Here’s an unpopular statement that might enrage many of you – January is my favorite month. Hold your anger… I’m not saying it’s the BEST month or my favorite season, I don’t love the darkness, short days, or the rain but I crave the quiet in every way and am so happy to not leave my house for the whole month. You see, like most people, from Halloween til New Years my personal well becomes extremely depleted to the point of empty – so many shoots, work’s almost out of control, so much socializing, traveling, eating, drinking, desert-ing, extroverting 24 hours a day and it makes my house a total, unmanageable disaster. I give myself from November to December to just embrace the chaos, mess, and unhealthiness of it all (and boy I do) but then January 1st rolls around and I shut the door on anything optional, hunker down and with work at its quietest I just organize my life/house, read, cook, sleep and have quiet simple connections with my immediate family. IT’S SO WONDERFUL. This year I needed to take a week off my usual routine to go to LA for a friend’s memorial and then when we got back we had a huge snow storm. The power went out but since we have a generator we hosted a super fun, impromptu snow day neighborhood gathering that was very wet indeed (and so fun). But as of last Monday we are back, pretending it’s Jan 1 and between now and spring break I really want to try to be stay “January mode” (I always say this then my mid-February I’m done with winter, over it all, and ready to socialize again).
Now in the spirit of “January mode”, today I’m going to show you four of the most disastrous drawers in the house, where I started my cleaning (and have since tore through them all). It’s a combination of a purge and organizing and it’s highly satisfying to do and see.
My Utensil Drawer
Anybody that cooked in my house was enraged by how we were treating our knives (see on the right) by, you know, shoving them in a drawer with everything else willy nilly. It bugged me too, but just was never on my priority list. So I got to work taking everything out, assessing what I actually use frequently, storing the rest in the pantry or in the long utensil drawer and then of course buying some product to keep things more organized, giving everything a place.
Shallow Drawer Dividers | Enamel Measuring Cups | Enamel Measuring Spoons | Silver Measuring Spoons | Knife Holder | Knives
SO. MUCH. BETTER. After searching for the perfect knife holder for a long time (our drawers are only 3″ deep on the inside) I ended up buying this from The Container Store which is what we had at the mountain house, too. The soft cork is way nicer to the knives and more satisfying (and it can hold way more than just 4, but for the shot we didn’t overload it). I also want to give a shout out to my new narrow measuring spoons (top right) that can fit in every single of my herb/spice bottles (whereas the round white ones on the bottom left can’t). TBH I included the white tablespoons in there because they looked cute, but you obviously only need one set and I def opt for the “uglier” narrow measuring spoons every time since I bought them. The knives are from Made In Cookware and they are sooo pretty (and super sharp and heavy, but to be fair are also new). Oh, and I had to use these really shallow drawer dividers that have cross dividers and they are good for us, but most drawers can handle 4″ drawer dividers. Here’s a link to ours. And all our extra knifes are on a magnetic knife block on the pantry counters, in here just what we use frequently (I don’t love kitchen counter clutter, but like WHO DOES?)
I love this vintage island so much and the sacrifice, but the drawers stick so bad, they are so deep and really really rustic on the inside. So we used this “wood lubricant” on the sides and bottoms which totally worked! They pull and push so much easier now (thanks to all those who suggested it). So it was time to give it an interior makeover…
Our Kitchen Tool Drawer
Our whole island drawers was a disaster but I only took photos of the worst drawers. So I took everything out and realized that I needed a dedicated cooking “tool” drawer instead of my “just throw it in any drawer and spend 12 minutes trying to find it later” approach. I had two Tupperware drawers and no dedicated tool drawer. AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A HOME COOK!!
Plaid Drawer Liner
See? It’s so cute! Shout out to this cute plaid drawer liner because it’s not a weird sticker but stays in place and is neither boring (solid color) or has too much pizazz (there were some very non-farm versions out there). It’s totally wipe-able and easy to pull out and clean. I like the simple plaid, the rubber backing that sticks, and it has some padding (just barely) which keeps it in place and makes for a soft landing, less banging around. Also these were WAY more affordable than a lot that I found at The Container Store ($9.99 a roll).
I’m excited to show you my favorite simple chopping tools that I actually use frequently on Saturday…
The Tupperware Drawer
This drawer was THE WORST – the glass dishes made it so heavy to pull in and out and so few dishes had matching lids anymore (where do they go??). So I pulled them all out, matched them up, put down the same drawer liner (put wood lubricant on the drawer!!!!!) and reorganized it all.
Tupperware Bowls | Blue Top Rectangle Container | Square/Rectangle Gray Containers (similar)
Now I still love glass containers because I can warm up my soup in microwave if I need to, but I ended up buying more Tupperware (that double as mixing bowls) with lids. The square are a few years old, from Target and the new round ones are from Amazon (and very well reviewed – love them so far).
My “Shove Anything In Here So We Don’t Have To Look At It” Cabinet
I don’t know where the piles of miscellaneous come from nor do I know where all these bits of garbage should go. So listen, it was NOT pretty, but I loved that I could take anything that was on the counter that was junking up my life and just hide it in here (it’s a midcentury secretary). My mom will tell you this is how I cleaned my room, too – just shoved everything under my bed. This is dangerous because mail would get lost in there, homework was forever gone, and we had NO idea where a checkbook was. (Our house doesn’t have a dedicated home office yet, nor a dedicated play/family room strangely). So clearly we needed a place for the things we grab and shove daily.
Bamboo Organizers (similar) | Woven Basket (similar)
So much better. Here’s what we have: a basket that holds the mail (and homework or artwork), notebooks for quick permission school notes for kids, a hairbrush and hair-ties so I can braid Birdie’s super long hair while she’s eating breakfast (or least chase her out the door and have her brush her hair). I know where the checkbooks are, the pens the envelopes and at least one pair of scissors (for now). I’ll likely have to redo this org every few months but at least I have actually thought about it.
So just a quick little Thursday Org post do give you some ideas for this weekend should you be in Org mode, too. I’m now onto our mudroom next (where we kept our beanies in the same drawer as our cleaning supplies??) and will hit all our clothes closets this weekend. SEE?? ISN’T JANUARY GLORIOUS?? Also here is a fun fact that might be a total myth or urban legend – but I once heard that there was a study/scan conducted on people’s brains before they enter The Container Store and then after they’ve purchased and come out, and I guess their dopamine levels was super high. HA! Just the THOUGHT and intent of organizing their homes/lives gives people a high. I also want to caveat that I’m sure “Big Org” was behind that study, but anecdotally I believe it. Happy Org month.
*Pretty Photos by Kaitlin Green
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