We all have them.

Our kitchen cupboards do each of us a great service in holding all of our food, dishes, dust…and to be honest, I have struggled with how to organize mine well. When we first moved into our house, I started unpacking kitchen things first. Designating drawers for silverware, plates, cups, cereal, pots and pans, toaster…the list goes on. Even in a house small in size, I was surprised at the generous amount of cupboards that our kitchen held. yet with any kitchen not designed specifically for you, there are always areas of compromise and creativity. In our kitchen that is our pantry (or lack there of). We don’t have a walk-in-floor to ceiling-shelves galore-pantry (if we did, I think I’d end the post here and listen to the angels sing). But, we do have a set of cupboards set aside for the humble task of holding all of our dry goods.

This section of cupboards has undergone a few shifts in the 4+ years we have lived here, and I nearly forgot to take the most recent “before” picture too anxious to begin kitchen cupboard restructure 4.0.

One day I was walking through our local Aldi grocery store (quick shameless plug for Aldi, I don’t know what I would do without their prices and growing assortment of organic and gluten free products!) and I spotted good sized wicker baskets for $4.99. looking back, I wish I would have grabbed all that they had left, but I wasn’t 100% sure they were even going to fit inside my cupboards (although I’m sure I could have found plenty of other household uses for them, always buy now return later…at least when it comes to Aldi and HomeGoods). Needless to say, I’m thankful I at least snagged two of them because they were a perfect fit!

     

This little cupboard project really didn’t cost more than $20 and 30 minutes of my time. Worth the simplicity and organization in my mind. I straightened up the canned good section, and faced all labels forward, (simple concept, but makes a difference) I moved dried fruits, nuts, snacks, oatmeal, and flour into clear jars, so I could easily see what was in each jar and how much. Bonus: you don’t have to take the time to label anything, besides maybe attaching a small note under the lid with expiration dates.

If you don’t have clear jars at home, you can usually find them at your local grocer in the canning section. The bigger ball jars that I have came in a package of 9 for about $10. I like to use them for flower vases, but they have worked great for storage as well. Get creative with where to find jars, some restaurants may have large pickle or olive jars that they are recycling, it never hurts to ask around or recycle your own food jars, if they are the size you need. I used to think that organization would cost me so much. I have loved to organize for as long as I can remember, and have picked up many good tips and tricks along the way. Just because you don’t have a large budget doesn’t always mean you can’t improve your space.

I hope you enjoyed this little kitchen cupboard update. If you ever have questions or comments I’d love to hear from you! I’m always in the market for learning new things too. Feel free to share what spaces you find hardest to organize in your home. I’d love to brainstorm and do a feature post on things you are interested to hear and learn more about.

Happy Almost Fall! see you back here soon!