simple storage

Every spring, I get inspired to get rid of things and re-organize.  This spring holds some new challenges. I have a broken heel and am now on crutches for the foreseeable future, and I have a 1 1/2 year old who can reach the drawers, open doors, and has her own very specific ideas about what should, or should not, be in any space or containers within reach.  I've really had to rethink my storage and organization, both to make things easier for me to get my hands on, and harder for little hands.  Here are a couple of ideas.

In my previous posts, I talked about our ongoing kitchen remodel and losing our pantry as a result.  One of my makeshift storage solutions was this tall chrome shelf, which fits perfectly between the refrigerator and the wall.  However, the open shelving was just too much for the baby to bear, and she was constantly getting in to the recycling, or pulling down the toaster.  I found this old screen door at my local junk store for $30 and fitted it to the space.  I moved the latch inside and just high enough to be out of the reach of little fingers.  My husband laughed when I brought this home, but now even he wants to incorporate this screen door when we build a real pantry this summer.  Win!

Our microwave sits on top of the fridge and this old crate sits next to the microwave.  From the kitchen side, you see the cool hand painted old logo.  From this side, we get great, functional space for cookbooks, recipes, and my vintage copper sugar canister.  The basket on top holds kitchen utensils I rarely use, saving me valuable drawer space.  The vintage crock holds extra napkins.

This chest sits at the end of our island, facing the dining room.  The top drawer is basically our junk drawer.  The middle holds tablecloths and placemats.  The bottom drawer is broken, which is why I got such a good deal on it :)  The drawer works fine but opens really easily. So, all of the sippy cups, plastic dishes, and bibs go in here.

Now this one is just for Violet.  She loves books and I've struggled to find the right way to contain them in the living room so she can safely and easily grab her books, but also goes with the decor.  Enter this great vintage crate. This is the first one I'd ever seen that had just one divider down the middle, instead of all of the little dividers that were for individual bottles.  This holds the books perfectly without looking out of place in our living room.