Category: Works for Me Wednesday

Today’s WFMW is a themed edition. The topic? Kitchen organization.

Good thing I am an expert at that! Oh wait, no I’m not.

I was actually just complaining about this with my co-workers yesterday! The way our house is laid out, when we enter through the garage, after a few brief steps through the washer/dryer area, we enter into the kitchen. You know what that means – the kitchen is the dumping grounds for everything… backpacks, mail, jackets, you name it.

In addition to the daily things that are dumped, I often feel as though we are drowning in a sea of papers. And they are all on the kitchen counter. And even when I go through it and throw away what I can, there’s still important stuff that probably shouldn’t end up in the recycling bin – so where should it go?

This quandry is why I was excited to read this article in Woman’s Day magazine. The article is called “Organize Your Top 5 Trouble Spots,” and while I definitely have those five (and more) trouble spots, the ideas for the kitchen really caught my eye.

Here’s an excerpt (Remember, it’s from this article in Woman’s Day – I didn’t think this up on my own).

The Kitchen

Old way: The countertops aren’t just for food prep, they’re for paper prep too. “Everything gets done in the kitchen—bills, homework, birthday invitations, classroom forms—all while meals are being prepared,” says Heidi Karpa, broadband host for HGTV.com’s KitchenDesign. “The best thing you can do is give all that paper a new place to call home.”

New way: Turn one of your kitchen cabinets into the Household Nerve Center. Stock it with mail and other paperwork that used to clutter your countertops.

How to organize: “Pick a cabinet and empty it,” says Karpa. Then install a bulletin or magnetic board on the inside of the door. It’s the perfect place for phone numbers, schedules and need-to-see papers.

On the lowest shelf, place stackable boxes, labeled by name for each family member. This acts as a delivery center for permission forms, reminders and mail. On the second shelf, corral must-have items: pens, pencils and scissors go in a mug, bills in a letter holder, stamps in a see-through plastic container. On the top shelf, place a plastic-sheet binder of important papers, labeled on the spine, alongside directories and phone books. Use bookends to keep everything upright.

Not allowed: Schedules, papers or forms that you also have on your computer. You can always look at the digital version as needed.

I love this idea. And I absolutely intend to do it. And when I eventually do, I am sure it will work for me.

For other tips on kitchen organization, head over to Rocks in my Dryer!

Do you have other tips for me? Leave a comment… I need all the help I can get!

I like onions more than is normal, I think. When my BFF Jess and I are together, we order pizza with extra onion. That is all, just extra onions. I’m sure the pizza people make fun of us. But anyway, I don’t love chopping onions – I don’t like the crying!

So I was skeptical but intrigued when I read a new tip for tear-less onion chopping – something more simple than storing onions in the freezer or anything. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut. That’s all! Just keep your trap shut the entire time you’re chopping onions, and you won’t tear up. It really works! I promise. Try it out and get back to me.

For other less obscure tips, head over to Rocks in My Dryer!

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While we’re on the subject of my BFF Jess and our strange pizza preferences, let me take a minute to plug her blog. She’s on her third three-week business trip to India this year, and she’s blogging about her experience over there. Her most recent post shows classified ads for arranged marriages! My other favorite posts are “Inflating a Raft Indian Style” and “Ghandi and Boat Rides.”