Kitchen Organization

I decided to begin my deep-cleaning efforts in the kitchen because we've hit the point of precariously balanced glassware and that can only end badly.  Not to mention the wastefulness of having purchased three canisters of Ghirardelli natural cocoa powder in the past year.  I reorganized the dishes, pots, and pans first before turning to the pantry.  The shelves were covered in seven types of flour and sticky with sugar spilling out of open bags.

On top of the mess, the bags were not ideal for scooping out flour or keeping anything fresh.  I had a few old canisters that were not big enough to much flour so I was storing both the canister and a half-full bag - useless.  So the small canisters were reassigned to new duty.  Befitting their new roles, I decided they needed labels.  But, knowing that I would change their contents frequently, I decided to paint a strip of chalkboard paint around each.

For the flour, I bought four of these IKEA canisters.  The paint stuck easily to the frosted surface and I found that three layers of paint created a perfect, erasable surface.  Just be sure to cover the whole area with chalk and then wipe it off once before you start writing on it to be sure everything thereafter wipes cleanly.  I love my new canisters and I was on an organizational role, so I finished up with this 5-minute planner

I took a large, old frame that had nothing in it and covered the backing board with contact paper.  Then I printed out a blank calendar page, a list of our daily chores (I'm trying to do 20 minutes of cleaning a day so I don't have to spend two grumpy hours cleaning on Sunday), a to-do list, and two empty squares for notes, menus, or whatever else.  I taped them over the contact paper and then slid the whole thing into the frame.  You can use dry erase - or even better wet erase - markers to write on the glass and then just wipe it off at the end of each week or month.  I used neodymium magnets to mount it on the side of the refrigerator for easy access.  And now I'm a little too excited about our kitchen organization - on to the living room!