Let's get down to organizing! : D

One of my clients (we'll call her Awesome New Homeowner) had a wonderful problem...she went from a one bedroom apartment to a gigantic house!! Because it was easy to condense everything into tiny spaces in the apartment, Awesome New Homeowner thought it would be a breeze to move into their beautiful new home. When they unpacked, however, they had so much space that they were able to spread everything out- who wouldn't?! We started in the kitchen. First, we walked around the kitchen and removed what didn't belong- "I know the lantern doesn't go in the kitchen but we had a spot for it!!" Lantern off to the garage. Then, we walked around the house to find out what belongs in the kitchen. Dish towels, place mats and fancy napkins were moved from the linen closet to a great drawer in the kitchen for quick and easy access. Two great pantry cabinets quickly became cluttered because they were so big, they could buy a ton of stuff at once. We emptied both cabinets onto the counter (Awesome New Homeowner giving a quick look to make sure they used everything- a couple of items were sent to the car for donations), separating like with like. Soups together, pasta together, veggies together, etc.  ANH decided she would like one cabinet to be for snacks/cereals/baking and the other to be for the food used in preparing meals. Sounded great to me! ANH catches on quickly! Keeping like with like, ANH decided what items they needed to reach often and quickly and placed those on the lower shelves and less frequently used items were put on higher shelves. The trick is to be able to see everything you have so you can use it. This prevents wasted food, wasted money and wasted time shopping for items you already have. The problem with filling the cabinets is that it makes it difficult to see everything you have. My client goes shopping every week so she really only need a weeks worth of food in the house.  We established the one-in, one-out rule. When something was used, she could buy another one. Remember just because you have a lot of space doesn't mean you need to fill it! Leave a little breathing room and see how it feels...