Full disclosure: I have kidults, and while they're great at making their own food and drinks – and clearing up after themselves (the dream rather than the reality) – they will, quite literally, shove whatever they've used back into the refrigerator and food cabinets when they're done. Added to that, the most constant refrain I ever seemed to hear (until recently) was, 'Mom, where are all the good snacks?’'. So, I started hunting down a solution to fix both problems.
It didn't take long to spot the clever Simple Houseware pullout-organizers on Amazon. The two-tier organizers are designed for bathrooms but slide neatly into tall gaps in refrigerators and larders, or onto deep pantry shelves – and they helped me perfect and upgrade those kitchen organization ideas I didn’t get quite right the first time around.
I got a little carried away and ordered seven sets (believe me, they're all worth it) – and below is how I've used them.
1. For refrigerator organization
The pull-out caddies have made a massive difference to how I organize my refrigerator. I've put the containers in the middle shelf and have used them to group together food types that we access most often, or those that get easily bruised by being squashed – grapes, mushrooms and butter, for example. Note the sodas front and center: I know the kids are going for those most days, so I keep them where they'll reach them without moving around and messing with a tonne of other stuff. Ditto the dressings and sauces. So far, it's working like a dream.
2. To make everything in the snack and baking cabinet easy to find
I've got a particularly deep shelf at the top of my larder that is known in the house as The Shelf of Doom. When I originally designed the kitchen, I thought I'd be keeping larger items on this shelf – kitchen paper, maybe cereal boxes, and so on. It hasn't worked out that way because my kidults like to bake and snack, so for a long while I've had an expanding standing shelf divider, like this one from Amazon, with loose opaque storage boxes like these, also from Amazon in it to make it more functional. However, my early attempt at organizing kitchen cabinets wasn't working – don’t worry, I’ve redeployed them elsewhere.
This (above) does work, however. Again, it allows me to group the ingredients by type and the slide-out nature of the caddies means I can lift them out to pick out what I need really easily – plus reach anything at the back hassle-free. One great advantage of having see-through caddies? I can see what I need even if the shelf is high up (this one is) or the caddy is quite deep.
3. As a cleaning cabinet organizer
I have way too many cleaning products, all kept on shelves in another deep cabinet in my kitchen, and all pretty disorganized. The pull-out caddies have allowed me to double my usable space, as you can see on this particular shelf: tall bottles up top, cloths and sponges underneath.
I've repeated the formula on the other shelves below and above, organizing cleaning supplies by type: washing, polishing, stain removal, and so on. Like with the baking/snacking cabinet, the organizers have helped me stop doubling up on buying products I already had because I can see everything clearly. And, as I can clearly see where everything is now, that frustrating fumble through the cabinet to find something particular no longer happens.
I've yet to hear my kidults shouting, 'Mom, where's the countertop spray?' – but I'm hoping this system might help them start cleaning up after themselves a little more. That's the dream, anyway.
As well as Simple Houseware's range, i'm also a big fan of Nate Berkus' Nate Home Collection on Amazon. From fridge organizers to storage bins and turntable organizers, this sleek, functional collection has you covered.
