This is a big weekend. As of Labor Day, Wilson Home Organizing has officially been in Tacoma, WA for one year! I have absolutely loved learning about this city and am excited to continue exploring. And to celebrate, I am giving away one of each of the items I talk about in this post! Be sure to head on over the my facebook page or instagram if you’d like to participate:)(UPDATE - Giveaway now closed.)

I LOVE organizing kitchens. The kitchen is an important spot in a home, often acting as the gathering center, and I just adore making it a place to enjoy.

Since it has been a year, and we’re talking kitchens, I suppose it’s time to share my deepest darkest secret:

I can’t cook.

No, really. Not at all.

I don’t mean I “can’t cook” fancy sauces or obscure ingredients but whip up easy edible meals every night. I mean, if there’s a way to burn it, undercook it, and leave the most important thing out altogether I will do that. If it doesn’t come to life in a microwave or a crock pot, I have major issues making it happen. I’m someone who has to google “how to chop parsley” and “what does saute mean”. Seriously. And then, after all of that trouble, cooking leads to my least favorite chore. Dishes. I really hate washing dishes. I have had this issue since I was a child. Dirty dishes are just the worst.

This is unfortunate because I love eating. I sneakily got around this issue with the best life hack. I married a chef:) And I’ll tell ya, watching my husband whip up something yummy and beautiful and delicious is the best part of my week.

So why in the world would I love organizing kitchens if, when using my own, it tends to lead to distress, frustration, and the worst chore in the world?

Because a beautiful, calm, organized, tidy kitchen makes me forget ALL of that. When I’m in a decluttered kitchen with clear counters and easily accessible tools and ingredients, I can do anything. I can BE ANYTHING. I can chop the most lovely vegetables and saute them to my heart’s content and impress my husband. I can be Martha Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, and Wonder Woman and even wash the dishes… happily.

That is the transformative power of organizing your home.

With that, let’s get to it. Below are my three most-loved items to use in kitchen cabinets:

1. The cabinet shelf: Often our shelves are too widely spaced inside cabinets. This leads to much wasted space or a stack of dishes so high that its too heavy to lift. Enter this little shelf. It can add an extra surface to separate dishes, spices or other things and make them more easily accessible.

You can find many versions of the cabinet shelf for sale. I like this one from The Container Store.

2. The expandable can shelf. This handy guy allows you too see the cans or spices stacked behind others in the dark depths of your cabinet. It works for anything that can get lost in a pile. This one is great because it expands to fit your space.

3. The lazy susan. I saved the best for last. This little genius really can do a lot with a simple concept. It addresses the same issue of the can shelf above - the pile of unaccessible cans/bottles stuffed in a shelf - and fixes it with a little spin. Use it to store taller items like cooking oils and vinegars. The smallest ones usually come with a diameter of about 9" which will just fit in many cabinets. Use a larger one for extra deep lower cabinets. This one has a lip to keep things contained, or this one does double duty with two tiers.

That's it! Don't forget I'm giving away one of each of the items pictured here as a set to celebrate my one year in Tacoma. Head over to the Facebook page or Instagram to enter. I'll see you there!

A few of my favorite things: Kitchen Cabinets