Organizing & Purging My Dish Room & Pantry

 

My current kitchen is next to the smallest one I have ever had.  I did have one smaller at one time, but this is #2 in the small department.  The advantage of this kitchen is the amount of countertop space even if the cupboard space is small.  Organizing & purging my dish room and pantry helps me keep everything at easy reach.

My pantry works over time not only as my “grocery store” but to hold some everyday items that I need to have access too.  I am so grateful that it is deep enough and has enough storage that I can use the back shelves to hold a ton of small appliances and dishes that I use daily.  Easy access to a variety of casserole  and baking dishes makes meal time a breeze.  I can see everything at a glance, so no digging in dark corners to find something. (I even have room on the bottom shelf for my patio dishes)

This side holds all those canned goods and bulky items.

 This side makes finding all those “little” things easy.  Spices don’t get lost and all my baking, pastas, sauces and extras are easy to find.

Since I have a “dish room” for all my entertaining dishes, my upper cabinets are ample for my daily dishes.  The base cabinets are working out well also since I purged a lot of duplicates and organized what I really use. (Did you notice that I only have 3 1/2 lower cupboards in my kitchen.) I’ll show you the 1/2 in a minute.

When we did our remodel, I made sure to have pull-out shelves installed in all the base cabinets.  This one is where I have all of my mixing bowls and some everyday serving bowls. ( I have been using that Pfaltzgraph brown set of dishes for over 30 years.  I have all the plates, cups, bowls, saucers and more serving pieces in the upper cabinets.) This is really more than I need, but I do use them all from time to time.

The left-hand side next to the range holds all my pots and pans that I use on a daily basis. 5 skillets of different sizes and lids on the top shelf, then 2 large pots and 3 smaller pots on the bottom shelf.  These are the things I grab the most often.

The cupboard on the right side of the range is one of those corner units where everything could get lost in a hurry.  I don’t put things all the way in the corner.  The top shelf has some baking pans – cake, bundt, cupcake, bread, cookie cutters.  The bottom shelf holds my spaghetti pot (complete with steamer insert), colanders, grill pan, and BBQ tongs. (Pull-out shelves weren’t feasible for this side.

Next to the sink is one really narrow base cabinet.  This is the 1/2 one I mentioned.

The previous owners installed these two drawers.

 The top one holds my baking sifters and strainers.

 The bottom one holds all 4 of my measuring cups and my cheese veggie shredder.

See that door next to the family room.  That is the area under our stairs and space where I have my “dish room”.

This is just a couple of feet from the kitchen and the perfect size to store my entertaining dishes and accessories. (This also includes the hanging storage system that I use for my decor pillows.)  Napkins and napkin rings are in the plastic pull-out drawer unit.  This space and my walk-in pantry make having a smaller kitchen possible.  I actually think I prefer having these separate spaces.  (We entertain up to 20 people sometimes, so it’s nice to have all those place settings, bowls, and platters in one place that I can get to in a hurry.)

 Now don’t get me wrong, it may be small but I LOVE it and it is actually a dream to cook in.  I don’t have to walk a mile to put a meal together – plus I think it is pretty.

I took two large boxes of extras to Goodwill.  Time for someone else to enjoy a few things.  I am finding that I don’t need a dozen duplicates of everything.  I admit that I am a Pillow Hoarder and sometimes I think I have a tendency to be a Dish Hoarder too.