As I’ve been thinking about what should come next in my Mission: Decrapification Organization, I ran across an old post on the kitchen drawers.  Ok, I guess these drawers need to be next.  Here’s the old post.  I have no time to write a new post.  I have drawers to organize.

How many drawers do you have in your kitchen for cooking, baking, and food prep tools?

In my kitchen there are three drawers just for gadgets and tools, not including drawers for knives, silverware, and hot pads. On Easter Sunday, I was looking for my ice tongs. When I couldn’t find them, my family started helping me look. I can’t tell you how embarrassing it is when three people are searching for a kitchen tool and can’t seem to get their hands on it. I LOVE organization and I know there absolutely has to be a better way to organize my kitchen.

Over the weekend, I decided to tackle the drawers. I started by taking everything out of all three drawers. All of my tools and treasures covered the entire counter and the stove. The first thing I thought was that I’d have to get rid of a few things.

Once I started sorting, I found that it really wasn’t that much stuff. My tools just needed to be grouped together. I made piles of like items. Things were looking better already.

Then, I decided which drawers to put things into. I designated one drawer for baking and tools I use at the stove.

One drawer was chosen for everyday items, like can openers, kitchen scissors, and a few cookie cutters for cutting out cute peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The last drawer was the deepest, so it was chosen for big things that I either don’t use that often or needed a little extra room.

Somehow several cookie cutters had found their way into the drawers. That’s because they don’t really have a home. Some days they may be in the art cubby with the Play-Doh supplies. Another day they could be on a shelf in the pantry. For someone who bakes quite often, this is not a good thing. I decided to put all of the stainless and copper cookie cutters in a glass bowl, up high in the pantry. These are my good cookie cutters and I’d prefer the kids don’t play with them.

There are a few with sentimental value, from baking with my mom when I was younger.

The copper Wiltons are just so pretty!

The plastic cookie cutters were stored down low in the pantry, so the kids could reach them, but I could find them as well.

What I’d REALLY like to do is make a trip to Storables or the Container Store. They have terrific drawer dividers and perfect bins for my baking supplies. That will have to wait for another day and a different paycheck. At least for now, I can easily get to my apple cutter, can opener, or measuring cups. I still don’t know where the ice tongs are though!