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!!

Darling

This is a tale of the elusive "Darling" pin.  My mother had a beautiful antique pin, inscribed with the word "Darling".  I always loved that pin, and when my mother passed, expressed a desire to keep it from my mother's belongings.

When my sisters and I began going through my mother's things after she passed, we could not find the pin in with the rest of her jewelry.  We felt really horrible.  Then, miraculously (St. Anthony had a a hand in this!) we found the pin almost by chance, after unfolding a crochet shawl my mother had made.  She had worn the Darling pin with the shawl, but had the foresight to attach it to the shawl with a vinyl (invisible) thread so it would not be lost by accident.  So I took the pin home and placed it in my jewelry box.

A few weeks ago, I was looking for the pin.  I swear I took apart my jewelry box looking for it, but it was not there.  I asked my sister Barbara if she had it by chance - she did not, but promised to say a prayer to St. Anthony, asking for his assistance.  I did so as well.  I looked in the attic, trying to find my mother's shawl.  I couldn't find that either (although I did find a shawl she had made for me).  I felt just awful, thinking it was gone for good.

Today, I set about cleaning my completely messy and disorganized house (Robert is coming here on Tuesday!!).  I have been in the process of setting up a makeup table in an antique desk in our room (more on that in a future blog post).  I decided to do a clean and purge of my jewelry box (something I had planned on doing whilst looking for the pin; there was so much in there that I no longer wanted, and it was bursting at the seams).  And what do you think happened?  I found "Darling"!!  She is now in a small box, safely in the jewelry box, so I will always know exactly where she is.

I'm so happy!

Found Object - Salad Bowl

This wonderful salad bowl was made by my hubby Paul when he was in Shop Class in high school.  It is beautifully made.  He also made the salad serving set as well.  Many years back though, before we had a kitchen with storage, we used to keep the bowl on top of the fridge with a lot of other stuff.  Then one day it got jostled and fell off.  It broke clean in two, much to our despair.  It went into the basement for repair, and Paul got it glued back together.  It needed refinishing though: filling of any small remaining cracks, a good sanding, re-staining parts, and plenty of polyurethane to fill gaps and give it a solid waterproof coat.  But there were just so many other projects and so much to do, that it sat and sat and sat...

Then once we had made some good headway into the kitchen remodel, we stumbled upon it on a shelf in the basement.  How many years had it been?!  Paul got going on it again, working carefully and methodically to restore it.  Coat after coat of poly, until it was just right.

Paul's Signature on the bottom of the bowl 

from when he first made it- 4/20/72.

How lovely to serve salad in such a bowl!

Found Objects - Kitchen Curtains

I had some lace curtains cluttering up my house, couldn't bear to throw them away.  It's a good thing I didn't.  I found a use for them in our new kitchen.  Although I like to have the windows bare because it lets in the maximum light in our north exposure windows, having the next door neighbors able to peer across at us was not pleasant (one can often find me in the kitchen in the morning still in my pajamas!).  So I hemmed these and hung them.  I actually prefer them at night, because all we would have were these two dark windows, rather stark with no light shining through.  This makes them inviting and homey, decreased sunlight notwithstanding.