Untidy Cupboards? Never!
Over the summer holidays, I had a list and I’m proud to announce that I managed to tick a couple of things off, among them sorting out the cupboards in my kitchen.
Now don’t get me wrong. When I say cupboards I don’t mean them all (the holidays isn’t that long!) No I just mean those that hold items for consumption – sauces, pasta, spices – all that sort of thing. They seem to be the ones that have a mind of their own when it comes to keeping tidy.
I decided to do it properly and emptied the two culprits. Here is what I took out!
I then cleaned them (how do the inside of cupboards get so grubby!) and replaced, checking on sell by dates of course. This what I found:-
- My pride of place goes to some nuts with a sell by of March 2006
- I had several hundreds of packet soups that I used to keep in my desk drawer at school.(Remember I retired in July 2008!)
- Two boxes of cocktail sticks – who uses that many?
It is clear from the contents that my cooking moods have gone through a number of phases. I have lots of ingredients for very specific meals that are only cooked once in a while. Hence the many half full packets! One thing that the whole experience has taught me is that I’m too short for my kitchen. I can’t reach the top shelf and never see what I decide to put at the back of it.
On the whole I’m pleased with the result. I just need to remind hubby to put things back where he gets them from on the one night he gets supper!
Do your cupboards get untidy? Have you found the culprit?
This post is for the letter ‘U’ over at Jenny’s blog. Do go visit the other entries!
For a woman who is obsessed with organization, my cupboards could use some help. I blame the fact that they are so high! I cannot reach the top two shelves without a step stool and I am not a short woman. My spice cabinet is the worst.
Sadly, I think the culprit is me…GULP!
Great tidy up job, Miss Julia! Please come and do mine at your earliest convenience!
Thanks for the smile. This was a cute stop.
A+
I’m glad I’m not the only one with cupboards full of questionable consumables! Reading this post reminds me that it’s been several years since I’ve cleaned out mine. Not sure if I’m ready to face the things I have buried in the back yet! Great job on the cleaning 🙂
My cupboards get untidy and then I haul everything out and weed out the stale-dated and gone-bad. Fall always seems to be a good time!
I never thought about it, but I guess the content of your pantry and how it looks could say a lot about you! Loved this post!
My cupboards got really bad, but I bought some new cookware and decided that I wouldn’t use it until I got everything cleaned up.
It worked! Cupboards are now clean and organized (at least for this week)….
Well, having just moved and seeing all the kitchen boxes yet to be unpacked, maybe I’ll get started “right” here. Maintaining will be the big question mark! I enjoyed your post.
Wow! Everything looks wonderful!
These are the kinds of jobs we all put off because they seem too big to tackle. Then, once we start, they turn out not to be so bad after all, and the sense of accomplishment is HUGE. Congrats on getting yours done (now I only have to take my own advice…).
I really need to get my cupboards cleaned up and check whether there are expired stuff in there. Things really get messy very fast inside them. It’s on my goal list this month to get it done.
Oh I know the culprit very well, it is moi! I need to do what u did! xo,
my culprit is my son He never puts anything back where it belongs. I need to do this soon.. We rent our house and the last time I cleaned the cupboards, some naughty little boy from the previous tenents wrote his name on the second shelf with white paint. How he reached it is anyones guess (I know the family and he was about 5 when he lived here)
I HAVE found the culprit and, unfortunately, she looks and acts a lot like me. Hmmm.
I do this frequently. I don’t understand how it can get in disarray so quickly. ~Ames
I need to do this myself…why?oh,why?…can’t they stay this way.teehe.
Visiting from Alphabe Thursday.
~Jo
Oh girl you have hit a nerve here. I’ve had cleaning out the kitchen food cupboards in the back of my mind for a while now..I better put it on the front burner so I can find that food from 2006!!
fresh like new.
cheers.
Under the sink, that’s my culprit! I need some type of organization system for the scrubbers, soaps, polish, etc.
I try and organize them every few shopping trips. I’ve gotten real good about watching expiration dates. It kind of annoys me that they’re often hard to find on the packagage/jar and in tiny, tiny print. I’ve also started checking them in the store before purchase and have found some expired or just about ready to expire.
So amazed you got them cleaned out! I’d be afraid to see what is in my cupboards.
Well, I couldn’t see at the back so it was quite a surprise!
What a comforting post!
We moved during the last five months and I blush to tell you what I found that the movers (hearts of stone, averted eyes) had brought along with us —
I match you your pull-by date of 2006 and raise you witha 2004!
Yours look beautiful now. Good luck on keeping them that way! 😉
Well, hubby panicked that we din’t have any pasta sauce (he does pasta for supper once a week). He’ll find it difficult for a while I’m sure so I’ll blame him!!
Ooh, I did the whole tidying out the food cupboards the other week, and it’s amazing how much STUFF is back there! I swear, it’s like Mary Poppins bag where you just keep pulling things out, or the wardrobe in Narnia – they just go on forever lol! 🙂
With me it was the half opened and abandoned packets of things that was the worst. Stuff like fancy pasta (chocolate spiral pasta half eaten) and herbs about 3 years out of date.
Let’s see how long it can stay tidy now! 🙂
I’m with you on the herbs too. I’ll report back this time next year!! Thanks for popping in – great to see you!
I try to keep them tidy. lovely U word
Thank you for stopping by. It can be a difficult job!