When #TeamIJS was hired to tackle this kitchen project, we did a virtual consultation with the client a week before to get a better sense of what we would encounter when we arrived in person. It usually reveals a lot of the layers of “stuff”, but there were many more uncovered once we started to peel those layers back.  

 

There were 8 adults living together as a result of the pandemic when it begin in March 2020 consisting of the couple who actually own the house, their 3 adult children and their significant so that was quite the pandemic pod.

 

The client admitted that the kitchen had always been a huge pain point for her, but it definitely got more out of control over 10 months of cohabiting with so many people and personalities under one roof.

 

There was a significant amount of cleaning that needed to be done once everything was taken out of the cabinets and drawers to declutter and re-sort so the job ended up taking all day with two of us working pretty much nonstop for 8 hours. 

 

In the end, everything was visible and organized into several sections...

coffee/tea/morning ritual

baking

spices (the client had a lot of larger containers which take up a lot of space)

supplements (also a lot of larger containers which take up a lot of space)

 

For the record, the client literally gasped when she saw that we had grouped all of her baking measuring cups, spoons, muffin tins, loaf pans, etc together right next to the pantry where all of the baking ingredients like flour, sugar, etc. would be within easy reach. She loves to bake but was always looking in several places for the things she needed so this was a big deal for her.

 

Keep in mind, this is not a fancy gourmet kitchen, but we made it much more functional and when the client just wants to be able to pull together a meal efficiently, then we can proudly say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

 

Biggest tips and takeaways?

 

• Avoid at all cost putting anything on top of your cabinets. They just become dust collectors and, in this particular case, also covered in grease from the lack of decent ventilation from the stove. Fortunately the client was more than happy to have us remove everything including some artificial daisy arrangements that apparently came with the house when they bought it several years ago.
   

• If you must have a junk...or as we like to refer to it, the random "stuff" drawer...you really need to commit to editing/decluttering it constantly or you will end up with, well, A LOT OF STUFF! This client actually was allowing her "stuff" to take up two full drawers but we were able to pare it down to one and contain everything in a much more orderly fashion.
   

• The only cleaning supplies that should be under your kitchen sink are the ones you actually use in your kitchen...if possible. Things like ant spray, mouse traps, caulking, etc. really need to be in the garage, mud room or laundry room. That said, mad props to our client for having a giant lazy susan to make it super easy to get to the product she needs. Yes, it was too full and unfortunately we didn't get a "before" or "after" picture but, suffice it to say, there was a lot of "stuff" that we were able to relocate with no problem and the cabinet is now truly contained the way it should be.