Adjusting to Less Cabinet Space

Yesterday, a couple people asked me how we were dealing with less cabinet space ever since I decided on a whim to remove a set of uppers to open my kitchen a little more to the surrounding rooms.

some of my cabinets now

I wish I had the forethought to photograph the cabinets before the shuffle... but trust me, they were full. We tend to fill the spaces we have -- even if that means accumulating lots of stuff. And I admit, I had the stuff. And the piles that accumulated in empty spots.

The truth is, I did have to do a bit of rearranging and I did end up getting rid of a few things. Lucky for me, I'm naturally a 'tosser' in all aspects of my life and I think an occasional review of the items in a home is healthy! It's just like going through your clothes and asking yourself, "have I worn this in the last year?" and deciding if it's worth the extra space in your home and life. Except we're doing it with our 27 commemorative mugs and our quesadilla makers.

I suspect we can get by just fine with less than we think. And I'm not hurting... for example, I still have:

• 2 crock pots and specialized gadgets like waffle irons and popcorn poppers
• approximately 96 spices jars
• around 11 spatulas
• a whole drawer full of rags, another for towels, another for heating pads
• a cabinet full of random things like dog food, wireless routers, and Swiffers.

We also have shelving in the basement where I'm able to store things I use less frequently like:

• my fancy china
• extra glassware for entertaining (big box o' wine glasses, thanks TJ Maxx!)
• canning jars
• seasonal dishes

So obviously I'm not an extreme kitchen minimalist; I'm not mixing things with my hands or washing out my one pot between side dishes... I'm just taking my boyfriend Alton Brown's advice as often as I can and making a lot of my tools and gadgets work overtime to multitask.

After all is said and done, I don't feel cramped at all, even with  my "no gadgets on the counters" rule. It's all about being smart with the space you have. Do you have any kitchen organizing tip you want to share?

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

-William Morris