Kitchen helpers

Seeing Jordan's great pantry renovation made me think of the things we've done to improve out kitchen. We don't have a big space so we haven't done anything major, but we've made some small additions that have helped us navigate our kitchen.

Once we had the Pepper we started eating at home much more, and it made me realize our kitchen was not very efficient. The first thing we did was along the lines of what Jordan did in her pantry: got nice jars to use for dry food storage. Before, we had a bunch of bags stored in other zip lock bags piled on top of each other and it was hard to find anything. Now that we've implemented the jars things are more visible and therefore easy to find. I added simple white labels on the lids too since our pantry is long and dark and I can't always see the contents of the jars. It has also helped me know what I have so I don't keep buying whole walnuts.

Another item that has helped our kitchen efficiency: a salad spinner. I can't believe we went so long without having one. Especially now that we often get lettuce in our CSA it's been essential to be able to throw together a quick salad. And eating salads is something that should have no barriers.

But, the best thing we did to making cooking easier was get a Spice Organizer. I had dreams of cool and creative ways to store spices. I imagined having a great looking metal wall with all the spices in magnetic containers lined up neatly. But the reality was that we just couldn't do any big overhaul so I bought this straightforward version that would fit into one of our cupboards, and it's amazing. I can actually see what spices I have and I can find them easily. I use it every day and every day I am thankful for it.

Any other suggestions on small changes to make kitchen's and pantries more efficient?

Image via. I love these hanging baskets but not sure they would work in our current place.