What’s behind closed doors is not always pretty and functional – but it sure can be! I hope you’ll be inspired by my new baking cupboard organization, enjoy hearing about my process and take advantage of my free “Baking Cupboard Essentials” printable checklist.
*This post has been sponsored by Rubbermaid. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I sure am grateful that so many of you come to my site for lovely decor inspo and handy DIY’s, but in all honesty, things are not always so pretty behind the scenes – as I’m sure you could have guessed with 4 kids and all. But I’m about to prove just how crazy it can get.
I made it a goal to get more organized in the new year, and I wanted to start small with this cupboard.
Sure, it looks nice and peaceful when the doors are shut – but it was one of those cupboards that you open up and stuff falls out, you dig and dig to find what you need, you buy more of what you already had because you couldn’t find it, you shove, you stuff – and it is completely dysfunctional and disgusting. Please tell me you have one or two of those cupboards in your home.
Anybody????
Scary, huh?!
Well when Rubbermaid challenged me to use their new line of Rubbermaid® BRILLIANCE™ containers to get organized, I knew exactly what cupboard needed saving and what I wanted to do with it.
I could use these containers for so many things, but because they are air-tight, leak proof and stackable, I knew they would be perfect for keeping all my dry goods fresh and looking beautiful.
I want to share with you my organizing process in hopes to inspire you to tackle a cupboard or closet that needs a bit more beauty and function for your life. It’s really so simple and extremely rewarding!
Also, if it’s helpful for you, I created a free printable checklist that lays out dry foods that are great to keep in a baking cupboard, and other dry goods that would benefit from being stored in air-tight containers. I’ve also created an empty checklist for you to fill out your own custom essentials if that works better for you.
I love providing freebies to my subscribers, so if you’d like, fill out this form and I’ll send the Baking Cupboard Essentials printable right to your inbox as well as get you access to the complete TIDBITS SUBSCRIBER LIBRARY.
Now, let’s go through the simple steps of organizing a space.
ORGANIZING PROCESS
STEP ONE: GATHER & FOCUS
The first thing I did was gather all the containers I currently had and wrapped my head around what exactly I wanted the purpose of this space to be. A baking cupboard could hold lots of things, but since I only had this small space, I wanted to designate it just for dry goods and find a separate home for oils, extracts, fats, etc. I knew this separation would make it easier to organize and keep my whole family in line with what actually goes in this cupboard. You always want to consider long term organization, and make it as easy as possible to designate “a place for everything”. In my experience (and I have lots of it) if you have the mentality of “oh, just shove it in there somewhere”, your space will be out of control before you know it.
STEP TWO: EMPTY & CLEAN
After you’ve gathered all the containers or bins you have and want to use, it’s time to empty that cupboard or space completely. That’s right, pull it all out and enjoy all the surprises tucked away that you forgot you had. Or in my case, the realization that a lot of my items had gone bad, had weevil (eeeeeeeewwwweeee), or smelled rancid and needed to be tossed. It was at this point that I realized that these airtight Rubbermaid® BRILLIANCE™ containers were going to save us on spoiled food and wasted money in the future, making them a very wise investment.
While the cupboard was empty, I also took the opportunity to scrub the shelves until they were shiny clean, which is a great thing to do while organizing.
STEP THREE: GROUP
Once all the items are out for you to see, it’s time to group like items. This helps you wrap your head around what you had in there, and what you will need to find organized space for. It’s important to remember your focus and goal for the space while doing this, and chances are you will find you need to rearrange other spots to house the items that you don’t want in this newly organized space.
After I had grouped my items, I realized that I would need to make space for my spices, oils and extracts elsewhere, which led to rethinking the purpose of a couple of drawers and how I could maximize my space better.
So I promptly emptied out 2 drawers near this cupboard that were a ridiculous mess (I can’t believe I’m going to show you this), and grouped those items as well.
STEP FOUR: PLAN
At this point, with all the junk all over the countertops and spread out everywhere, it is easy to get discouraged and overwhelmed. This is why planning is so important.
Get out a paper (or my handy dandy checklist), and jot down all the things that you want to go back in the cupboard or space. Try to envision your end goal or even sketch it out! This will really help you keep focused among all the clutter that is now everywhere.
STEP FIVE: DISCARD & PURCHASE
Motivated by your plan, now take the time to throw away or donate anything and everything that does not belong in your space. Stuff you haven’t used for a long time, little bits of random leftovers, and anything else that has gone bad.
