Kitchen utensils!

Okay, so there wasn't much to this project but I'm very happy with it because the kitchen utensils finally go in a drawer that they can all fit into without any rearranging or wrestling trying to make them fit. See, the kitchen utensils, up until last week, shared a drawer with the silverware.  Here's a picture of how crowded it was:

It was just...messy and it made it difficult to put the utensils away and take them out. And all this was unnecessary because there was another drawer in the kitchen not being used:

 (Yes, that is a fish tank in the background. We just got a bigger tank and haven't gotten around to selling/cleaning the old one.)

Isn't this drawer huge? And it was being completely unused! So all there was to do was move the kitchen utensils from their original drawer to this one! I wiped the drawer down with a Lysol wipe, let it dry and moved everything over (while also getting rid of utensils we don't use):

They were so cramped in the other drawer! Now, they're not cramped and there's room for more! :D No more dreading putting kitchen tools away! And the silverware drawer looks a lot better too:

And the counter space above the drawer:

When I told my boyfriend I was going to do this, he was against it. He didn't want me changing his system, he should get to pick since he's the cook around here, his kitchen utensils have been in that drawer since he moved in. In response, I told him I was only making his system better and I should get to pick because I do all the dishes and am always the one to put the dishes away. So, I moved the kitchen utensils. Once I was done, I let my boyfriend see what I'd done. I told him if he didn't like it, he could move the kitchen utensils back to their original drawer. He won't admit to liking it but he also hasn't changed anything. Compromise! :)

So, there you go. How do you efficiently use your kitchen storage?

Old School Papers System!

Hey! Sorry, I know I've been gone for a bit. School is just crazy! Anyway, since I finally have a break tonight, I thought I'd tell you about a system I recently created. It's a simple solution for an annoying problem. What to do with all those school and class papers at the end of the year/semester/quarter. Whether you have children in school or you're currently in school, you know school is far from paperless. Yes, many college course instructors try to make their classes as paperless as possible but if you're like me, you need mostly everything on paper. The downfall of this is when the class is over I have a ton of papers that I no longer need but I also cannot simply throw them away. Maybe it's silly but I have trouble throwing away all the hard work I did for a class. But it's also impractical to keep my school papers in the binders I used throughout the semester. By the end of every semester, my binders and dividers are usually in pretty good shape so it's frustrating only using them for one semester and then packing them away under my bed because I don't have another place for all that paper. Then, when the next semester starts, I have to buy binders all over again. And they're not cheap! At least not for a college student.  Luckily, I've found the solution:

Accordion files! I found these ones in the $1 section at Target but I know Target switches out what they have in the $1 section so they won't always have these. Luckily, I see cheap accordion files at many stores. These really are the perfect solution.

After I got a few of these, I came home from Target totally pumped. I grabbed my binders from last spring semester and this past fall semester and got to work. I pulled all the papers from the first binder and moved them to one of the accordion files, giving each class of the semester its own section in its accordion file. I then labeled each section divider with the name of the class that section is for. Since I did this project before I started this blog, I don't have pictures of when I was doing the project. Sorry! But I will show you the insides of the folders so you can see what I mean (sorry the first picture is out of focus):

See? Pretty simple. I'm pretty sure I have more of my work from college class at my mom and step dad's house in California. I'll check when I'm home over the summer. Anyway, the folders now sit on my bookshelf, with all my composition books and notebooks from past semesters, just in case I ever need them:

My favorite part of this project is how it kept me from having to buy another binder this semester. Here's some pictures of the binder I used last semester and am using again this semester:

It's in great shape, right? Definitely too good of shape to be stuffed under my bed and forgotten about. Although, I must admit, it's starting to fall apart:

I know, I know. This thing doesn't have very much life left in it. I'd say it's got a couple of semesters left. :-P I also have another binder that used to be used for school, but is now waiting to be re-purposed:

 This binder has a scratch on the front:

 Other than that...

 it's in great shape!

Now to figure out what to do with it...

Quick tip for students: Try to use the same spiral notebook for as many classes as possible. For example, I use the same notebook for Spanish 102 as the notebook I used for Spanish 101. This keeps all of my Spanish notes together and makes it very easy for me to go back to my Spanish 101 notes if I ever need to. You could also use the same notebook for several unrelated classes but obviously, you won't be needing to reference old notes for an unrelated class you're in now. No matter what classes you use your notebooks for, using the same notebook for multiple classes will save money and paper. 

Well there you go! I hope this system helps you get organize as much as it's helped me! :) 

Because cutting boards take up too much space...

So we have a tiny apartment kitchen. It does have lots of storage space but because it's a galley kitchen, it's seriously lacking in counter space. When you're working with a kitchen this small, you really can't afford to lose that precious counter space. That being said, this was becoming a huge problem:

This little square of counter spaces is one of four counter space squares in our kitchen. With the cutting boards taking up half this square, that really only leaves three. Okay, maybe not half. But still. It's cramped.

I knew I had to get these cutting boards out of the way. Putting them in one of the cupboards wasn't really an  option, since we use them every day. Keeping them on the counter just makes the most sense.

Luckily, these cutting boards are out of the way now. Or as out of the way as they can be, I suppose. Anyway, I found the affordable ($5.99) solution at Bed Bath & Beyond:

I know, pretty basic, right? I bet you know what I did next.

Yup, put the cutting boards in their new home:

It's not a ton more space, but in a kitchen this small, every bit counts!

So how do you store your cutting boards?