WARNING: NO PICTURES OF PRETTY INTERIORS IN THIS POST! But if you like a good decluttering before-and-after then stay with me.

I wouldn’t say my weekend was fun, but it was productive.  Cleaning out our unfinished basement was on 2010′s fall to-do list, and somehow we skipped right over it.  Life will do that to your to-do lists, you know. Anyhow, after I made the decision to really focus on reducing {stuff, stress, debt, etc.} this year, Handy Hubby and I scheduled for a babysitter to be at our house this past Saturday for 6 hours during the day. We knew if we were gonna make any kind of dent in the basement clutter, our boys would have to be preoccupied.  I’ve tried ‘organizing’ with our kids before.  It doesn’t work…at least for major organization sessions.  As soon as I have piles separated, *someone* starts pulling stuff out and I’m back at square one in 5 minutes.  Ahh!  So, yeah, we paid somebody to come play with the boys while we did a number on the hot mess in our basement.  Oddly enough, our babysitter’s mom just so happened to have a 15′ truck for the weekend that she kindly offered up to us for hauling junk away.  Score!  {Thanks Lydia and Sarah!}

Good thing…we had a lot of crap in the basement.  When we moved in 3 years ago, anything that we didn’t know where to put got thrown in the basement and was never seen again.  We also added to the chaos by dragging unwanted furniture, toys, electronics, etc. down there over time.  It all added up to one giant disorderly place.  And while we didn’t see the mess on a daily basis, I knew it was there…hidden by our tidy main floor.  I felt like it was a dirty secret I was keeping. Here I was decorating simply and telling you all how to disguise toy storage in your living spaces…all the while I had a dumpsterful of crap sitting in my basement.  Something had to be done.

In proper Mission Organization fashion, we hung signs around the basement categorizing each pile.

Handy Hubby and I spent 6 hours sorting through every last tote, bag and box, only coming up once for a quick lunch.  We kept a notepad in the ‘donate’ zone to write down each item we put in that pile…for tax deduction purposes.

We ended up with 4 pages of ‘donate’ stuff.  That was Saturday.  On Sunday, we loaded up our donation pile into the ‘big twuck’ {as Everett called it}.  Seriously, it took a BUH-zillion trips up and down those basement stairs.  It was 25° outside, but I was sweating with no coat.  Good workout. We didn’t have a babysitter for this part of the binge.  Everett was desperately trying to prove his big boy status by ‘helping.’  I had to keep opening bags and giving him something small to carry out to the ‘big twuck.’  His favorite part was walking up and down the loading ramp of the truck.  Here’s the ‘big twuck’ in all its glory right before we hauled it off to Goodwill.

This was the view from our front door this morning…

…notice the mongo trash pile on the curb.  We handed down the plastic storage bins to Handy Hubby’s folks who may be moving soon and just so happened to be in town for the day.  But enough talk.  Let’s walk the walk.  Check out these before-and-afters of the once furniture dungeon…

The items {doors, mirrors, old island countertop} propped up against the studs in the after shot are waiting to be hauled off to our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  Sadly, they aren’t open on Sundays.  The black chairs in the bottom right hand corner of the after shot were waiting for our brother-in-law to come pick them up.  They’re gone now!

Before, the ping pong table wasn’t getting any playtime.  It was acting like more of a workbench. Now, you could probably fit 5 ping pong tables down there.

Who knew changing the furnace air filter could be so easy without all that crap in the way?

The majority of the stuff we kept ended up in this bump-out under the sunroom.  In a few months, I plan on going through this keep pile and whittling it down even further.

That’s the view looking back toward the front of the basement where you come down the steps. Nice.  All-in-all the basement binge went off without a hitch.  Things did get a little hairy when this guy made an appearance.

That picture doesn’t do him justice.  He was easily the size of a ping pong ball.  Maybe he thought he was one since he was hiding out under the ping pong table.  I saved Handy Hubby from him. He’s not fond of spiders.  All the dust from the basement and salt from the walk {we didn’t want to slip on the ice!} got tracked onto the floors.  I spent the better part of the afternoon scrubbing them clean.

It feels so good to have a clutter-free basement.  I’m glad we finally wrestled it into submission, but I’m also looking forward to doing something fun next weekend.

