My Kitchen......reorganize pt. 3

Ok, so as to not freak anyone out....I am only posting ONE picture today.....but be forewarned. It's not for the weak of heart. It is a doozy!!! It's the top of my large buffet.

Just to say in advance, in my defense, the contents of my armoire are also on here, as well as anything my dh & kids decide to just drop & run (as in they drop something and run like heck before mama catches them doing so). And, yes, that is a pair of my oldest dd's nikes....she needs them relaced, so what better spot than on the buffet in the kitchen???

There is a little something for everyone up here. You can most noticeably see all the linens on top of everything (they are from the armoire). Then there's Caity's shoes, some canisters that haven't been put away (at this point, what was the use), then there's bread that hadn't made it to the freezer yet (I'm happy to say it has now). Underneath all the clutter (junk), there is actually some pretty pottery crocks holding my (some of my) utensils. And, of course, the overflowing can cabinet (which can hopefully be retired after my new pantry gets put together). And if you look on top of that, is the white board paint I bought months ago, and still haven't painted.

Geez, this is even overwhelming me, lol....Well, here it is.....don't run away, please!!

My Kitchen......reorganize pt. 2

Ok, you know how when you have this great plan, this terribly well thought out plan, that is just perfect....nothing can go wrong. Wellllllllll, let me tell you it CAN. And usually, ok, sometimes due to no idiocy of your own.

I bought this pantry, you see, and I was gonna put it together myself. Well, my dh decided he wanted to put it together himself....BIG MISTAKE!!

First of all, he is not a WOOD man....he is a METAL man. You give that boy something to weld and you will love it when it's done. Welllll, he once built me a bookshelf.....I had this ingenious idea to use the wooden rails from a twin bed frame and the slats to make a bookshelf. Oh, it would have been a great little bookshelf....Well, he got to work, and about an hour brought it in to me.........The shelves were at a diagonal.....you'd put a book on, and it would fall right back off!

Ok, so it's been like 13 years, so I decided he had earned the right to try again (I mean I did put together all the cribs & baby furniture so my kids wouldn't just fall out).

So, he gets to work, and he's about 1/2way through with the pantry.....and calls me, b/c he can't figure out how in the world this board is supposed to fit on there....

Bless his heart, he didn't check the materials off on the little checklist before he started putting things together. Now he must have watched me put together at least 100 different pieces of furniture....and that is always my first step.

Hey, at least he did do the steps in the order they call for....lol, guess he was trying to do a good job, and not be banned another 13 years. WELL, they had given us two "A" boards, but no "B" board. And since A is the left side of the pantry, and B is the right side, there's just no dadgum way it's gonna work. Like having 2 left feet....no matter how hard ya try, all ya gonna do is dance in circles.

Soooooooooooooo, we had to take it back apart (because our house is too small to just have it standing somewhere in limbo without my destroyers (umm, i mean little creative people...sure, yeah, ok, that's not even convincing to me), doing what they do best......destroying. So, it is now unassembled (and glue spilt), and blocking my microwave cart (with the microwave & dishes). So, today, I get to call the company, and request a part B :) Now I just have to decide what my Plan B is...because I already took my armoire out the kitchen thinking my pantry was to be put together, and the contents are all over my large buffet.

Aaaaaaargh....lol. You think stuff like this only happens in the movies....WRONG..............it happens to me, lol.

My Kitchen......reorganize pt. 1

Ok, I am having a BIG organization problem in my kitchen......I get it organized how it makes sense to me, and I am "technically" the only one who uses it.....well for it's intended purposes anyways. My kitchen is WAY TOO small to be using it as a catch-all, but that is the purpose my family uses it for. In order to NOT scare you away, I am not going to post all of my before pics at one time.

The first thing I am going to show you is my small buffet, which is the perfect height for me considering I have absolutely NO counter space....and by this I don't mean cluttered counter space or unutilized space, I mean NO space. I have 2 very small counters (1'x1') and one is in the corner between my front door and my stove....so I can't even get to it easily (it has my dish strainer on it, that's all I can put there...anything else I can't reach to use. The 2nd small counter is reachable, but still too small to really use (and with me being so short, it is too tall for me to use even if it were big enough).

HOWEVER....will all that being said.....I am taking this piece out of my kitchen :( It is not able to effectively do the job I want it to do in my kitchen. The problems are: 1. everytime I get the top cleared off, dh & kids clutter it back up (major hotspot), 2. the cabinet is too narrow, but too tall to hold really much of anything. it should have a shelf to utilize the height (so I don't have dead space at the top) and it should be wider to hold my extra appliances....oh, and the drawer really doesn't hold anything well (you have to open the cabinet to open the drawer).........

So, although it's the perfect height, it has these other problems. So......I am going to repurpose it as a sewing cabinet :) my sewing machine will fit on top, i am going to put a bin of fabric in the cabinet, a basket to hold patterns (if i keep any), and the drawer can hold some small baskets to hold things like bobbins, thread, etc.

Only problem....where to put the miscellaneous stuff that is thrown in it?? (it's a hodgepodge of stuff)

BEFORE pics (will be a while before I am able to post AFTER pics, because I have to find somewhere for all this stuff to go rather than just dump it in my already ON FIRE kitchen:
Top of buffet: (blender that hasn't been put away since being used over a month ago, my new mixer that i bought over 2 weeks ago and haven't put away, my crockpot that is actually being used...see my yummy dinner inside, coffee maker that doesn't get used during summer, top of trifle bowl that hasn't been used since mom's day, a casserole dish, the pledge, my brisket recipe cards from last week, and the sticks to the koolaid pops)


Inside buffet drawer (inside cabinet): (various pampered chef gadgets, popcorn, almond bark & bottle parts)


Inside buffet cabinet: (various other pc items, chillzanne, caddies, muffin stone, and for some reason a hamburger helper (free with coupon, lol) and a cake mix)