Christmas Notebook

Today I worked on some of the kitchen cabinets, “decluttering” and sorting and putting away. I didn’t take a before picture of the cabinet over the stove, but here are some of the things that came out of it. They are now wrapped and in a box for charity. If my kids want any of these, they’d better speak now or forever hold their peace. I will find a home for the painted creamer and sugar bowl. DDs, want them?

Here is the cabinet after. Mug free and lots of new space. I am not sure what will go up there. Maybe a couple of casserole dishes I have in the pantry.

The cabinet to the right had quite a few things in it that I never or rarely use. A cheese grater, a veggie chopper (do use that at Christmas time for nuts), a couple of boxes of coffee filters (moved one to the pantry), bread pans (to the pantry), old postage scale (charity), a measuring cup for skimming fat (charity).

I moved the bowls I don’t use as often to the top. The serving bowls I use all the time and they stayed on the bottom. I love having these at the stove. Makes it so easy to dish food for the table, right off the stove or out of the oven. Most of my measuring cups are in the dishwasher. They will go on the middle shelf. The red object on the bottom shelf is my Thermapen. It’s an instant read digital thermometer, a Christmas gift from DH. Love it! The papers on the door are recipes we use often: Homemade rolls, Cranberry Bread, Pancakes, and Pie Crust.

The next drawer (to the right of the stove) didn’t have much in it and I didn’t take a before picture. The large whisk is in this drawer because it doesn’t fit in the kitchen tool drawer.

Spices. This drawer smells good! I do have other spices…oregano, basil, parsley, dried onion, etc., that I buy in larger quantities and those are contained in a box in the corner cabinet.

I got rid of some. And found I have some duplicates. The drawer is less crowded now. This drawer is the second one to the right of the stove. I love having my spices in a drawer. So easy to see, so easy to grab. The drawer is between the stove and the corner of the counter, right below where I put together recipes, assemble dishes, etc. Very convenient.

The lower cabinet to the left of the stove holds garbage bags for the most part. I wasn’t even sure what was in the back of this cabinet.

I removed old floral foam, an ice shaver, two bowls I didn’t recognize, a dozen tiny flower pots, and three cooling racks I never use. The top shelf now holds a plastic bin for my bouquet supplies which I use every week from March through November, and it holds DH’s fudge pan. Fudge is the only thing this pan is used for, so we store it here rather than in the pots and pans cupboard. When I begin making bouquets again, I will store floral foam behind the garbage bags.

The drawer over the garbage bag cabinet was a sort of catch-all. Labels for school, coupons for the store, two long wooden spoons, a ladle, miscellaneous junk, etc. And it had a few recipes in it.

Whoa! Where’d it all go?? The labels are going to school tomorrow, the spoons and ladle are going to church, and the recipes went to the recipe binder. The red kitchen took belonged to my MIL and DH uses it when he makes fudge. I don’t know what will go in the drawer now. Maybe I’ll move a few things over from the kitchen tool drawer when I get to it.

The pots and pans cupboard had a few unneeded items in it. I got rid of the juicer, the teapot, and the old green Dutch oven. Now we have more space for the pots and pans. The toaster was moved to the shelf as we do not use it unless we have company at breakfast.

After I put everything away and had lunch, I took Christmas down in the bedrooms of our two older daughters. DD#1 will be home for a wedding in a few weeks and DD#2’s room will be occupied by guests coming for the same wedding. Once DH gets all those Christmas boxes carried on up to the attic, the rooms will be ready for occupancy. While I was upstairs, I cleaned out under the sink in the hall bathroom. I wanted to tell someone “it’s not MY fault!” when I looked under there. Quite a mess.

But now it’s neat and tidy. Everything else was put away elsewhere.

Back downstairs, I tackled the knife drawer. Not tooooo bad before…

But definitely nicer after. I got rid of a few old knives and did some rearranging.

The kitchen tool drawer was the worst thing I decluttered today. Too much stuff in too small a space.

But look at the after!

I moved the chip clips to the drawer to the right of the stove.

And all serving utensils went to the drawer to the left of the stove. I *knew* I’d find something to put there. 🙂 I plan to find some boxes or dividers to organize these items, but I think they are going to work well here.

We spent about an hour and a half in the basement this evening while severe storms rumbled through. Now it’s about time to get DD ready for bed and I am going to spend some time reading. I’ve had a productive day…now for some down time. ~~Rhonda