You may also find that you need to purchase a few things to complete the project, though not always necessary. For example, after listing all the dry goods I wanted inside this cupboard, I realized I needed a few more containers of the same size so I made a list of the Rubbermaid® BRILLIANCE™ containers I needed to go find at Walmart or Bed, Bath, and Beyond. (This line is also sold at Meijer). Or you can even order them on Amazon!
I also looked at all our measuring cups and cooking utensils and did a great big purge. I was really tired of the old plastic mixed/matched measuring tools we’d had since our wedding 13 years ago, and threw away many of the duplicate items that we just did not need. This purge felt so so good!
I proceeded to add to my purchase list and decided to treat myself to matching sets of new measuring cups and spoons if I could find them at the store.
The hubs was kind enough to let me go shopping for these items without kids that night, and it was the funnest shopping trip I’ve had in a long time! With strict purchase goals ahead and leaving the mess behind, I was able to find exactly what I needed.
I used some non-damaging hooks on the inside of my cupboards for my new measuring tools, which freed up a lot of space in my drawers.
STEP SIX: FILL AND ORGANIZE
This is the best part! Start filling your containers and finding the perfect place inside your space for each and every item. I kept the items I use most frequently on the bottom shelf, and went up from there. I really love how the Rubbermaid® BRILLIANCE™ containers are stackable allowing me to make the most out of each shelf while keeping it neat and tidy.
These drawers became so much more functional as well. I blame the disaster before on having little ones help me unload the dishwasher, but I know realize that they love to organize and place things in the right spot if there is in fact a spot for them. I’ve probably saved myself so much time a day by not having to dig around for the tool I need any more.
I’d like to leave you with a few additional tips for organizing.
ORGANIZING TIPS
- Avoid stacking items in front of other items
- This is a sure fire way to nurture the shove and stuff approach . . . which you probably want to avoid.
- Buy flours and commonly used dry good in bulk
- We go through a lot of these things, so I’ll buy them on sale in bulk and store them in our basement in 5 gallon buckets. When these containers run out, I can quickly go refill from the storage room.
- Avoid buying too much to store
- Meaning, if you don’t have a storage room full of buckets, only buy as much of a product as your containers will hold. Rubbermaid® BRILLIANCE™ products specify on the container how many cups or ounces they will hold, so taking note of that will help you avoid having to find a place for half empty bags of flour because you bought more than your container will hold.
- Make it a family affair
- If you want to involve your family in the organizing, that’s great! You have more patience than I do! But if not, be sure to walk each member through the new order and place for the items, so they can be sure to help you in your efforts to keep things nice and neat.
Now I want to know, did you enjoy this post?! Do you want to see more organization ideas and spaces from me? What do you need help with or do you have a space you would like to see me organize and share ideas? I’d love to help you in any way I can, so please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Thank you!
Finally, remember to fill out this form to subscribe and receive my free Baking Cupboard Essentials checklist and complete access to the TIDBITS SUBSCRIBER LIBRARY.
Big ol’ thanks to Rubbermaid® for helping me organize my home! It made such a difference!
*For more info on Rubbermaid® BRILLIANCE™ products and kitchen organization ideas, please go HERE.
Hi do you know what the measurements are of your containers? Especially interested in the ones used to hold flours and sugars!
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I loved this blog post! Working on my kitchen how and would love to know where you got all your adorable measuring cups and spoons! Can you link them?
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We are buying a house and it has a large pantry. I want to buy stuff to organize it but don’t want to spend a lot of money. Could you give me some ideas what to do?
My husband cobbled together a spice rack on the back of the pantry door. The bottles are all different sizes, so it doesn’t look as good as your kitchen, but I arranged them alphabetically, so sweet & savory are all mixed in together – however, they are easy to find! My kitchen is small, so it’s just a few steps away from my baking center. Love the great idea of hanging measuring cups & spoons on the door! I, too, suffer from brown sugar going hard, so I just keep a small slice of bread in its Tupperware container. Love your blog, Cami.
I love organizing. Like you, I used those same exact Rubbermaid containers. Please know they are NOT airtight as you may expect. My different brands of sugars all eventually hardened.
So disappointing because I spent a small fortune on the Rubbermaid’s containers to store pantry items, cabinet items and for food storage in the fridge as well. I’m now switching out all of the Rubbermaid’s containers to glass food storage, Mason jars. Costco has a 4 piece set at the moment, of various sizes. Two are huge and could several large bags of flours and/sugar, just anything in bulk. The smaller are perfect as well.
I’ll need to run to Hobby Lobby or Wal-Mart, to gather more glass storage jars, once I see what sizes I need. Unfortunately, my hubby bought the last 2 sets of the Mason Jar food storage jars at our Costco.