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I’m trying to reduce our stuff this year.  To start out on the right foot, I decided to tackle something small scale before moving onto more chaotic messes. {Namely our basement.  Gulp.}  Our boys received a few new movies, Wii games and music CD’s for Christmas, and the bins in our entertainment console were beginning to overflow.  Handy Hubby had the grand idea to take everything out of their original cases and organize them into folders.  Brilliant.  A trip to Walmart for three $2 zippered CD cases {we already had one on hand} and I was in business.  First, I whittled down the collection to only those items that we still watch, play and listen to.  Then I emptied every single movie {only 2 of them were non-G-rated}, Wii game and CD from its packaging…

…slipped them into corresponding folders {Layne even helped!} and labeled each folder with a silver Sharpie…

I had an inkling to alphabetize everything, but, let’s be honest, my 3-year-old isn’t going to put stuff back in alphabetical order.  And that’s the whole point…to give the boys {and Handy Hubby and I} a quick and easy way to put things away.  So, I nixed the A-Z idea.  Our entertainment console is breathing a little easier.

I am too.  Especially since this little organization project only took about 15 minutes and cost $6.

PS – I still need to find a green way to get the empty packages off my hands.  I tried donating them to our local library, but it’s a small library that doesn’t carry movies so they wouldn’t accept the movie cases.  Any ideas from the peanut gallery?

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I found 2 of these linen hanging organizers at Target last week on clearance for $3.74 each.  They were originally priced at $14.99 each.

I grabbed ‘em up and knew right away where I was going to use them.  You see, Layne started kindergarten this fall.  Who’da thought kindergarteners would bring home so much paperwork? From PTO newsletters to fundraiser info to weekly fluoride treatment consent forms…I’ve been slightly overwhelmed.  {Layne calls it his ‘homework.’}  Most of it gets tossed into the recycling bin but some is worth keeping and I haven’t found a good place to put it.  That is, not until I found these Real Simple bad boys.

Our mini mudroom is drop-zone central for coats, backpacks, shoes, hats, bags, etc.  {It was once a cumbersome hall closet.  See how we DIY’d it into a multitasking mudroom here over on Young House Love.} So, I figured what better place to add organization, right?  I used 4 drywall anchors and coordinating screws to secure the 2 hanging organizers to the narrow mudroom wall {just left of the bench if looking head-on}.

Then, to make ‘em a little more personal, I stamped the boys’ names onto the back of the Real Simple cards that came with the organizers.

Everett isn’t in school {not even preschool} yet, so I’ll probably just throw some extra pairs of undies in his for a while…or his coloring artwork.  God forbid I don’t get him something that Layne got!  Layne’s will come in handy for school reminders, consent forms and his weekly school library book {that we often have trouble finding the morning it’s due back}. And I love the fact that these will grow with the boys. Homework, here we come!

I could see these hanging organizers working just as well in an office or craft room.  And what about as mail sorters? Yes, siree.  Finding ways to keep our home clutter-free and running smoothly is fun to me.  Nerdy?  Absolutely. But it preserves my sanity.  And a mother’s sanity is a worthy investment.  Especially if it only costs $7.48.

images:  all by Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I get this question {or some version of it} a lot.

“Your house doesn’t look like it has 2 kids living in it.  Where are all the toys?”

Contrary to popular belief, I do not lock my kids up in the basement or keep them outside.  In fact, they eat, play and make messes here every single day.  Just like any other kid.  We do have a ‘toy system’ in place to corral all the kid stuff in our house which helps to make picking up {or ‘redding up’ as Handy Hubby calls it} simple.  Here are a few of my secrets for keeping toys in check:

1. Donate, separate and rotate. About 3-4 times per year, I {sometimes with the boys’ help} go through all the toys and purge.  If it’s broken, missing parts or just not grabbing my kids’ attention anymore {young kids tend to outgrow toys quickly!} I get rid of it.  Most items make it to Goodwill where I always ask for a receipt to write them off at tax time.  A few things get passed onto neighbor kids who see the secondhand toy as new. Some people may have a problem with this idea, wanting to hold onto toys because they remind them of their kids or thinking the kid might play with it again someday.  But I find happiness in knowing that our donated toys can make another child smile while keeping our house clutter free at the same time.  {I do keep the rare family heirloom toy.}  Whatever makes the cut and gets to stay in our home is loosely categorized:  cars, trains, blocks, Knex, books, puzzles, games, etc.  I try to keep like with like.  I’m not military stiff about it; we don’t have labels or anything.  I also try to keep what’s at kid reach to a minimum…meaning I put away a few items to rotate into the mix every couple of weeks once the boys have gotten bored of what’s available.  I find the boys are more apt to focus on a few toys versus a gazillion.  Simply keeping a handle on the amount of toys in our home makes it that much easier to create a space where kids, adults and style can live harmoniously.

