Let's get organized! Part 2: Kitchen

Edit: I forgot to mention that this shelving look is NOT what my ideal kitchen looks like, but we were trying to do this for next to no money, and hopefully, we'll be moving within the next year, and those shelves will not be going with us.  We can live with it for now. :)
This is part 2 in a series- click here to see part 1.

Ok, so I was really proud of what I had done in our kitchen, and then I visited my mom's new house, and her huge kitchen with its brand spankin' new granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and ceramic tile floor (that doesn't show dog hair or dirt!)-- that they basically stole because home prices have dropped so low out where they live, and when they sell it, they'll make their millions (ok, maybe not millions, but they'll make some good money on it!) I digress.

I visited my mom's house, and felt like my tiny little kitchen in my (have I mentioned this before?) 800 sq. foot apartment was completely inadequate.  So I didn't want to post at all, but then I reread my post about contentment, and I remembered that we are not the only people in the world who have a small space.  So here it is!

1st of all- I like to cook and bake.  I'm not saying that I'm the world's best cook, or that I should open a restaurant, but I can turn out some decent meals (thanks to my mom for teaching me to cook as a child!)  So.. the kitchen is an important room in our home, and I have a lot of stuff that I use.  I  tried to clean out what I could, but I really do use these things, so I kept most of it.

2nd- Our kitchen was functional before, and I was amazed that it took as much reorganization as it did!

The only real problem that I had was that our pantry was too small.  It worked for Will and I, but as our family has grown, it's become too small.  Also, you had to basically lay on the ground to see the bottom 2 shelves, and well... that wasn't working anymore.

So here's what we did (don't worry- I won't show you every single cabinet and drawer, but I am showing you most, because I don't have many!):
1st, let me show you what we're working with:

We cleared off and moved a bookshelf from our room, to the middle of those 2 white cabinets.  (Our "pantry" was 1/2 the height of 1 of those!)  I moved the pantry from the small cabinet, to the larger one that used to contain our dishes. 

So here's what we have- the cabinet on the left holds all of our appliances.  On top of that is a basket that holds tablecloths and cloth napkins. 

I think you can see what's on the bookshelf- not 100% sure we'll keep bottles there, but for now, it works.  I let you know in about 3 months what we decide! yikes!!! :)
 

The cabinet on the right now functions as our pantry.  Everything is organized (mostly).  However, even it's a little on the small side.  The basket on top holds bread, and chips.

The cabinet above the stove is lunch making central.  Everything we need for lunches- containers, lunch boxes, water bottles- is up here.  Hopefully it will make lunch making go smoothly since we won't be searching all over the kitchen for a lid to find a container!

The cabinet to the right of the stove holds spices, and some things for baking.

 I have this set of drawers in between my stove and my fridge-yes, 1 is broken.  I keep measuring cups, etc. in the top one, serving utensils (the fancy ones) in the 2nd drawer, potholders in the 3rd, and aluminum foil, baggies, etc. in the bottom.

I registered for those trays when I got married- and it's one of the best things I registered for! Perfect for kitchen organization!

Under the sink-- this cabinet is deep, because our sink sits in the corner, but it's hard to get to the back of it.  I think we're utilizing it better than before, but I don't know.

This cabinet is my favorite! It's deep and holds all my pots and pans. :)  Those organizers came from Walmart but I could only find the bottom one on their website. Who knows- they're located with the kitchen organization stuff.

2 more cabinets round out my kitchen.

Under the stove we keep our cookie sheets, etc.

The basket above the fridge holds things we need to hide from Kristen (candy, mostly) but there's also a couple of sharp knives in there.  In the cabinet above the fridge, we keep pitchers, vases, etc.

 So that pretty much rounds out our kitchen! It's not my mom's, but it will do for now. :)