When I go to my mom’s place I get busy. Her life is very quiet and just sitting around eating and watching German television shows (what is with all that crazy dubbing anyway?) gets a bit old after about half a day so I try and entertain myself by helping her with various chores. This time I helped reorganize her kitchen cabinets. Befores on the left and afters on the right. PLEASE excuse the extra crappy photos in this post as I didn’t bring my camera and used my iPhone. Remind me not to ever do that again. I hate the thing when it comes to photography.
In this cabinet mom only used one tiny shelf for dishes and the rest was used to store bread and pasta. I tossed out a lot of expired foods from the other cabinets (spices expired 1993, anyone?) and was able to relocate the food in there and gathered all the everyday cups and cereal bowls in here for easy access.
The glass cabinet wasn’t too bad but I did move things around a little bit and straightened out the lines a little bit.
In this lower cabinet I sorted like with like and pushed the least used items towards the back and pulled the often used ones to the front. I also convinced mom that she wasn’t ever going to use that cutter that cuts the edges of tomatoes star shaped. That and a few other kitchen gadgets of the TV shop variety will find new homes come the local church’s next flea market.
Again sorting like with like. Herbs together with herbs. All breads in one box. Teas, coffee and other breakfast related items on the bottom shelf. Salts in one area and sugars in another.
Quite a lot in here wasn’t ever used and had expired so I made room for the pastas and rice and all the other dry and canned ingredients. Just simple straight lines and nothing hiding in the back on the top shelves.
The cook books were moved to a different cabinet (The photos were so bad I couldn’t possibly post them. Which is saying a lot considering the state of the ones I have posted…) and I relocated all bottles into here along with the coffee maker which mom very rarely uses and which just took up space on the counter.
This cabinet was used for all kinds of things (gift tags, bags and ribbons, medicines, bread baskets, batteries etc) and still is but I’ve tried to unify things by using similar containers for storing some of the stuff and also by relocating some things that didn’t really even have to be stored in the kitchen. It’s not very pretty but far more practical.
So all in all including cleaning the cabinets inside and out a day’s work and a very pleased mom as a result. I really wish I had better photos but hopefully this can inspire you to sort a cabinet or two if you have the need. As you can see there’s not a whole lot to it, it’s just matter of assessing what you need, getting rid of things you no longer have any use for, keep like with like and lining things up.
Hi Benita ! I'd like to thank your Mom for creating the opportunity of a "cabinet reorganizing 101" post. I need to get started too (lots of twins items where I need just one). It's wonderful that you're able to help your Mom that way AND that she appreciates it. I'm not sure mine would be at all pleased with any improvements I would bring to her cabinets...
Have a good day :)
Posted by: Emma | January 09, 2013 at 07:31 AM
I actually sorted my cabinet today too, it is just MUCH smaller, haha. You did a great job and I'm sure your mom must love you even more for doing it! :)
http://apinksunset.com
Posted by: Angela | January 09, 2013 at 07:49 AM
I do this every now and then to our "grocery cabinet". It's a very tall but not very wide cabinet and the things we used last always end up at the front, and everything gets quite messy after a while. Luckily, the shelves are actually some combination between shelves and drawers, so you can reach the things at the back even though the cabinet is very deep. This post just makes me want to go home and reorganize it all (again!).
Posted by: Älvan | January 09, 2013 at 08:39 AM
I would have been happy with the befores! You'd faint if you saw my grocery cupboards...
Posted by: Rattling On | January 09, 2013 at 08:50 AM
Sigh. In our family, the opposite is true: whenever my mom leaves my house, our cabinets are so much more organised. I wish I had those genes too...
Posted by: Cat | January 09, 2013 at 09:05 AM
Thanks for the inspiration, I do need to do this in my kitchen too.
Posted by: Leena | January 09, 2013 at 09:08 AM
Hey Benita,
I was in Hong Kong for the holidays to visit my mother. She lives in a residential complex and there's a shopping mall. In it, there's shop that sells all stuffs from Japan & the price is much cheaper than Muji. Your Muji drawer bin with a cut-out handle sells for $80 HKD but $20 HKD there. I kicked myself not to find out that store before & shop there instead.
When I see those organization white stuffs galore & think that yup this is a place for Benita. They even have a white timer and a small white calculator. Oh well, I have to go back at the end of year :-)
Posted by: James | January 09, 2013 at 09:20 AM
Thx. Need to teach my husband to keep it organized...
