Staying Organized In The Kitchen

Staying Organized In The Kitchen

We can’t help it, we caught the Kon Mari bug too. So, when it came time for Chelsea, our founder, to organize the pantry in her new home, we called in some reinforcements. Holly Blakey of Breathing Room Organization is a professional organizer and self-proclaimed Sugar Paper super fan. Here she shares some tips for organizing your spice cabinet and pantry, using her favorite Sugar Paper essentials.

 fabric pouch, notebook, pens, goo gone pen, permanent white chalk pen

I keep all my little tools together in my fabric pouch. It lets me go from job to job easily without forgetting any essentials. A Goo Gone pen is going to be your best friend. You will spell cardamom wrong on the spice jar or forget which jar has the regular flour vs gluten free flour. This pen makes it easy to correct the small errors without erasing everything. You’ll want to make sure you have a permanent white chalk pen so the labels don’t smudge off after the first use. Cooking gets messy but your labels need to stay oh-so-pretty.

bamboo spice shelf, spice jar set

We all have it, a spice cabinet filled with a random assortment of spice brands. It's almost impossible to see anything when they're all on one level. So, you end up buying four different kinds of oregano, three chili powders, and two cinnamons. Any spice cabinet can become a thing of beauty with the help of uniform glass spice jars, a bamboo spice rack, and a white pen.

My number one trick is don't use a funnel! You'll have to clean it out each time, especially if you don't want your nutmeg to taste like taco seasoning. Instead, use spare or recycled paper – shape it into a funnel, and viola! Then label each spice jar using the chalk pen. Uniformity is key, so if it's all your writing, then it'll look great. Don't worry if your handwriting isn’t perfect – have fun!

baskets, labels

These white Tosca baskets with wooden handles are my all-time favorite product. They make even Cheetos look posh.

I use the Sugar Paper place cards to label them and I personalize them to what you need them for, not what you saw in a magazine. For example, kid's snacks, mom's snacks, popcorn, etc. and you'll have an Instagram–worthy pantry in no time.

 You’ll want to clear everything out first and write in your notebook all the products you have, what organizing products you’ll need and any pantry staples you need to restock as you’ll likely be tossing out some expired items. A small measuring tape helps to get the size of the cabinets and pantry space. Extra labels are good to have on hand, I love the gold metal labels from the Container Store.

Sometimes it cant all get done in one day and that’s ok. Have fun with it and make it yours.