I hope you have been enjoying your July 4th weekend! We have some actual vacation time planned in the next few weeks, so I needed to finish one more slipcover project. It had it's challenges, but I am happy with how it turned out:). I will post about it later in the week.

We delivered the chair and took the opportunity to make a quick stop at IKEA. It was a win-win for everyone - I got to do a little shopping, the boys got to eat lunch out, and the Professor was happy to take advantage of the kids-eat-free deal this weekend :)

It's so hard to stick to a list at IKEA - anyone else have that problem? I did pretty well, only picking up a couple of things that weren't on my list.

I ended up with a decidedly modern country collection.

I had seen the set of two metal vases (Socker here) highlighted somewhere else earlier in the spring. Our store only had the cream color, but other colors looks like they would be great, too.

I was so happy to find the glass canister (Burken here)!! I have a couple of the them in my pantry and have been looking for another one; the last time I was at the store they didn't have any, but this time they did!

August Blues - Basket, Hooks, Vase, and Napkins

Also on my list was another basket for the shelf here (Byholma, but this one is not on the website).

And anyone else have trouble resisting the napkins? I wasn't going to get any this time, but this pattern in these colors? Well, they went into my bag :)

And finally, we have the Leksvik hooks up all over the house - I just needed one more set for one of the boys' bedrooms. Great look and so functional!

Do you have favorite IKEA products?

As I mentioned at the beginning, I will be taking a little vacation time over the next few weeks. I have a couple of slipcover projects to show you and will be starting new projects in August. I am booked into September, so if you want to get on my wait list, let me know (I will continue to check my e-mail).

Hope your summer is going well!

Sherri

Some weeks just go like this one - calls from the school nurse, doctors' visits, medication, kids filling time at home, etc. So, I took some time in between to tackle an area of life that needed a little re-organization.

Our pantry needed some help - it wasn't terrible, but there was just not enough room for some stuff and not the right storage space for other stuff. And I hadn't done a good reorganization in a while. My initial plan was to make a plan - you know, make a list of the things that need to go in there, decide how to best store it, figure out what I had for storage supplies, and get what I didn't have to make it better. Well, I had the time and decided to go ahead without the plan. Then Nester posted this today and I'm glad I did! (Btw, do you follow her? Always a breath of fresh air :) ).

Ahhh, that's better - breathing room! I thought I would share a few tricks that help this space work better for us.

First, since we have fixed wooden shelving that isn't going anywhere soon, I have added hanging wire shelves and stackable wire shelving units. They are flexible and I move them around as our storage needs change.

I like to use shallow plastic bins, trays, old pans to corral like things together. So, cooking oils and vinegars are together, extra baking supplies are together, opened bags of chips, etc. are together. I have not purchased items for this purpose, they are just containers that have lost lids, pans I no longer use, etc. Use what you have!

August Blues - Dishes and Chalkboard Labels

I moved all the dishes we use less regularly to the top shelf - they look pretty and are still accessible. If I had room for a proper china cabinet (in the dining room that is now my sewing room :) ), they would live there.

I store some things in glass containers which looks good and is functional. And the chalkboard labels? Cut from a roll of chalkboard contact paper (here).

I have created a little snack center for the boys on the lowest shelf. The bins work well (see, even a cardboard "tray" works!). Underneath there is exactly enough room for a step stool (IKEA) to help their height-challenged mom reach the top shelves easily.

And my favorite thing...

A baking cart! I started this in our previous house and it's a great feature if your pantry is large enough. The top shelf holds flours, sugars, etc. in ever-faithful Tupperware. The next shelf holds mixing bowls and small baking ingredients, yep, in a shallow basket. Bottom shelf holds whatever it needs to (napkins and drink bottles now). I just wheel it over to the counter and I have everything I need right at my fingertips :)

One more idea that works for us...

These baskets live in a cabinet above my main work counter. They hold spices and other cooking and baking ingredients - no shuffling through piles or stacks; I just pull the basket and easily see what I need!

So, just a few ideas for kitchen organization. It doesn't have to be Pinterest-pretty, it just has to work for you.

Do you have any tricks to keep your kitchen organized?

Sherri

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