Kitchen Storage Organization (Small Space Living)

Living in a small space has its challenges.  Although we redid our kitchen a couple of years ago and added lots of new cabinetry, I still needed to economize on space.  A lot of the items below were put in initially with the kitchen remodel.  But a while back I did a lot of kitchen reorganization which really helped working in the space.  I ordered some new things for this.  I also repaired an appliance, and employed an antique tea canister for fun.

One of the first space organizers I purchased was an Ikea Pot Lid Organizer, to be use for baking dishes and pie pans, rather then the pot lids it was intended for:

A more recent project, I took everything out of the drawers, and reorganized them.  Here is the big drawer reorganization:

Everything from the bottom section out to sort and purge

The bottom section reorganized: baking utensils, etc.

The top section is silverware

Speaking of silverware, I bought new stainless.  This was problematic, because the bottom of the dinner fork handles are large and ornate, much wider than before, and they did not fit in our small dishwasher basket.  I liked how the dishwasher basket fit in our small-space dishwasher, and didn't want to try and find a new one that might not work anyway.  Paul suggested opening up a few of the basket sections, so they were wider:

The basket before

It just doesn't fit!

The basket after, with four of the sections in the middle widened out using a metal rasp.

Then there is small-space pan storage.  We used two separate units in one of the base cabinets, a two-level unit for pans and lids (that have to be placed with their handles just so on the adjustable rack), and another for cookie sheets and cutting boards:

Bottom pan level

Top level - lids, and the teensy-tiny frying pan

I also repaired my grain mill (the air outlet piece).  Note that my grain mill will now be used for non gluten grains such as oat groats (back on gluten-free diet).  This deformity had been here since I purchased the mill.  It didn't affect the functioning, but it bugged me, so I ordered a new part:

Finally, I needed tea storage for some little samples I had gotten.  I found this canister in an antique store - just like mother used to have!!

What I Did Instead (Went On Vacation!)

(Note: I thought I had posted this already!  Well, better late than never!)
This past November, there was a problem with a group I was working with.  It all had to do with music and harp, an inexplicable and unnecessary rude email from one of the leaders to me, and an unexpected invitation that same day from another group that helped salve the wound (a group I am happily working with now).  I don't want to go into details since this is a public blog, but suffice it to say, it was so disappointing.  I have moved on, but still am flabbergasted by the whole sequence of events.
There was a special event planned for February with the old group, that I was so looking forward to.  I had blocked out a series of days from my work schedule to accommodate this.  When everything fell apart, I had this rare lengthy time off.  Paul had not been feeling well, basically from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  When thinking of a gift for him for Christmas, I thought time at the beach would be therapeutic.  Plus we had enough points on one credit card to cover two airline tickets, enough on another to cover the rental car.  So I booked a long weekend in Florida.  We had a lovely time.
I made sure, on the evening of the event that I was not part of, that Paul and I were drinking cold champagne in a warm place.  And celebrating our lives together.