My Real Life Organized Kitchen and Dining Room Makeover

I noticed recently that an older post about my organized kitchen has been getting some traffic lately. However, this post is eight years old! My kitchen and they way I organize it has changed so many times since then. Three years ago we did some updates on our kitchen/dining area to freshen it up. We couldn’t afford to replace the oak cabinets and I’m too lazy to paint them so we worked around them. I loved the way it turned out and have only shared glimpses with you here and there since then. So today’s a good day to replace that old post with something a little more updated.

Our kitchen makeover on a budget included new wall paint, new countertops, new backsplash and new cabinet pulls. These changes made a huge difference to the feel of the space and I loved that we were able to work with the cabinet color. Maybe one day down the line we’ll change them out but I’m not worried about that now. Also to save more money we didn’t change the appliances out. They work perfectly fine.

My Organized Kitchen

Just for fun let’s take a look back at some before pictures from 8 years ago and then what it looks like today. Please keep in mind that I don’t stage my photos. What you see is really how it looks in real life.

Before

And here’s the after. We painted the walls the colors Deep Space and Revere Pewter both by Benjamin Moore. The countertops were purchased from Home Hardware.

Before

After

Before

After

China Cabinets

We purchased two of these white cabinets below from Canadian Tire to work as a china cabinet. I love changing out the decor on the main shelves seasonally. The bottom cabinets store table linens and serving dishes. More about what I organize in these cabinets can be found HERE.

Pantry

This is the other side of my kitchen and my only pantry area. These cabinets look deceiving, they are actually only 11 inches deep. My plates won’t even fit inside.

Now let’s get into how I organize some of my kitchen cabinets. The left side of the pantry area holds small appliances and other miscellaneous things.

I love to use these wire dividers to organize my paper plates.

The right side cupboards close to the fridge is where I keep all my food. More details about this area of my kitchen can be found HERE.

On the right as you walk into the kitchen, you’ll see I keep my essential oils and supplements. I need to keep my supplements out on the counter or I will most definitely forget to take them each day. First and foremost your kitchen has to function for YOU.

The roller oils on top of the drawers are organized in a lipstick holder from the dollar store.

Coffee Station

The cabinet above the stove is where my oils and husband’s coffee station resides. He’s tall so he gets this cabinet that I can’t reach.

Tea Station

Next is my tea station which I absolutely love. This space changes on the regular. Right now I just have a wooden bin turned on its side to give me a double layer. I love tea!

Here’s my tea overstock cabinet space. More about this HERE.

These turntables are the BEST!

Wire Shelves

My dishes live in the two top cabinets on either side of the sink. Wire shelves make a huge difference and can double your cabinet space. More on that HERE.

Lazy Susans

I am lucky enough to have two Lazy Susan cupboards. I’m a huge fan of them as they provide a lot of easily accessible storage if organized right. This one right by the stove stores my spices on top and food storage containers on the bottom. The secret is Lazy Susans inside Lazy Susans and lots of bins to divide and conquer!

Label the tops of your spice jars.

The other Lazy Susan holds all my baking supplies but I forgot to take a picture of that one. I’ll add it here when I remember.

In another cabinet to the left of the dishwasher are where my baking pans are stored. I organize them vertically with wire dividers.

Next this is how under my kitchen looks. The stacking bins on the right were an excellent Costco find. You can also find them in my Amazon shop below.

I used a tension rod across the top to hook a basket over in order to tuck away the drain stoppers.

Kitchen Organization Products

Here is a detailed list of my favorite organized kitchen products for you to check out if interested.

To see all my favorite organizing products please visit my AMAZON SHOP.

I feel better now that I’ve updated that old post from 8 years ago with this new one about my organized kitchen. As you can see a few simple changes can really update a tired space. If you have any questions at all or want to see more pictures, please let me know. I’m happy to help.

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Disclosure: If you purchase anything from links in this post, I may receive an affiliate commission. However, I only ever mention products I love and would recommend whether I was being compensated or not. 

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