This post is brought to you by Howards Storage World
***THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED***
Congratulations to REMY ROBERTS
For all the professing of my love of organisation, I sure do have
some deep dark secrets that I keep well hidden in my home.
First of all there was the Pit of Shame, otherwise known as my
garage that I kept hidden from not only you but the neighbours and pretty much
the entire world.
Thankfully Howards Storage World came to the rescue and
did a complete overhaul and nowadays the garage door is no longer bolted shut
and nor do I insist on people signing indemnity waivers before they enter. You
can read about that make over here and here here, here, here, here and haha here too.
Now to the casual observer my kitchen looks fairly neat and
tidy.... just how I like it.
But it's what's hidden in those cupboards that had me getting in a
tizz.
Once a month I would sort it all out and clean it all up and then
within days the troops had it looking like a complete shambles again.
The problem was that there really weren't any practical systems in
place. I had glass jars that would fall and smash when the kids rummaged around
looking for snacks and pretty much I just gave up on ever having cupboards that
were even remotely organised.
Luckily I have become quite desensitised to how they used to look so I am going
to show you and besides, nothing will ever quite beat the shame of showing you
my garage pre-makeover.
So go on then - have a good old gander, make your tut tut noises
and mock me if you will. The guts of my kitchen were a shocker.
The cupboards above, which is pretty much the majority of my
cupboards, were the scene or scenes of crime.
The cupboards that house our crockery, pots and pans, glassware
and Tupperware were in a good state of condition. They are easy to keep tidy
because the men in my house avoid putting anything away if they can help it so
it is pretty much only ever me putting stuff in them which means I can
generally keep them organised.
The problem areas were the pantry, medicine cupboard, under the
sink cupboard, the kitchen drawers and what was supposed to be the breakfast
cupboard.
Yeah OK - let's just settle with most of my kitchen cupboards were
in a hell of a mess.
When the Howards Storage Team said they would be
creating an organisational system for my kitchen, I literally ran through the
house squealing like a pig at a whiff of bacon..... I am aware that
doesn't really make any sense, but come on, I'm trying really hard to describe
to you just how excited I was that someone wanted to help me out with this.
When they asked for some photos of the problem areas, I had that
camera out snapping pictures and attached to email in less than the time it
takes to boil an egg. I wanted to send them in quickly in case they changed
their minds.
The old Stop, Sort and Solve system was used to come up with
practical solutions that the whole family could maintain and the family was
booted out of the house for a day so that I could get in there and get started
on creating organised kitchen cupboards.
Everything was pulled out of the cupboards and I mean EVERYTHING
including cans of food and spices that expired in 2006.
No Bull.
First up I tackled the roll up cupboard which we use as the
breakfast zone.
It was an area that was supposed to house the cereals, toaster,
bread and brekkie condiments - but became the dumping
zone for vitamins, sick bags, tissues and even an iPad cover.
Now just look at that will you.
Everything has a place and the kids can easily prepare their own
breakfast and have no excuse to not put things back where they belong when they
are finished.
The fabulous items used here were;
The kitchen drawers were equally as shameful. The cutlery drawer
was fine, but the utensil drawer, junk drawer and tea towel draw looked more
like a mini version of my old garage.
A couple of storage solutions and a cull and chuck session later,
and they were 1000 percent more organised.
Items used to get those drawers in order were;
Under the sink was one of those areas that was perfect for
breeding STUFF. I had made a token effort with a pathetic little basket to
corral a few bits and pieces, but um yeah it wasn't really working for us.
Only a couple of quick fixes were needed for here and most of the
stuff was thrown out.
The medicine cupboard above our oven was another place where I
found ointments and medications that expired far too long ago to be of any use
to anyone.
Having them stored up high safely away from little hands also
meant short asses like me couldn't see up there either to know what was even in
there.
We used the Aamina Easy Access Storer With Handle to sort it all into practicals groupings
like Kids Cough and Cold medicines, Epi Pens and Emergency Drugs, Vitamins and
Ointments, and Prescription Medications.
Alright then now for the Piece-De-Resistance - the Pantry.
As you can see from the before photos - there was absolutely no
rhyme or reason to how things were stored in there. Actually there would be
when I unpacked the grocery shopping, but by the time the beasts had ravaged
the supplies, everything was everywhere.
When I cleared everything out I found that we had 4 cans of chick
peas, 5 cans of beetroot and at least 8 cans of baked beans and
condensed milk that were years out of date.
The problem was I could not see what was in there, so I would just
buy more, because clearly I am just so efficient.
Let's have a look see.
The goal was to remove as much packaging as possible and have
everything in child friendly, BPA Free, Air tight and practical storage.
Bulk items were archived to the top shelves and everything sorted
into groups e.g. canned goods, baking supplies, pastas & dry goods, and
school snacks etc.
Dog food and bird food were decantered into functional storage
tins with scoops and a child friendly medical kit with band aids and basic
first aid items for accident prone boys was placed at the bottom of the pantry
for easy access.
Extra removable shelves and under shelf baskets
were used to create extra storage and bam - order was well and truly restored.
Items used in the above pantry photo
5. Dog Food Storage Tin (Black) (code:SSI1359)
6. Bird Seed Storage Tin (code: SSI1361)
Additional items used in the above photo
Now for probably my most favourite pantry solution - the spice
organiser.
Once I threw out the 12 or so totally out of date jars of spices
that I couldn't even pronounce let alone spell, we were still left with 16
bottles of spices to store.
It was suggested we combine a Umbra Magnetic Pin Bulletin Board - Large and Magnetic Spice Cans to have a very effective spice storage solution that is
conveniently placed on the inside of the pantry door and more importantly not taking up any valuable shelf
space.
I died and went to heaven.
Let's have one more look at the pantry before and after shall we
.... cause I'm not quite done showing it off yet.
Can you see now why I was practically hyperventilating?????
All of the products used in this makeover are available in store
or online at the Howards Storage World Website.
Thank you so much to the fabulous HSW team
for once again making me come clean about my deep dark storage catastrophes and coming up with some totally
awesome solutions for us.
Now how do you fancy winning a $100 voucher to Howards Storage World to help you tackle any trouble spots?To be in the running to win, follow the prompts in the Rafflecopter widget below and tell me about the trouble spot you would makeover if you won. If you are a game, post a pic to my Facebook page too :)
The competition is open now and closes 11/11/13 at 7pm AEST.
Good Luck!