2.  Place toys in appropriate areas. In other words, I keep toys in the rooms/areas where I like my kids to play –  mainly the family room and guest/playroom.  I set aside one half of our guest room to act as a playroom upstairs.  I hated the idea of only using this room in our house a couple of times per year when we had visitors.  Now, it gets used weekly if not daily.

Believe it or not, my kids don’t really have any toys in their bedrooms.  Instead, I store all their books in their bedrooms.  My boys have always been great sleepers and it may/may not have anything to do with this. {Kind of the same reason Handy Hubby and I refuse to have a TV in our bedroom.}  To us, bedrooms are spaces for downtime and sleeping…not playing.  Same goes for the front living room in our home where you enter the house.  I don’t like the idea of people tripping over toys as soon as they walk in, so I don’t store toys there.  That’s not to say that we don’t get the occasional car or truck under our feet in the kitchen, living room or even dining table.  But, for the most part, we’re able to keep the toys in appropriate zones out of the way of normal traffic flow.

3.  Store toys in appealing baskets, bins and containers. Not only can this work to keep toys out of sight, but many storage options can actually add texture and interest to a room.  For instance, I use a console behind our family room sectional for toy storage.  The woven baskets hold toys and break up all the dark wood and leather.

I use baskets, bins and boxes all over the family room for disguising toys.

This corner may look unassuming enough but behind the chair is a fabric covered bin holding our Wii floor mat.  {Yes, those are my toes.}

One bin in the TV console is assigned to kid DVD’s.

The ottomans that flank the entertainment console actually house board games.

The black and white geometric ‘book’ has a secret.

Card games!

Even our sunroom is in on the basket organization action.

The basket holds Lincoln Logs.

Truth be told, we do have toys in our house after all!  You just have to know where to look.

4.  Get rid of bulky packaging. As soon as a new toy comes into our house, usually the first thing to go is the packaging.  {Don’t worry, we recycle.}  All that cardboard is unnecessary.  Once that’s out of the way, I’m usually left with a much smaller thing to find a place for, and I can come up with an alternative to the flimsy packaging that holds up way better.

For example, I use this linen box to house a solar system puzzle.

I cut the picture off of the original box and store it with the puzzle pieces for a quick reference.

5.  Pick up as you go. If Layne & Everett have been playing cars all morning {a typical morning} and then decide they want to try Playdoh, I’ll usually say something like, “Okay, I’ll get out the Playdoh while you guys put the cars away.”  That way we don’t have too many messes going on at once.  In case you’re wondering where the Playdoh is…

…it’s in the bottom drawer of this cabinet…

Before bedtime at the end of every night, we make ‘em clean up toys too.  But I’ll be honest.  We do have those nights when I’m just so ready for them to go to bed that I’ll forgo the toy mess until later.  We’re not perfect!

6.  Save large items for special days. Over the years, I’ve kept the kids’ kitchenette, pop-up tent and ball pit in our unfinished basement.  I’ll bring one upstairs every month or so and leave it up for about a week.  After that, they’re usually tired of it and back down to the basement it goes.

So, there you go.  That’s how I keep toys from taking over our house.  Maybe this makes me out to be a stickler, but I assure you my kids have plenty to keep them occupied.  We rarely have the *newest* toy because there’s always going to be another *better* toy to follow.  Half the time my kids prefer to move around the furniture and build forts anyway.  Who needs toys when you have your imagination?

It’s Feature Friday!  On Fridays, I’ll be featuring one room in my house in its current condition even if there are some things I’d like to change about it.  If I do happen to improve something later, I can always revisit it when the time comes.  Plus, I’d kinda feel dishonest if I only focused on “finished” rooms in my house.  And if what they (the professionals) say is true, a room is never really finished anyways…you’re always tweaking it.  Concentrating on just one room weekly should give me some time to tidy it up a bit, too.  At least, I can throw all the toys into another room!

We’re staying upstairs this week and taking a peek at the laundry room.  Yup, our laundry room is on the second floor and I love it.  It kind of forces me to put clean clothes straight away after they’re folded.  I don’t mind doing laundry…the separating, washing, drying and folding I can handle.  But when it comes to putting washed clothes away…that’s where I get lazy.  You may remember my laundry room makeover here.  If so, here are some laundry room shots with the new camera.  If not, then welcome to where skidmarked Lightning McQueen undies and muddy socks eventually end up in our house.

