For Renee :)
Four years ago this evening I married Jeremy. And a week later we moved into our new townhouse, unpacked and unwrapped all our gifts, and set about making the house a home. We arranged and rearranged furniture, went shopping for curtains and lamps, and did all sorts of husband-wifey newlywed new-house type things.
Oh and random fact. I must sleep on whatever side of the bed is furthest from a window and closest to either the bathroom or the nearest light switch. Thinking back, this has been the case in 99 % of rooms I've slept in for as far back as I can remember, unless my sister claimed the side I wanted first, in which case I rarely slept as well as I would have had I slept on the side I wanted.
And second random fact, I like to color code things. Like notebooks and clothes and stuff. Most people would call that organization I guess. I do it because 1. things usually look better that way, and 2. I don't like labeling stuff. Shocker I know. I keep the "labels" in my head. Like when I was homeschooled--and I actually wrote a paper on this in college--Our curriculum was 5 subjects in 5 colors. Blue = science, red = math, green =social studies, purple = Bible, yellow = language arts. For years afterward, through middle school and into high school, I organized by subject materials (folders, notebooks) by these colors. And I have never liked the color red. Ever. Coincidence? I think not!
When I started teaching at Stepping Stones, I went to Staples and bought clear take-home folders to match the cubby color for each child. This only worked for the first 5 since we only used 5 different paint colors, but for the 6th child I picked purple to go with her yellow cubby because purple is opposite yellow on the color wheel and therefore complimentary. However, when the 7th, 8th, and 9th child joined our class, I didn't get around to purchasing new folders since it was so close to the end of the year. In the fall, however, they will also have folders that match their cubbies and their weekly file will also be color coded to match their folders which match their cubbies. Cause I love color.
Back to the newlywed story.
Anyway, so it was my self-appointed task to set up my new kitchen exactly the way I wanted it. I think it's safe to say that newlyweds the world over either relish or dread this task of epic proportions. I dreaded it with relish. It was such a huge job, but oh the organizational possibilities! I finally worked out my system and went about filling in the cabinets. Glasses went on the top shelf above the dishwasher, plates went on the next 2 shelves below, balanced by size so it looked even (small to the left, large to the right on the middle shelf, then large to the left, small to the right on the bottom). My pretty mugs and African elephant collection went on the shelves above the sink, handles turned just so and elephants arranged tallest in the middle like a pyramid. My tea pot and tea cups went on the next shelf up, etc. Bowls and mugs went in the cabinet above the silverware drawer that held the forks and spoons. Mugs on the top shelf, entertaining pieces on the middle shelf, and bowls on the bottom. The big bowls stacked in the back corner and the smaller bowls in 2 stacks, one in the back, one in the middle front flanked with the extra matching mugs that didn't fit on the shelf above the sink. (The bowl cabinet is the area most often messed with by helpful people and "fixed" most repeatedly by me.) In the corner cabinets my mixing bowls and growing collection of Pampered Chef gadgets reign supreme, below on the counter is the Queen of the Kitchen my Kitchenaid mixer. Below that, in the lower corner shelf is the oversized things--the crock pot, quesadilla maker, cupcake pans, baking stones, panini maker, pots and pans, and ridiculously heavy things. Beside that, under the silverware drawers, is where the bakeware (cutting boards, my solitary non-stone baking pan (lol), and my cake pans), and appliances live (smoothie maker, blender, food processor). The large griddle takes up an entire shelf above them cause that's the only place it fits. Between the oven and the fridge, the cabinet above holds cookbooks and spices. Top shelf cookbooks, 2nd shelf sweet stuff for baking and decorating, bottom shelf duplicate and oversized bulk seasonings. Seasonings I use most frequently, of course, are in my spice turn-about on the counter with my 2 large cookbooks (ala Vicki Barb and Betty Crocker). Under that is the junk drawer (which pains me, but what can I do? It must exist), the dishcloths and oven mitts (though these love to travel down a drawer which will often put me in a tizzy), the dish towels are in the next to last drawer, and the bottom is the one with all important kitchen and house related papers (user manuals, bla bla bla). The thing to notice here is that the top shelves are arranged by USE (baking separate from cooking), and the bottoms are organized by SIZE (large towels below smaller cloths, tiny junk on top).
Finally, the silverware is arranged by size. Knives in a bamboo box next to the oversized items that don't belong in my tool turn-about in 1 drawer. Forks in another bamboo boxs, large ones facing up, small ones facing down, next to the box with spoons arranged the same way, with other misc. smaller items, like sugar spoons, spreaders, and serving spoons in the extra space (larger serving spoons and whisks parallel to the boxes and smaller items at the bottom perpendicular in their own space so they don't get "lost".
And that is the Way I Do Things in my kitchen. For the most part. I don't have the time or energy to explain how I fill the dishwasher and by now I hope I've gotten everyone laughing (or sighing) enough. :)
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Thank you for reading and supporting my amusing little habit. :)
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