Baking Central
Baking Central

I consider myself a pretty organized person. Ā Some would call me anal (retentive), but I would Ā certainly not go that far. Ā One of the things that I have been wanting to do for a while now is get my kitchen in order. Ā Ever since I started baking last year and created what I like to call “Baking Central”, I have been wanting every area of the kitchen to be just as efficient.

I have been thinking about the zones in my kitchen and how I can make them work better. Ā A few months ago, I relocated the coffee maker and mugs, and the new “coffee station” has worked out well. Ā So I have moved on to the most difficult area (for me, anyway); it is what I have been calling “Cooking Central” (I know, how original), but now I think the name actually fits.

I have always kept all my spices and oils and such in an upper “corner” cabinet closest to the cook top. Ā I felt like this worked out fine since the cook top is in the island and there’s no uppers there, just lowers and 4 drawers, so the arrangement seemed only natural. Ā More and more I was noticing how much movement (or Rachel Ray style acrobatics) it required to corral everything I need to cook a meal (which I normally do twice a day). Ā Then the light bulb went on over my head – DING! – put the spices in one of the drawers. Ā Of course there are so many ways to do this, custom and not, but I REFUSED to spend a DIME doing it.

That said, I finally got to work making it happen. Ā Needless to say, creating a spice drawer turned into SO much more…. take a look.

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Couple of things I KNOW you must be thinking:

  1. How do I know what’s what? Ā All of the spices are not labeled.
    Well, I do most of the cooking and I know what everything is. Ā I actually started labeling and after a few weeks I noticed that the spices that ARE labeled are the ones that are always misused. Ā Apparently men don’t read directions OR labels! Ā Maybe one day I’ll get back to that, but for now I am thinking it’s all good.
  2. How are you going to get to the containers on the upper 2 cabinet shelves?
    The beauty of the new container cab is that the items up on the top rarely, if ever, get used. Ā In fact several of those items have NEVER been used (note to self, STOP BUYING THINGS!). Ā Besides, that’s what step stools are for – we keep one in the pantry for the littlest to help cook… AND for this.

So let’s do a quick recap… (1st attempt at an infographic)
Lifecycle of Spice Storage

Next up, I’ll tackle the pantry. Ā It could use some work! Ā Until then,

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2 Comments

  1. Love it!!!! I think I will be doing this myself, I am not liking my spice section in my cabinet either to cluttered. Thanks for great share and ideas!!! Now where do I get those cute jars at? Ikea? šŸ™‚

    1. Yes ma’am, Ikea! They are a great deal – the jars are $3.50 for a 4 pack, and the shakers are $4 for a 4 pack. I put items that we use a lot in the shakers (salt, pepper, cajun blend, italian seasoning). They’re great – just think of all the things they could be used for!