Posted by: Soraya | January 09, 2013 at 09:33 AM
More than a year ago we spent a weekend at my in laws house and has we were preparing dinner we came across a can of spice that had expired in 1989!
Posted by: Isa | January 09, 2013 at 10:57 AM
You are are blessing for your mom! For every household actually!
Posted by: jja | January 09, 2013 at 11:25 AM
You are a wonder! If you ever want a holiday in Shropshire.... x
Posted by: Nicola | January 09, 2013 at 11:30 AM
My mom won't like me doing like this. She is used to her things as they are, although you always have to pull out everything because you need the things behind more often as everything in front. It has always been like this since she got her kitchen in the 1970ties, when she first put her things in the cabinets. Almost like a law ;-)
Posted by: Die Rabenfrau | January 09, 2013 at 12:16 PM
Can you come to my place? Please? :)
Posted by: maja | January 09, 2013 at 12:44 PM
as much as your mom may have resisted while you were working on this task... I'll bet she was grinning from ear to ear to have someone de-clutter. My mom's a regular cleaner... But, my older daughter has very limited vision due to juvenile macular degeneration. Whenever I visit, I tackle 1-2 cabinets or closets each day. I visit one time a year for this type of visit. It makes me happy to be helping! I wash down the inside of the cabinet & scrub like crazy... A working vacation?
Posted by: Christine EE | January 09, 2013 at 02:44 PM
I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's condition! My mom's really hindered by her loss of vision due to it so it must be tough getting it at a younger age.
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 09, 2013 at 02:50 PM
This is something we did over the holidays, only in the reverse: my mom came to our house and helped us organize our kitchen. We were combining three kitchens worth of stuff into one, so it was a daunting task...but we accomplished it!
Posted by: jessica | January 09, 2013 at 04:06 PM
You probably already know this BUT, the iPhone takes the picture when you release the button icon. If you place your finger on the icon and hold, it will focus the image. You can even move the phone around to find the best angle while holding the icon and you see a box appear and the camera will focus. I learned this somewhere in the blogosphere and wish I had remembered the site to credit. This has changed my photos beyond measure. Hope it helps!
Posted by: Stephanie | January 09, 2013 at 04:24 PM
I also did this for my mom a couple of weeks ago while I was staying with her after she had surgery. Honestly, it was only because she was drugged up and could not protest that I was able to get most of it done. Wait, that sounds horrible. Normally, even though my mom is always pleased with the finished product, anytime I try to organize for her, she says, "Oh, don't do that. It is fine the way it is." I know it drives her crazy when she can't find anything among the clutter, so I'm not sure why she is so hesitant for the help. Maybe she just doesn't want me seeing her clutter. Does your mom welcome your offer to help or would she rather you sit with her watching those funny German films? = )
Posted by: Faith | January 09, 2013 at 05:02 PM
It would be interesting to see the future when Willie comes to change your house 'for you'. I wonder if he - and a future partner - will want to brighten up your home with patterns! Would be interesting...
As Stephanie said, you can do a great job when you use the focus abilty on your iPhone and/or use the HDR setting. I usually add a brightening and sharpening action before resizing them for the web. The convenience? Can't beat it!
Posted by: Maureen | January 09, 2013 at 05:22 PM
Hi, Benita!
Welcome to Gothenburg and my kitchen cubbords and drawers! They need to be organised by a pro like you. And how do i do to keep it that way. I'm impredded!
Lol Berit
Posted by: Berit | January 09, 2013 at 06:06 PM
I' m imressed!
Posted by: Berit | January 09, 2013 at 06:08 PM
Sorry, again! Not used to write on My
I-pad.
Impressed!
Posted by: Berit | January 09, 2013 at 06:10 PM
She loves when I do it. She actually asked if I could help her move the cookbooks and wipe that cabinet but I ended up doing them all :). I've asked her for organizing projects since I was a little girl so I guess she's used to it being something I enjoy and she enjoys the result.
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 09, 2013 at 06:34 PM
I'm using Camera Plus App and it has all kinds of features but I just don't like to shoot pointing at an icon. I also can't think of a good way to hold the phone so it's comfortable.
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 09, 2013 at 06:36 PM
I didn't know that. THANKS!!!
Posted by: Lesle Alvarado | January 09, 2013 at 07:47 PM
Hello Benita,
would it not be a great idea if you both come to me and my household would organize by you? In the meantime I could watch with your mother the German TV shows (not really entertaining) hihi ....And then I see .... also German cookbooks in the closet.
