We normally post about kitchen organization on New Year’s. It seems like a great way to get a new year off to a fresh start. But, this year, we decided that maybe it makes more sense to get a jump on the kitchen organization before the holiday celebrating commences.
There’s nothing worse than being in the midst of your favorite recipe and not being able to put your hands on the cumin. Or thyme. (Well, I mean, of course there are far worse things, but, you know, it’s pretty inconvenient and totally avoidable.)
What’s on your menu this holiday season? We’re pretty excited about family Christmas, part 1, this coming weekend.
We go out to eat on Friday night and Saturday, amidst the present opening and kids running and general merriment, we snack on our favorites: shrimp cocktail, bacon-wrapped scallops, crab cakes, pimento cheese, veggies, spiced pecans, chicken fingers that are supposed to be for the kids but all the adults end up eating too… You get the idea.
Essentially, what we’re saying is that there’s going to be a lot of chaos in our kitchen, and it needs to be streamlined and organized and ready for anything. (Do you love the juxtaposition between this beautiful silver and these mason jars?!)
The first step on our list? Getting rid of EVERYTHING we don’t need. We empty all the drawers, all the cabinets and only put back the things we can’t live without. That is critical.
It looks the best when it’s like this. But getting rid of all those stray coffee mugs and random pieces of china that somehow accumulate can be a real bummer.
And that drawer full of K-Cups? It can be a total mess. But when they’re all lined up straight in perfect rows, it’s kind of magical, isn’t it? And it doesn’t take twenty minutes to find the decaf after dinner or that chamomile tea. So that’s pretty awesome.
Speaking of tea… I have lots of tea. Lots and lots and lots. And, of course, all that tea comes with some pretty cool accessories. When they’re all jumbled on a shelf they aren’t so great. But, when they’re perfectly lined and organized they are calm and wonderful, just as they are intended to be. We’re still perfecting the pot and lid situation. But we’re kind of loving the pots in one drawer and lids in the other. Definitely going to try that one out.
This is what we want our Christmas kitchen to look like. So that, instead of worrying about where the trivets are, we can instead spend those precious moments with family, sitting around the tree and sipping wine and watching the littlest ones rejoice amidst the wrapping paper.
We can propose a toast to friends and family, laughter and love and creating the life that we’ve always dreamed of.
If you ask us, a kitchen like this is a very, very good start.
Amidst the holiday hustle and bustle, we hope that you have a moment to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year!
We’re thinking of all the people of Sandy Hook today and wishing for healing for all of them and, for everyone, a season of peace.
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a $250 Amazon gift card and signed copy of Dear Carolina. And, if you want to give it as a gift, email me at kristy @ kristywoodsonharvey.com, and I’ll send you a signed bookplate, jazzy bookmark and pretty ribbon to tie it up!
It is time for kitchen organization! I have a teeny kitchen, and have let a few things creep into my kitchen – it’s time to weed extra stuff out!
Those are some fabulous kitchens….I am dying to update my kitchen a little:)
Love this post…and you can never have enough tea as far as I am concerned! I am obsessed with kitchen organization this year. After we renovated ours, I was so picky about what we put back in the cabinets. My husband would ask for one of his old standby plastic storage containers and I would hand him a nice new glass one with a lid and tell him I couldn’t find the plastic one…Little did he know the old thing was thrown out months ago. It just wasn’t worthy of the new kitchen!
Shelley
That first kitchen photo…YESSSSSS!!!! franki
Wonderful ideas The big secret is keeping it that way
xo
Patty
OH boy do I need to do this in my Butler’s Pantry! I’ve never seen that kitchen by Lynn Morgan before and I’m obsessed!!! Great post, thank you ladies:)
prayers to Sandy Hook… and looking forward to your Christmas part 1 stories!
Personally i tend to love White Kitchens with White Carrrera Marble countertops, a Butcher rblock prep area near the sink prep area and at times Black Islands and Black lower Cabinets/ if there is enough room in the Kitchen to put lots of Paned Glass Windows on the Top Cabinets…to off set the Black. I have used a Good Quality Maple Bucther block on the Island to create a large surface prep area so you have lots of important storage and cooking areas at your disposal.. Buter Block on the Island is easy to keep clean as a work surface Just take a clean sponge along with Lemon Juice ( I buy the frozen kind with a squirt top on it ) them wipe the juice into the Butcher Block Let it dry overnight and any stains you my have will disappear it remains looking new if you keep it up…I did mine just before going to bed at night In the morning it looks brand new….I like hardwood floors in a kitchen sometimes stenciled for effect…The Kitchens beve are glorious but i do not like open shelving in the Kitchen They are dust collectors…..I know from experience…..