well to keep like items together. Labels help the family to know where to store items and make it easier for them to help to put groceries away after a shopping trip.
- If you are spending more than a few seconds searching for a particular utensil, then it’s time to purge your drawers of the unused items. Ask yourself what is really necessary. You may need less than you think that you do.
- How many dish towels and oven mitts do you need? These linens typically take up precious drawer space. I suggest seven towels, one for each day of the week, and four oven mitts: two square and two hand mitts. Hang them on the inside of the cabinet door nearest to their use on hooks or over-the-door towel bars.
- More kitchen hints HERE [48].