Tips on Organizing Kitchen Cabinets

Hi Friend! This is an exciting week- our new sofa is arriving! I’m hoping to have an update on that by Friday (fingers crossed!) I also have a pink chair on its way that is so cute, you’ll die! So the living room is coming together.

inside our cabinets

A few months ago I revealed our new kitchen. I still get tons of questions about it and by far, the request I get the most is to see the insides! For our remodel, we went for more drawers then doors since items tend to get lost in the back. We are thrilled with this decision! Here’s to the left of the stove:

This post is sponsored by Barilla. All opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

For the drawers below the cabinet this is what we have:

The top drawer has our foils, plastic wraps, plastic wrap, parchment. I’m sure every kitchen in America has a drawer like this 🙂

Next we have our spice drawer. We used to have these in a cabinet and it was so hard to find things. I used a label maker to label everything to make it a little easier to find things. Do I wish that these were all in matching containers? With labels not falling off? Well, yes I do! It’s a step above what we had, but not quite as pretty as possible.

The bottom drawer is a totally frivolous drawer- it is for my son. I wanted a place where he could help by setting the table. I also have a few snacks in there that I don’t care if he eats at any time of the day. Though, to be honest, I don’t think he’s ever gotten food out of here. I find kid stuff to be such weird shapes and brightly colored that I don’t mind having it all together!

baking cabinet

For my baking cabinet I have a fun gif for you about how I organize it!

I like to keep my food in canisters to keep them fresh.  Next, use labels so I know what each item is at a glance. Lastly, I place the items that I use most at the bottom and in front. I like to make it convenient to use my own cabinets! Keep like items together so you can cook as efficiently as possible.

dishes cabinet

All of my dishes are in a glass cabinet and I love having them on display! My plates are actually mismatched on the top and you can’t tell when they are stacked. You don’t have to have perfect dishes to have them showing!

Here is where all of our cans and pastas are. The Tupperware is stacked. I love having the lids in this transparent container so we can easily grab what we need.

drawers to the right of the stove

Beneath the cabinets to the right of the stove, I have another set of three drawers. The top drawer is utensils. We bought the insert from Ikea since it fits the drawer perfectly. I’ve always had utensil organizers too small so there’s places to put random stuff where crumbs tend to gather. Its nice to have the whole space occupied!

Then we have linens and bibs. Each category is in a plastic bin (that’s hard to see) to keep them organized.

The bottom drawer has aprons and hot pads.

the left of the kitchen

This is the side with the most hidden compartments, so I’m excited to show it to you!

dishwasher

One of the bigger splurges we made on this kitchen was hiding the dishwasher with a panel from Ikea. I ADORE not seeing the dishwasher! It helps the little kitchen less chopped up which is visually so pleasing.

below the sink

Below the sink we have a big pull out drawer. That’s where we keep our trash bags, dishwasher soap, and refills of our large cleaning supplies. Again, having a drawer is so much better in terms of organization! You loose much less if you can see exactly what you have.

pantry

At the top of the pantry is most of our food. This is one part of our remodel that isn’t my favorite. I have to get on a stool to reach most of the food. However, the benefits are having the accessories at eye level!

We have so little counter top space that having the accessories all together and hidden is amazing!

The small appliances are plugged into a surge protector and we always turn it off. Only the microwave is always on. Its SO nice to always have everything plugged in. We use all of our accessories right where they are and it is so convenient!

Below the microwave, we have all of our cooking utensils. Again, we used a insert that perfectly fits the drawer and kept like items together.

Pots and lids go below that. I cannot say enough times how much I love having drawers! These used to be shoved in a cabinet and I’d have to get on my hands and knees to find anything. No thanks!

The very bottom drawer is the bowls and the random kitchen things that didn’t fit anywhere else 🙂

I feel like now that I’ve had you over to share every nook and cranny of my kitchen, I might as well share my favorite pasta recipes with you! This is for Parmesan breaded chicken- it is one of my favorite recipes from growing up! It is perfect now that school is back in session and with cooler nights.

Parmesan breaded chicken

Ingredients- (this recipe serves 10- I cut mine in half to make dinner for our family plus left overs)

• Barilla Penne
• Barilla Tomato and Basil sauce
• 10 pieces of chicken
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tsp. Oregano
• 2 tsp. Parsley
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• salt and pepper (a few shakes of each)

Directions

Combine the cheese, bread crumbs, and seasonings. Dip the chicken in melted butter and then bread crumb mixture. Lay on grease cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees

While the chicken is baking, boiling the Barilla Penne for 11 minutes. Drain.

Heat up the Barilla Tomato and Basil sauce on your stovetop.

Combine and serve! I like to do a garden salad and fruit with this dinner.

Here’s what I love about the Barilla Tomato and Basil sauce:

• It is delicious and super easy to serve to my family!
• No preservatives
• Made with non-GMO ingredients
• Its made with simple ingredients- tomatoes, herbs, and extra virgin olive oil!

Here are the highlights of the Barilla Penne

• The ridges of the Penne make it ideal for holding onto the sauce
• Made with non-GMO ingredients
• Enriched with Iron and B Vitamins.

You guys know that I love a good cause! Well, Barilla has partnered up with the No Kid Hungry organization. For every box of Barilla Blue Box pasta purchased at Walmart between 8/10/2017-10/31/2017, Barilla will donate $1 to No Kid Hungry, up to $50,000. That’s enough to provide 500,000 meals to kids in need. Learn more at nokidhungry.org/onedollar.

This post was sponsored by Barilla. All opinions are my own. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.