To the left…

To the right…

The walls are painted in Glidden (Home Depot’s) Gentle Tide.  It’s the same color as our mudroom.  This room is small so storage above the washer and dryer is a must.  Handy Hubby added IKEA hardware to the builder cabinets. 

The seagrass baskets on top of the cabinets hold a light bulb surplus.

I sewed and stenciled the curtains to hide plumbing and electrical uglies out of sight.

Just behind the door are hooks for drying delicates, swim suits and swimming trunks. 

The patterned ironing board cover was an Etsy find.

The trio of mirrors came from Goodwill.  They were initially gold.  I spray painted them white.

Layne made the artwork.  I think I should switch it out soon for something more ‘current’.  Layne recently said, “I made that when I was, like, 4.”  He’s 5.  Butterflies and flowers are so last year.

You may think that the wicker laundry baskets are just for looks but they’re not.  I use them to carry clean clothes to their appropriate room.  They also hold a supply of mismatched, outgrown baby socks that I throw in my front loading washer to balance out loads that are made up of mostly larger items (i.e. sheets, blankets, tablecloths, slipcovers, etc.).  Works like a charm.

Finally, the IKEA stepstool that I stained and poly’d props open the washer door to ward off any mildewy smells that can sometimes occur with front loaders left shut.  It has also come in handy when transferring clean, wet clothes to the dryer.  I happily pop a squat to load the dryer and my back thanks me.  The rugs were $3 each from IKEA.

For a little room, this guy packs a big punch.  Thank goodness.  Our boys sure know how to get dirrrty.  Speaking of which…I think I have some laundry to tend to.  Happy weekend!

It’s Feature Friday!  On Fridays, I’ll be featuring one room in my house in its current condition even if there are some things I’d like to change about it.  If I do happen to improve something later, I can always revisit it when the time comes.  Plus, I’d kinda feel dishonest if I only focused on “finished” rooms in my house.  And if what they (the professionals) say is true, a room is never really finished anyways…you’re always tweaking it.  Concentrating on just one room weekly should give me some time to tidy it up a bit, too.  At least, I can throw all the toys into another room!

If you were ever-so-observant last week, you may have caught a sneak peek at my mini mudroom reflected in the mirror of the powder room.  The catchall mudroom use to be a poor attempt at a hall closet.  Its door was 1 of 3 that opened into a short hallway leading from the garage to the kitchen.  It was a pain to open the closet door because usually the garage door was still open letting others in, so the 2 doors would just bang each other, back-to-back.  One night I had an epiphany to remove the closet door, widen the doorway, install recessed lighting and add a bench to act as a mudroom of sorts.  Handy Hubby did the dirty work (he’s awesome) and I organized the space with baskets, hooks and hangers.  And we did it all for less than $160!!

Here’s our hardworking mudroom…

I painted and recovered a bench we already had then added baskets to dump shoes into.  This makes a great spot for putting on and removing shoes…which keeps my house a little cleaner.

Hooks provide quick hang-ups for purses, hats, backpacks, lunch boxes and hats.

The wooden hangers get utilized during cooler months for jackets, scarves and heavy coats.  Another basket holds gloves and ear warmers.

The ‘MILLER’ black-and-white photography art was a gift from Handy Hubby’s sister.  She took the pictures in Cincinnati and matted them herself.

More than anything, I love the function of this space.  As the homeowners, we nearly always enter our house through the garage, so it made sense to have our dropzone in proximity to the garage versus the front door.  We use this space daily and it helps keep clutter (shoes, bags, coats, etc.) in check.  It’s amazing how much a small room can do if you utilize it to the best of its abilities!

It’s Feature Friday!  On Fridays, I’ll be featuring one room in my house in its current condition even if there are some things I’d like to change about it.  If I do happen to improve something later, I can always revisit it when the time comes.  Plus, I’d kinda feel dishonest if I only focused on “finished” rooms in my house.  And if what they (the professionals) say is true, a room is never really finished anyways…you’re always tweaking it.  Concentrating on just one room weekly should give me some time to tidy it up a bit, too.  At least, I can throw all the toys into another room!

This week’s feature room is my pantry.  For a ‘room’, it’s small; for a pantry, it’s big.  At least, to me.  It’s right off the dining area and can be entered through this chalkboard door that I painted here.

