Kitchen Makeover: Part 1

A recent client needed a complete kitchen overhaul (think: cabinets, countertops, fridge, pantry, etc.) and I was happy to help!!

Before I get into the details of the makeover, I want to give you a little background on why I chose to become an organizer. First of all, I love to organize (DUH)! But second, I love to help people. And when I walk in someone's home and they are completely overwhelmed & close to tears, my heart goes out to them. I want to help them in any way I can, and usually, that starts with organizing. So, this client was more than just a little overwhelmed when I first saw her kitchen. Which is evident since her countertops were overflowing with food & other items that belonged in the pantry and cabinets.

She's a busy mom of three, and the kitchen countertops and table became the catch-all for...
well, everything.

I was BEYOND excited to help this client reclaim her kitchen, and best of all, her family's kitchen table! As I was leaving, one of her daughters started laying out placemats for their dinner that night. She was so excited to have the table cleared off so they could have family time. Warmed my heart!

Though I was itching to move all that excess food from the countertops to the pantry, I couldn't do that without de-cluttering her kitchen cabinets first, to make room for things that didn't belong in the pantry! Did you follow that!? :)

We started with the cups & glasses.....my client got rid of quite a few that they didn't need/want, and then I placed them back into the cabinet by types: mugs, water bottles, glasses, baby stuff, etc.

Her pots & pans were being stored in a cabinet that had a veeeery deep right side. I decided to store some appliances in that corner that weren't being used much, and added a lid rack to organize her lids. I grouped the saucepans by size & shape, and made a spot for her most-used pyrex dishes.

The space under kitchen sinks is always a precarious one, and often under-utilized as well. I designated a bin for cleaning items and another bin for paper products.

And then on the far left side of the sink cabinet, I used a 2 tiered organizer similar to this to hold excess paper towels as well as dish-washing items/sponges.

In this same organizing session, we were able to overhaul her pantry! But I will save that for the next post, Part 2. We literally organized every single cabinet in her kitchen, but I will spare you all of those pictures. There were a lot!

I just want to say that I am SO proud of the work we did in the kitchen, and even more so of my client for being brave enough to let me into her house. I *promise* you, I never walk in to a client's house & start to judge. I am solely there to help. And a big reason I take all of these before & after pictures is so that my clients can see how much progress we've made, which will hopefully motivate them to stay organized and never get back to that "before" photo.

Please let me know if I can help makeover your kitchen!

And stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 of this reveal.....