Priority organization...

I adore our open shelving in the kitchen, but I really had to rethink the area where I store our glasses.  I am 5' tall, and at 46 years old I am probably already starting to shrink.  Reaching anything in a kitchen has always been an issue for me.  Why I thought putting the wine glasses on the highest shelf was a good idea is completely beyond me.  I'm sure my neighbors have had a good laugh watching me try to coax one of those glasses down using my wooden spoon while hoping it didn't come crashing down on my head.  Every. Night.

Today I decided to do something about it.  I moved the glasses down off that upper shelf and bought a wine glass holder.  I drink one glass of wine a night- I work hard all day and I shouldn't have to work that hard for a wine glass.  Priority organizing at it's finest.

We started by hanging the coffee cups up on the underside of the top shelf.  Then added the wine glass holder to the bottom side of the lower shelf.  This increased our shelf space by two times! And look at those easily accessible wine glasses!

Since we were in the giant store-of-organize-everything, I decided to do something about our knives in a drawer situation.  In the last house I kept them in a drawer and that worked fine.  I've actually read that wood blocks dull knives, so putting them in a block and taking up valuable counter space wasn't an option.  Instead I went with a magnetic strip that we mounted on the side of the fridge near the stove...

I do most of my cutting on this side of the kitchen and my butcher blocks are to the right along side the stove.  Also, why is it that when you finally realize that everyone in your house wants bananas, and so you go buy more bananas, and then nobody seems to be interested in the bananas?  It's bananas.

While I was photographing the organizational upgrades to our tiny kitchen, I decided to snap some better pictures of the television console we bought off Etsy for our living room...

Hope everyone is enjoying their pumpkin lattes, sweaters and changing leaves.  It's 90 degrees here today with a matching number for humidity.  Festive. Not.

Pantry plans...

One of the areas that I would like to be more intentional in my purchases in our new place will be the pantry.  This house has a "super pantry" and is capable of holding quite a bit of stuff.  The only problem with that is that I tend to buy things, shove them toward the back (with every intention of using them) and then forget they are there.

Hello four year old bottle of pickled jalapenos!

But this next house is going to be different.  For one thing I already know the kitchen will be smaller and storage will be at a premium.  Also, I am trying to steer our eating to more "clean eating" or "slow food" methods of cooking.  That means lots of fresh ingredients- as in daily visits to the market.

Have I mentioned that the grocery store sends me into panic attacks?  I'm not even kidding- no windows or clocks, endless aisles and crowds?  They don't make enough Xanax to get me through that experience.

So I send my husband instead.  Which, if we are going to need to visit the market daily, or every other day is not going to be practical.  (or fair, the man works 12 hour shifts!)  I am going to have to suck it up like a buttercup and go to the market myself.

Gulp.

This is the lower half of our pantry.  It has slide out drawers which I divided up with chips/snacks on the top shelf, cereal and breakfast items on the second shelf, rice and pasta on the third shelf, and storage bags and paper products on the lower fourth shelf...

The upper half holds all of our canned goods and my baking items.  It's a huge pantry and I can get a lot into it, but I want to keep it more intentional and only have what we need on hand in the next pantry.  More streamlined...

via Remodelaholic- Faith, Trust, & Pixie Dust

I will keep the stock items on hand:  Olive oil, chicken stock, diced tomatoes, garlic and pastas.  I can make a lot out of those key ingredients.  I am also going to be better about freezing less.  I tend to put things in the freezer and forget about them.   Then months later I am trying to identify frost bitten items CSI style...

That's the fun in moving without another house on the horizon.  I have lots of time to plan and rethink how I am doing things now and how I would like to do them differently.

Simplify.  That is my mantra.

Modeling...

Everyone knows that the best way to teach or parent is to model the behavior that you want to see imitated. I've followed Janet over at The Gardener's Cottage for quite a while now.  I am not vegan, nor would I ever want to walk away from a good cheeseburger, but her style of living simply and paring down really speaks to me.  I don't know to what extent I can implement a similar lifestyle, but the modeling she has shown on her blog and the tips and tricks she shares make me think that we can try.
I find lately that I am drawn to something more pared down, simple, streamlined and clutter free.  I know we are organized over here, but really- there is just too much stuff for me lately.

Instead of finding ways to cram more in, I want to clear things out.  Purge and lighten up.   I think that is why I enjoy the process of moving.  It forces you to reconsider what you have and let go of what no longer works or you no longer need.

I've already started in my own closet.  Letting go of things I never wear.  Pieces that just sit and collect dust.  Bags and shoes that are never used.  Someone out there will appreciate and use those things, and I'd rather let them go than hang on to them on the off chance I will use it.

Over the next few weeks I will post our packing process as well as our weeding out process.  I plan to sell, donate and give pieces to friends and family.  I want to focus on what we really need versus strategizing a way to fit all of our "stuff" into a small space.  The goal is to live simpler.

I'm liking how that sounds.

Organizing the pantry: then and now...

Our last house and a mini-room for a pantry.  It was originally a small bathroom off the kitchen, but it's location was much better suited as a pantry area...

This was our junk drawer.  I love cleaning out and organizing a junk drawer.  Hello perks of OCD...

I like an orderly utensil drawer too.  Ideally you only have enough "stuff" that everything you really use is laying flat and easily accessible.   I've acquired more cooking crap since moving into this house, so I really need to reevaluate what I really use and need versus what is simply taking up space in the drawers.

This was our last laundry room before the build out.  I used a metal shelf from Home Depot to organize my cleaning supplies on.

Life was simple, we didn't have as much "stuff".  I find that I am craving that again.  I feel a purging coming on...

The Library...

10 months ago it looked like this...

Then it started to look like this...

And finally, today it looks like this...

Part of the design had to include a space for the vintage slot machine my dad gave me...

and a cozy window seat to sit and read in...

I also wanted a bookshelf that would accommodate front facing books & pictures to display...

I love the simple chicken wire on the cabinet doors...

One of my favourite things is actually right outside the library.  The butler's bell my mom gave me for my birthday.  Straight from England and just like the ones on Downton Abbey.  Now if the butler would only show up...

The other part of the butler's bell on the inside of the room...

a spot to charge electronics...

desk essentials...

books from my childhood...

So from this...

to this...

Paint colour:  Sherwin Williams Functional Gray
Door/Cabinet pulls:  Pottery Barn
Light Fixture: Ballard Designs
Wood for cabinets:  Red Oak cabinet plywood
Contractor:  My husband, Travis.


*linked up at:  I'm not a trophy wife

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