Somehow, it’s turned into our “I’m Thankful For…” door.  On a whim, we scribble down things that we’re especially thankful for.  It’s nice.  Sometimes I forget it’s there and guests will giggle under their breath at the dining table.  Usually it’s because of something they’ve read on our pantry door – or maybe it’s my cooking? 

This is what lies beyond the door…

The wall to the left holds food items.  I have them separated into baskets by genre per say.

I also added a detachable wire shelf to the bottom that holds diapers, wipes and such.  No more running upstairs to grab a diaper while a naked toddler awaits downstairs.

The back wall of the pantry houses everything from potatoes to batteries to the kids’ crayons.  A few empty baskets await any new items in need of a home.

A round metal tub keeps an overstock of toilet paper and paper towels ready for quick dispensing.

Another shelf added to the bottom stores paper and plastic bags.

The right-hand wall of the pantry is used for hanging items such as a master calendar, reusable shopping bags, aprons, and a broom.

We also park our vacuum and the kids’ large dry erase board against this wall.

This teeny room packs big function and allows our kitchen cabinets to remain relatively food-free (except for some spices, oils and baking supplies located closer to the oven).  Since we open and close the pantry door at least 4,288 times a day, we decided to paint the pantry walls the same color as the dining area to keep things cohesive.  I’m glad we did because if either of our boys get in there, it’s a good bet the door will be left open.

Next week, you’ll find out what’s on the other side of the pantry.  Wanna hint?  It’s another small room.

I got a glimpse of what life might be like in a few weeks after the boys’ room is finished and Everett moves in with Layne.  While we were on vacation this past week, all 4 of us shared a hotel room.  I practically had to pry Everett off the queen beds to put him to sleep in his Pack-N-Play.  Once in the Pack-N-Play, Everett proceeded to pester Layne…”Way-een.  Way-een.”  (Everett can’t pronounce his L’s yet.)  To which Layne repeatedly replied, “Everett go to sleep.  I don’t even want to talk to you.” 

Even though having a roommate may take a while to get use to, I think Everett is totally ready for a Big Boy Bed.  Now, I just have to get their room in order…the bedroom that has been solely Layne’s up until now.  My first step was to establish a functional furniture layout.  I quickly realized that Layne’s space-hogging (and broken) dresser would have to leave to make room for a second twin bed.  You can see the homeless dresser here in the middle of the room…the new twin platform bed is mattress-less just beyond the dresser…

I figured I would put all the clothes that were in the dresser in the large closet.  (Luckily, all of our bedrooms have walk-in closets.)  Then I opened the closet door…

Apparently, this is what happens when you let a 5-year-old have total control of their closet…chaos.  I’m not gonna lie; I’m a little embarrassed by it.  Nothing was hanging on the hangers except for Layne’s snowsuit.  Everything else was piled on the floor as a makeshift wrestling ring.  Those boys love to wrestle each other – it’s more wallowing than wrestling though.

The shelves were holding empty – yes, empty – boxes that just needed to be taken out to the recycling bin but somehow have managed to go overlooked for 2 years!  Layne’s old bed rail was propped against the wall.  The toy box loomed large but didn’t hold any toys.  (We keep toys organized and hidden away in our living room and playroom/guest room.)  Take notice that NO CLOTHES (other than the snowsuit) were in the closet.  It had really turned into The Black Hole.  A place where unused items got tossed and never seen again.  And it got my organizational mind racing.  Before I could even start to think about a furniture layout, I would have to get this closet in order. 

Since the dresser was leaving the bedroom, I decided the majority of the boys’ clothes should be kept in the closet…minus socks, underwear and PJ’s…which could be stored easily somewhere else.  *Stay tuned.*  Along with their clothes, I wanted to move a small, low bookcase from the bedroom into the closet to act as a reading nook.  (My boys LOVE their books.)  I mentioned my idea to Layne and he was excited about having a cozy little book nook.  So, I got busy emptying the closet…while Layne took pictures of Everett.  (You can see me over in the right corner separating clothes.  The small bookcase is in the lower left-hand corner of the pic.)

When the closet was finally empty, I thought it needed painted.  However, I was soooo ready to organize that I didn’t want to take down the shelving to paint.  So, I concocted a plan to paint around the shelving.  Call it haste, laziness, resistance, half-assing…call it what you will…I like to think of it as ingenuity.  I painted such that a bare stripe was left around the shelving.

And to make it a little more like “it was supposed to be that way”, I extended the stripe all the way around the closet onto the shelfless walls.

