Inevitably, I choose the wrong checkout line in the grocery store and end up waiting for a bagger to run after a product that a customer mistakenly picked up other than the one she intended... or a price check causes a delay. I know you've been there. To pass the time, I begin to browse the headlines on the covers of magazines. Sometimes I'm even enticed to buy one. When you've stood in those lines and gazed at magazine covers often enough, you begin to notice the same topics turning up from one year to the next. January magazine covers always highlight getting your life organized... "End Closet Clutter"... "21 Ways to Get Organized"... "Organizing Solutions"... and on and on. Is it because it's the start of a new year and we are determined to turn over a new leaf... make a New Year's Resolution? I think it has more to do with it being wintertime. We spend more time indoors, so we feel an urge to put things in order around us because that is our world and we want it to be cozy and efficient. Therefore, I set out this morning to make a difference in a corner of my kitchen where I store my baking supplies. Here is what my cupboard looked like before I began.
Here is what my baking supply cupboard looked like afterwards. I moved everything across the room because I read in one of my organizational books that it's most efficient to set up your baking area between the stove and the sink because you use them frequently... not next to the refrigerator as is commonly thought. The reasoning is that you can get whatever supplies you need from the fridge in one trip and carry them over to your baking area Rachael Ray-style. Not every kitchen has appliances that are installed so as to be conducive to this arrangement, but if you do... it makes purely good sense to me.
I now have one cupboard devoted to ingredients used in making soups, casseroles, etc. with herbs and seasonings, dry beans, pasta... things like that. Another cabinet section stores supplies including spices, sweeteners, dried fruits and nuts... anything for baking. Dick installed a two-tiered rack on the door's interior that holds my spices. I alphabetized my herbs and spices in both cupboards to prevent duplication. To fit my plates, bowls, and beverage glasses into one cupboard section, I weeded out the excess which I placed in a Goodwill box. The shelf allowed me to stack salad plates above the dinner plates for more efficient use of space. I used a similar shelf in my baking cupboard.
My daughter, Jessica (fortandfield.blogspot.com), knows how much I like to organize so she shared an idea from the February 2008 issue of Country Home Magazine featuring an apron draped around a door. I used a full apron, but the article suggested hanging a half-apron by "tying the apron strings around a cupboard or pantry door and securing with double-sided tape." The pockets can be used "to store grocery lists, coupons, and other shopping necessities." I used my pockets to hold the week's menu and coordinating recipes. Besides being useful, the apron adds a pretty burst of color.