6.30.2010

Making the Pantry Work Double Time: Kitchen Organization!

Although I love the super clean look of the stainless fridge, there are definitely times when I wish I could just put a note or picture up there.  I do use the small strip between the cabinet and the front which is magnetic.  It's a great place for an invitation and my son's fridge game.

But, ever since we moved in last fall, I had been looking for a place to stick a bulletin board.  The kitchen island had become a landing point for so many things (including small but important pieces of paper) and I was getting really tired of it.  I was inspired when I read this post from my friends over at Young House Love (thanks Sherry and John!).  As soon as I read about their cabinet cork board I started thinking about cabinets that we could use.  We are a bit limited in possibilities because we mostly have glass cabinets on top (except the 2 over the microwave and fridge), and we don't really have any lower cabinets which are large enough (and mostly we have drawers).  The pantry became the obvious choice because we keep our cereal and all of our other dry and non-perishable staples in there - so we open it ALL the time but especially in the morning when we most often need reminders.

With the location chosen, I got some cork tiles and a small dry erase board at Target.  It was important that anything we attached stayed within the side rails of the door because the drawers are nearly flush with the inset doors.  Cutting the cork board to fit within the rails was really easy with a sheetrock knife (a boxcutter would work too). 
 I also lucked out finding this small dry erase board which fit into the space almost perfectly. 

To attach the board and tiles, I wanted to be sure they were removable just in case I ever decide to take them down or replace them with something else.  I decided to use the Command adhesive strips because they are strong but they come off easily when you need them to. 
Then I started cutting and attaching the pieces to the cabinet door.  The whole project took less than an hour...
And here's the final result!
I added some yellow and white thumbtacks that I already had laying around.  Hopefully this will help solve the island clutter problem.  I'll let you know.

Where do you keep your family's important reminders?