Then came the task of sorting, folding and putting away all the boys’ clothes.  Luckily, my kiddos don’t have a lot of clothes.  (It keeps me on top of my laundry!)  They especially don’t have a lot of dress clothes so I opted for hanging organizers (from Lowe’s) to keep ’em folded in.

I brought in the bookcase but still need to recover the hand-me-down tie-dyed bean bag that Nanny Lina donated to my project.

For added storage, I hung a fabric organizer on the back of the closet door.

So far so good.  I still have some tweaking to do in the closet but, at least, now I’m able to move some furniture around in the bedroom!  The layout is coming along nicely and I’ll share it soon.

A few people have wondered (out loud) about the day-to-day usefulness of our mini-mudroom.  (Our DIY closet-turned-mudroom was featured on Young House Love last year here.)  Here’s the staged “after” as a reminder…

I take it as a compliment that some would question the practicality of a lovely little room…meaning they think it’s too pretty to actually use.  Well, I’m here to tell you that after nearly a year of living with this mini-mudroom, it’s a workhorse – albeit, a pretty one.  We use it (and I mean really use it) on a daily basis.  I thought it’d be fun to snap a few “as is” shots of our mudroom in full force.  These were taken just yesterday and they were NOT staged.  I pinky swear.  As you can see, I’ve tweaked the space a bit after discovering what was (and wasn’t) working for us.

In the upper corner, a basket holds winter gloves and hats.  I added wooden hangers for coats.  It’s almost June but we’ve had some chilly mornings here in the Midwest still.  Can’t wait to put the coats away for the summer.

Just below the coats, I added a double hook for our boys’ backpacks.  It’s easier for little arms to reach than the ones above the shoe bench.

This small corner of floor space was originally used to hide our youngest’s mongo diaper bag.  He’s graduated to carrying his own diaper and wipes in his Elmo backpack (because he has to do everything like his big brother who uses a backpack for preschool), so the diaper bag isn’t a daily carry-all anymore.  Instead, I usually stash extra wipes and Wet Ones here…a lone sock is hangin’ out too.

Some more stranded socks…but for the most part the shoes make it into the baskets.  I also switched out the original rug (see the staged picture again) to a sisal one for the winter and spring months.  It’s durable and has held up well against wet and snowy shoes.  The summer rug will make an appearance soon, I hope!

As you can see, our lil’ mudroom lives up to its name – especially lately.  It’s rained nearly every day for the past week.  Hence, the rain boots.  This space works so well for us; definitely much better than when it was simply a coat closet.  Having a place for everything (purse, coats, backpacks, shoes, etc) out in the open (we removed the closet door and widened the doorway) makes it very easy to keep tidy.  I always try to only buy/do things for/to our home that won’t stress me out if it actually gets touched, nicked or even (gasp!) broken.  After all, a house is for living in.  And we’re livin’, baby.

I’d like to show you 2 cabinets in our kitchen that hold their own…and then some.  And they do it on a daily basis.  One is just to the left of our stove…

And the other is just to the right of our stove…  

Here’s what they each look like opened…

The cabinet on the left pulls out on tracks to reveal where we hide our trash and recyclables.  Trash goes in the front can while recyclable items get thrown in the back can.  It’s kinda fun to teach our older son (5 years old) which items can be recycled and which ones cannot.  As for our lil’ 2-year-old guy, I found a dirty napkin in the freezer the other day…we’re still workin’ on him. 

The other cabinet houses all of our pots and pans plus a few strainers and even a stovetop griddle.  The 2-tier shelving unit pulls out on 2 separate tracks to make removing and replacing cookware much easier. 

We purchased both of these organization racks from Lowe’s and Handy Hubby installed them himself.  (In fact, they were his ideas!)  He basically had to destroy the shallow shelf that was inside our builder cabinets originally.

We did lose cabinet space for the trash/recycle system but gained space in the pots and pans cabinet.  To us, it was worth it to get our trash can off the kitchen floor and to designate a space for recycling.  Up until the cabinet organization systems were installed, we had to haul all recyclables out to the garage (i.e. we weren’t recycling as much as we could have been).  Now, pretty much 99.9% of our recyclable items get where they need to be. 

Instead of tearing out our boring builder grade kitchen cabinets (too pricey for us) we’ve decided to tweak them here and there to add form and function.  Check in later this week to see how we customized another cabinet in our kitchen as a decorative (rather than functional) feature!