When did your mother moved to Scandinavia, possibly even out of love?
love greetings from Blackforest....Ela..
Posted by: Ela from Blackforest | January 09, 2013 at 08:00 PM
Kudos to you, Benita, for helping your mom organize her cupboards.
I've been organizing drawers and shelves at my house lately, too. I must be hoping for spring with all of the cleaning and purging I've been doing lately!
Despite the quality of the photographs, I appreciate the comparison through images along with your words. Thanks for including them!
Posted by: Peggy | January 09, 2013 at 08:24 PM
i'm happy that you promised to bring a proper camera next time ;-)
Posted by: Linda27 | January 09, 2013 at 08:31 PM
My mom moved from Germany to Belgium in 1954 to work as a hairdresser. There she met my Swedish Finn dad who was living and working from Paris France as a sales rep for Wella. They hooked up, moved to Antwerp and later Brussels and after that to Helsinki Finland in 1962. I came long a couple of years later and we moved to Stockholm Sweden in 1969 :).
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 09, 2013 at 08:35 PM
Haha, I know the feeling. I'm awful at texting. Actually, I'm just realizing that I'm having issues with quite a few a features on my iPhone. Should probably stick to my regular camera and land line :).
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 09, 2013 at 08:38 PM
It's so dang heavy though! It feels like it weighs as much as the rest of my luggage. Guess that rules out me ever going pro with the camera. Can't even carry it around on the train :).
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 09, 2013 at 08:40 PM
So does your mom speak several languages? The possibilities there are endless...German, Dutch, French, Swedish, Finnish! Was English the common denominator in your house? Maybe that's why yours is so good!
Posted by: Faith | January 09, 2013 at 10:15 PM
That is great!
Posted by: Faith | January 09, 2013 at 10:17 PM
Lovely. I must tell you that your way of organising has had an affect on me and I do reorganise more in our cabinets. With you as an inspiration and a kick in the b*tt!
Posted by: Caroline | January 09, 2013 at 10:35 PM
Mom speaks German, French, Finnish, Swedish and a bit of Flemish. Dad spoke German, French, Finnish and Swedish. I speak German, French, English and Swedish so English isn't the common denominator :).
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 09, 2013 at 10:42 PM
Nicly organized!
Did you see this cool Retro-apprtement in Stockholm? Love it!
http://www2.bjurfors.se/Bostad/Stockholm/Stockholm/Sodermalm-Hogalid---Slipgatan-14/
Posted by: Stina | January 10, 2013 at 12:24 AM
I've started taking pictures using the "up" volume button to release the shutter, don't really care for the touch screen, either. That seems to help in holding the phone, as well.
Posted by: Suzanne | January 10, 2013 at 05:29 AM
I know but I don't think that works with Camera Plus though so I guess maybe I should stick to the standard iPhone camera to get decent photos...
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 10, 2013 at 08:10 AM
I love that store! It's called Japan home or something like that. With a blue and yellow logo, just like IKEA :)
Posted by: Älvan | January 10, 2013 at 08:16 AM
I hadn't seen it and I have to say it's not really my cup of tea :)
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 10, 2013 at 08:32 AM
Maybe, then just run pix through an app afterwards to process?
Posted by: Suzanne | January 10, 2013 at 02:33 PM
So talented! I'm green with envy! My father-in-law is a cross-country coach at a U.S. University. They have quite an international team and most of the Europeans speak at least 2-3 languages and they can alternate between the languages so easily. However, the Finnish girls are the only ones who speak Finnish...all the others say that is a DIFFICULT language. I think you have said that on the blog before too. I'd be happy to be really fluent in just one other language. I feel like such an ignorant American when I am in Europe, squeaking out the few phrases I know! I don't mean to draw this conversation out, but I'd love to know if Willie speaks multiple languages too!
Posted by: Faith | January 10, 2013 at 11:13 PM
Wille speaks perfect English and Swedish and has studied German too.
Posted by: Benita ~ Chez Larsson | January 10, 2013 at 11:35 PM
My mom was also a hairdresser but only in the Black Forest ..:(
To your language skills I envy you too. My daughter is learning at school English, French and Latin, and Spanish .. a beautiful language.
Ela
PS: nice that Willi also learned German ... hehe
Posted by: Ela from Blackforest | January 12, 2013 at 11:57 PM
Älskar dina fixarinlägg!
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