kitchen organisation

The Awkward Girl’s Guide to Organising Your Kitchen

kitchen organisation: pink storage boxes in white kitchen

pink storage boxes for the kitchen

“Have you put boxes inside boxes in our kitchen?” Terry asked incredulously a couple of weeks ago, when he opened one of the cupboard doors to reveal this vision of pastel loveliness.

And yes… yes, I did. Boxes of baby formula are now happily encased in pink plastic. Boxes of random other objects that, honestly, had no business being in our kitchen cabinets in the first place? They’re now inside other boxes. To some people this is probably just a little bit weird. For me, though, this little kitchen organisation project was just a good way to pass yet another snowy afternoon during the apparently endless winter we’re enduring right now – and, well, you all know how much I enjoy an organised cupboard, don’t you?

Actually, this particular phase of our kitchen organisation has been a long time coming. We finished our kitchen remodel just a couple of weeks after I found out I was pregnant with Max last year (Yeah, it was SUPER fun going through those early weeks while living in a building site, I totally recommend it. Not.), and I then spent the next few weeks desperately trying not to throw up at the very thought of food, so, yeah – I bought the white Ikea boxes (from the KUGGIS range) just before the kitchen was finished, and … that was pretty much it, really:

organised kitchen cupboard

The original idea was to have labels on each one of these saying what’s inside, but that turned out to be one of those plans that I was always going to do NEXT week, and we’ve done without them for so long now that we don’t really need them: we just know what’s in each box!

The pink and white tubs next to the Perfect Prep machine, however, are a new purchase, and I bought them when I realised the boxes of formula themselves just weren’t that Instagram-worthy, really. Look, I’m not proud, but I’m also not NOT proud either, because the fact is, I absolutely HATE all of the clutter that comes with having a baby… I mean, before Max arrived, these countertops were pristine – PRISTINE, I tell you – but these days there’s not much chance of that, so my only hope is to make them pretty, instead. Or as pretty as kitchen worktops can be, at least.

Anyway, I found the plastic containers on eBay, and, while I was there, I also ordered another couple for this drawer unit:

kitchen organisation: laundry supplies

This drawer is right next to the washing machine, so one of the pink containers holds laundry powder, and the other one holds various other laundry-related items, like fabric conditioner, stain-remover, etc. I stuck with the pink and white theme for the bottom of the cabinets in my first photo, too:

kitchen organisation ideas

So, I’m slightly embarrassed to admit how much time I spent searching for JUST the right pink storage boxes. In fact, I’m just going to draw a veil over that search, and tell you that the boxes on the left of the photo are Curver Infinity Boxes: they’re pretty easy to find in white and grey, but, of course, I wanted pink, and the pink seems to be like GOLDDUST, seriously. I finally tracked down these three on Amazon, but they were literally the last three the seller had in stock, so if you’re looking for pink storage boxes to make your own kitchen organisation dreams come true, I’m sorry to say I already bought them all: whoops.

The good news, however, is that the larger boxes on the right of the photo aren’t even REMOTELY like gold-dust: they’re part of this set from Argos, and I used the turquoise one in another cupboard, which I totally forgot to photograph: whoops again. I’m really winning at this, aren’t I?

When I posted the above photo on Instagram, I had a couple of people ask about the convenience of having everything packed away in boxes like this: these don’t hold food, though – they’re basically filled with various kitchen-related things we don’t use all the time, so we’re not having to go in and out of them all the time. I probably wouldn’t use them for food, because that would be a total pain, but they’re a good way to keep random clutter under control. (And yeah, there are totally OTHER BOXES inside them. WHAT?)

While I was busy packing the contents of our kitchen into pink plastic storage boxes, I also gave these cupboards a quick tidy, too:organised kitchen cupboard: mugs and plates

The baby blue storage box is from Home Bargains: it holds coffee and tea making stuff, and cost me about £2.50. (I couldn’t find it on the website, but if you go to the store, it’ll be a good excuse to come out with a ton of other stuff you don’t need – I got the pastel mugs from there, too – so you can thank me for that later…) The plate racks, meanwhile, are Ikea’s finest, as is the glass storage jar – but, of course, if you’re as much of an IKEA fan as I am, you already knew that, didn’t you?

all-white kitchen

And that’s the latest phase of my kitchen organisation project! Er, please don’t ask to see what’s inside all of the other cupboards and drawers, though – I can only get so many plastic storage boxes past Terry at a time!

Scandinavian-inspired interior: open plan kitchen and living room

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COMMENTS
  • V

    REPLY

    I am in awe of just how tidy and not crammed with stuff (mugs) your kitchen cupboards are. I don’t have room for storage boxes because so much stuff (mugs) (or too few cupboards, let’s go with that).

    April 6, 2018
  • I use boxes in the cupboard, too! Which has gotten worse since we moved since there’s less usable/weirdly sized cupboards…So, more boxes! Husband things I’m crazy, but it keeps things organized and clean. Mine is less color coordinated, though. Your kitchen is really lovely, so pretty!

    April 6, 2018
  • Te clutter only gets worse when the kids grow up and are able to move things themselves!

    April 6, 2018
  • Erin

    REPLY

    If you ever want a career change, I’d pay good money for you to come organize my life!

    April 6, 2018
    • Manola Loredan

      REPLY

      Me too, put me in your list !!

      April 18, 2018
  • Gem

    REPLY

    If you’re looking for something to do with all your free time 😉 …I think the next book could totally be about home organisation.

    April 6, 2018
  • Amber DeSadier

    REPLY

    Awesome!

    April 6, 2018
  • JHP

    REPLY

    Plate racks? That is SUCH a great invention…why have not ever heard of these genius items!

    April 6, 2018
  • Trudy

    REPLY

    I can totally see why you have storage boxes in all your cupboards. It keeps everything organised, and it is soooooo much easier to be able to pull out a box instead of bending down (or getting a stepladder) and scrabbling around in a cupboard trying to find what you are looking for. I totally need to do this to my own kitchen. I swear, if I ever re-do my kitchen (when my inheritance comes in from my fairy godmother), I will re-do it with not one single cupboard, only drawers.

    April 7, 2018
  • Love your round table with different colours. I know you are in love with white. I was surprised when I saw it. And smeg’s are top! Ikea makes me me happy! ?

    April 7, 2018
  • I love the idea of putting tea stuff in a box! Whenever I open my spice/tea cupboard I’m afraid some Tetley’s is going to attack.

    April 9, 2018
  • Teresa

    REPLY

    I’m with Erin and Gem on this one. Your organization skill’s are top! (And you also have the rare ability of making cupboards look adorable!)

    April 13, 2018
  • The other good thing about using storage boxes is they’re so much easier to slide out and retrieve an item, rather than moving things around on a shelf, especially a higher shelf. So they’re a practical option as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

    April 16, 2018
  • Nellie

    REPLY

    I love your home organizing and cleaning ideas. I like the flowers, too. It may not feel like spring outside, but the cut flowers make it seem like spring inside.

    April 22, 2018
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