My son and his roommate were thrilled with the 4 large boxes of Rubbermaid’s containers that I gave them. I admit, they looked awesome in my pantry and kitchen cabinets. But being they are NOT airtight, I gave in and started replacing all of them. Lord, the money Inspent on those containers was a small fortune. I had so many. Made me sick to see that indeed they were NOT air tight as advertised.
Anyway, awesome blog. Best of luck.
Can’t wait to organize my cupboards, you gave me some great ideas!
Everything is so different after your organizing. My cupboard is smaller but is also a mess 🙂 Thank you for sharing the tips! Gonna do the same to my cupboard.
Wow! What a difference that makes! Thanks for sharing your behind the scenes and giving easy and practical ways to organize. It looks great!
Glad you liked the organizing post Cecilia! I’m itching to do more so I’ll start brainstorming. Heaven knows I have plenty that could be organized 😉
Beautiful! I tried this with my measuring cups but family members nearly had heart attacks when opening the cupboard due to unexpected clanking of cups against wood. I tried felt pads underneath but the noise continued. I’d love to hear of solutions found by others!
That’s so funny that you should say that. Yes, we have the same problem over here. haha! I love having more drawer space so I’m determined to make it work!
This is so inspiring! My poor pantry is all over the map and looks very much like your before shot – except worse! Goodness, time to get on that! Thanks for the great tips.
Oh my goodness! Honestly, can I call a baking cupboard gorgeous? It’s so pretty! I absolutely love those crisp clear containers – and labelled. Brilliant!
Absolutely amazing and looks great
Thank you, very informative, lots of great ideas.
This looks really nice! My biggest problem is the baking sheets, the cutting boards, etc., how to organize those. Oh and the small appliances. Right now, it’s all over the stand alone bar and you can imagine what it looks like! But after this weekend, it will look 100% percent better. Haven’t exactly figured out how yet but I will get ‘er done! Enjoy your blog so much!
What a nice comment Ramona! Thank you! I’ve actually been pinning ideas for that exact cupboard and planning in my head how to best rework my cutting board cupboard as well. Its a mess and drives me crazy, but I want to figure it out and share. Glad you caught the organizing bug! Let me know if you come up with some good solutions!
Great….the cabinets look beautiful. Very helpful.
Thank you so much!
Hi Cami,
Was a good Organization inspiration. Thank you, But I did notice that you placed some savory spices into this cupboard. Don’t you have to track these down when making sauces and such or do you keep duplicates in a spice cupboard? Thyme, Italian.
Thank you so much for your time
You are very observant! I used to keep my mess of spices in this cupboard, but am currently working out how to best organize them in a drawer. I did pick the spices that I buy and use more of to store in the small containers and I’ve kept the smaller size spices to organize in a drawer. I’m hoping to figure out a great solution and share that soon. But I do know the drawer I will use is under this baking cupboard, so it will all be in the same traffic area, which will be nice. Basically, I had a little more room for dry goods in this cupboard and I wanted to make the most of it, which is why some of the spices got put in there. It may change a bit as I work my way through the rest of the cupboards and a good system! Thanks so much for asking! If you have any advice for me, I’d love to hear!
Yes I enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing. Where did you get the labels you put on your canisters?
So glad to hear! Thank you! I found an inexpensive label maker at Walmart that worked great. I used the clear tape option since they look so great on the clear containers. Hope that helps!
Hi Cami,
I am proud of you to show us your mess but grateful to see how you resolved yr problem. Helpful hints are great as well. You did a super job and Im sure you will be successful in keeping yr cupboard organized.?
Thank you so much for your sweet words! I have a lot more “messy” cupboards and closets I’m excited to tackle now that I’ve felt the difference it can make.
I have to do this! It looks so amazing. Please come to Missouri and help! ??
You have no idea how much I wish I could! Baking and cooking has never been so fun! Thanks for coming by Lisa!
Love your ‘baking pantry reorganization!
How did you make your labels?
Thank you so much! I just bought a inexpensive label maker from Walmart when I was there picking up the containers. They had a clear label option that looks great the clear container. Hope that helps!
Hi Cami,
I have been married for 31 years and have NEVER organized my baking cabinet. I am so inspired after reading this article. Going to start this week. I really appreciate the printable and would look forward to more organizing posts!
I am so very glad to hear you were inspired! That’s always my goal! I haven’t done it in our 12 years of marriage, which makes me laugh at our silly selves for lasting so long with disorganization, when it feels sooooo good to get it done. Thank you so much for your input and for stopping by today!