Tackle-It: Kitchen Cabinets

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I had several things on my to-do list last week, and most of it is still on the list.  Organizing two of my kitchen cabinets was a surprise!  I casually mentioned to Fernando--very sweetly now, I'm not a nagger--that it would be nice to someday soon have a new shelf in two particular cabinets in my kitchen.  We had bought the wood (composite board, actually) right after finishing the kitchen, ahem, two years ago.  The two cabinets at issue contained just one shelf, so things were stacked pretty high.  An extra shelf would help distribute the weight of all the items, and make getting things easier.

I was surprised when Fernando said, "I'll be right back."  I asked, "Where are you going?"  And he answered, "To the garage to cut the board for your shelf."  *wife melts into a puddle*

He measured twice, cut once, et voilà, a new shelf!  He then ran out to Home Depot to get another piece of composite for our secret cabinet--named because it's hidden under our kick-out countertop area.

Boys pulled everything out of the cabinets, and I put it all back--except one Tupperware pitcher because I had several pitchers already.  Here is a photo of what I call my peninsula cabinet, which is opposite the secret cabinet.  (You can see the open door of the secret cabinet behind the right-hand peninsula door.)

No "before" pictures, because I forgot; however, it didn't look much different.  There is now a new shelf, and I can get things in and out much more nicely than before.  And I even re-organized a few things for a better fit, so things don't look exactly like the above photo!

Yay for an organized kitchen!

Back to life,
Christine

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captured by Christine Anne

Tackle-It: Science Supplies

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Box of science supplies

A few years ago, I loaned out this box of chemistry supplies; it was returned to me just a few weeks ago.   The box sat on the counter for a few days, then I moved it to the basement, on the floor in front of my homeschool cubby-hole cabinets.

Cubby-hole cabinets with box of science supplies

Thank the merciful Lord that I had already gotten my cubby-hole cabinets cleaned out and re-organized a few weeks ago!  I love these cabinets, which were originally literature cabinets that Fernando's company was throwing away in their dumpster.  Are you kidding me???  Each cabinet has 16 cubby-holes perfect for organizing things--especially homeschool things.  These cabinets are a prized possession, and have been put to incredible use for, oh, eight or ten years now.

If you look at the cabinets like a Battleship game board, cubby-holes A5 through A8, plus B8, contain my science supplies.  The top of the right-hand cabinet also holds boxes with science supplies.  When I first organized this, I made an index of supplies, named each cubby-hole and each box, then found a spot for every item.  I labeled each cubby-hole:  Bin 1, Bin 2, and so on, and the boxes in each bin as Box A, Box B...you get the picture.  And that index exists today!

But, when I bought the chemistry supplies, and Jacob ended up dropping chemistry, the box of supplies never got cataloged or put away.  Shortly thereafter, a friend asked to borrow them, so the box made a trek to her house.  And now that Danny had embarked on the chemistry journey, necessity spurred me to finally get these supplies indexed and put away.

Science supplies needing a home

Though there weren't that many things to put away, it still took time.  A few of the items were duplicates of things I already had indexed, such as eye droppers and beakers, so those were easy to put away.  I cleaned out the two cardboard boxes of jars, vials, and beakers (sitting on the top of the cabinet), since there were more items than we would use at any one time.  Most of what I recycled were glass jars; several of them--16-oz. former jelly jars--made their way into my pantry for storage or freezing.

Index of supplies

I indexed all new items on my science supply list by adding them in with pen, then placed the items in their new homes.  My index is alphabetical, and shows:  (1) the item, (2) how many I have, and (3) where I can find that item.  For instance, if I need assorted wood blocks, I go to Bin 1, and pull out Box A, and I will find the blocks.  Simple!

A place for everything...

The funny thing is that my "after" picture above doesn't look all that different from the "before" picture; the box is missing, and that's it!  That means that everything got put away.  :)  (Not to mention the fact that my "before" picture is really the "after" picture of my previous clean-the-cabinets project!)

Science supplies :)

Above is a close-up of most of my science cubby-holes.  It's so simplifying to have these things in their places.  A place for everything, and everything in its place.  I would add more to this motto:  If it doesn't have a place, don't give it any space.

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne