Reorganizing Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers

Real Simple made over one woman’s cluttered kitchen.

Before the Makeover

Beth Jorgensen really tries to be organized. The 44-year-old mother of two from Fargo, North Dakota, decided to reorganize all her packed kitchen drawers, with mixed results. She opted to store the family's drinking glasses and stemware in an adjacent cabinet―on a lazy Susan. A disaster waiting to happen with every spin.

And there were more problems. Despite Beth's organizational attempts, each cabinet overflowed with items grouped with no rhyme and little reason. Antique china and glass serving bowls were stacked on high shelves―another opportunity for accidents. Then there was the clutter: spice containers tucked into every spare inch, special-occasion candlesticks crammed into prime real estate, not to mention the food-container drawer, where anything and everything jockeyed for space with the hand-mixer and the lidless cottage-cheese tubs.