Organizing Your Kitchen Whatnots
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Our kitchen is the center of our home. There are too many days I walk upstairs for bedtime and realize I haven’t been near the bedrooms at all. Just kitchen and kitchen and sometimes the living room, but mostly the kitchen. Am I weird? Tell me you do this, too.
While our home is quite nicely sized, we don’t have a separate sewing room or craft room or wrapping room (though, dear heavens, I want a wrapping room one day. Filled to the brim with giftwrap and ribbons, that’s what.) If we did, the kids wouldn’t use those rooms anyway. They tend to want to hang on my legs and whine at my elbow and color rainbow unicorns at my kitchen table. Secret: this is what life is all about. I wouldn’t dare sweep them off into another room for coloring. Nay. I want to hear them breathing, see their little tounges mulling about their mouth as they think about which color to place next upon the paper.
That said, our kitchen can approach utter nappiness at times. There are the usual kitchen appliances, pots, pans, pantry items, plates, and such. Then, add to that a bucket full of children crafts, crayons, markers, and dull-tipped colored pencils, and my junk drawer is often filled to overflowing. Also, the kids get quite naughty. When things aren’t tidily kept, they don’t keep them tidy. Thankfully, the reverse of such is also true. When things are tidily kept, the kids are more likely to keep them tidy.
I know there are eighty billion brilliant crafters who would at this point crochet hanging marker frames from the organic wool of sheep grown in their backyards. I don’t tame messes like that. I need simple. I need quick. As much as I wish I had time to get my craft on, sometimes I just need a simple, sleek fix for my organizing problems.
A quick trip to Target solved the problem for less than $20. I purchased this 3-pack of reStyle canisters. I loved how simple the lids were to pop on and off, I loved that they came in a pack of three (perfect sizes for markers, colored pencils, and crayons, if you can believe it) and I lurrrrved that they offered just a touch of retro red to my kitchen. Me and red. It’s an long-term commitment thing.
Once I got the canisters home, I pulled the kids together and encouraged them to organize the craft chaos. The hope was that, in taking ownership over the tidying, they’d have more of a desire to keep things clean than, say…every other day of the week when they toss the markers apathetically on the floor or in the fridge. Don’t ask.
We have a little corner stand purchased from Hobby Lobby a few years back for a handful of dollars. The canisters fit perfectly on the top of the stand, and we stocked the lower drawer with some good coloring books and paper because I’m a firm believer that children should always have a few creative, solitary activities that they are ever welcome to participate in.
Our ten-minute kitchen craft makeover cost less than $20 and took about 15 minutes to complete. So, is it still working?
(She peeks from the computer to the quiet corner in her kitchen where three perfectly tidy canisters sit.)
Yes! It’s working! Crayons are still in their can, lids have not been lost, the tabletop remains clean as a whistle. The center of our house is just a wee bit cleaner, which means more space for cookies and kisses. Hurrah!
PS- Last weeks trip to NYC with ICBINB was a thrilling experience. Stay tuned for an update on all the deets!
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Sommer@ASpicyPerspective on June 29, 2011 at 5:50 am
Love this idea, Brooke. Those canisters are so cute.
Betsy on June 29, 2011 at 6:04 am
Barely 7 am, and you’ve already got my wheels turning, Brooke! :) You see, as much as I’m a kitchen girl, I’m also a makeup junkie (there. I said it!) – and I’m thinking how perrrrfect these canisters would be to hold brushes, eye shadow pencils, etc, thereby taming the wildnerness that is my vanity. I’m thinking a trip to Target is in order today! (ha! Like I need some big fancy excuse to go to Target. I amuse myself. lol)
Susie on June 29, 2011 at 7:06 am
Brooke- I’m going to run to Target and get some of those today. So cute!! I can just picture them in my mess of a sewing area, and I love the clear front so you can see what’s in them.
Donna on June 29, 2011 at 7:58 am
Cute canisters! And why would you want to venture near the bedrooms? They’re just messiness screaming for attention you don’t want to give them cuz there’s much funner things to do instead.
Connie on June 29, 2011 at 9:51 am
What a cute and smart way to organize the creative supplies for the kids! The stand is adorable and canisters clean looking and functional. Now…how to organize the oddballs of the kitchen, like wooden cookie molds, candy molds and dumpling squisher? Or the massive makeup situation…because I simply need 5,000 neutral shades of eyeshadow?
Brooke replied: — July 3rd, 2011 @ 11:39 pm
LOL! This is a problem I really need to get on board with! More makeup!!!
Dottie on June 29, 2011 at 10:52 am
OMG! I have been searching for canisters in red and silver! I am going to Target this weekend!
Georgia Pellegrini on June 29, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Love this, I always need new organization tips, keep ‘em coming!
Monica Bertone on June 29, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Awesome idea!
I love the canisters, as I have a thing for red in my kitchen too! :)
I’m also a firm believer in having the kids have something they can always use to be creative. In our house that is coloring and drawing too!
Penny on June 29, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Good luck, hope it works for you. I had a craft corner in my kitchen, put a book case in there along with little bins for crayons, pencils, markers etc, a shelf for papers and coloring books and 2 more shelves for misc craft items, after about a week it became a chaotic mess that I ended up removing because I couldn’t stand the clutter. Maybe it’s time for a re try :)
jamie creative cupcake recipes on June 30, 2011 at 5:56 am
I love these canisters. My kitchen drawers are so messy. I am going out to get some today. The little window on the front of them is great. Thanks for sharing.
Nan on June 30, 2011 at 8:28 am
I think because of your brilliant idea (and the simpleness of it) there will be a run on Target canisters! Thanks for a great idea!
Deliciously Organic on July 1, 2011 at 10:54 am
I know I don’t comment often, but I’m a faithful follower of your blog. You are just too cute. I love your voice and the recipes/photographs are mouthwatering. Miss you!! :)
anna on July 2, 2011 at 7:14 pm
interesting about how tidiness in the kitchen encourages more tidiness…will have to take this to heart!