Up-cycling Organization: Milk to Marvelous!

Before:                                                           After:

While we were in Sapporo, we happened to catch part of a Japanese television morning show that was focused on kitchen organization.  You can imagine, I was happy as a clam!  I LOVE organizing things!

For several months I had been frustrated with our utensil drawer and considering purchasing a counter container to stand some of my cooking utensils upright and within easy reach.  It was driving me crazy to pull open the drawer and have to dig for my favorite spatula or a serving spoon, not to mention trying to locate the correct measuring spoon. 

Now, thanks to that morning show, I am happy to say I was able to organize my drawer without having to pay an extra penny – and I have the added satisfaction of knowing that I am helping the environment by up-cycling!  May I introduce you to cardboard milk carton organizing?

The milk and orange juice we purchase all comes in the cardboard half-gallon cartons, and while we do recycle cardboard, I would rather up-cycle when I have the chance.  We saved up a few weeks’ worth of washed and dried cartons and based on that morning show’s idea, here’s what I did.

I used some fun decorative tape from the 100-Yen on this one, but that’s definitely not necessary.  The only part that requires tape is shown in the 5th photo – the one that holds the sides upright so they form a divider. 

I used five cartons to organize my utensil drawer; three full-sized and two trimmed down to make different widths of organized space.  Some of them I cut the bottom of the carton all the way off, so it just created a divider instead of a “box” (pictured is how to create a “box.”)  In this photo of how I organized my “junk drawer,” you can see how the pictured divider is placed against the side of the drawer to create a “box” for our plastic-ware and take-out chopsticks.

I also took this idea a step farther and created an accordion-style divider out of two cartons to organize and protect our large knives.  (This also got our large knives out of our utensil drawer – our fingers are very happy about this change!)  (Side note: I scored the cardboard with a pair of scissors to make the folding easier.)

So far, we are loving this new organizational system!  I organized everything in “like” categories (all the spoons together, the flippers together, the measuring spoons together), so now I can reach in and grab exactly what I need.  I love how easy it was and that it’s also “green!”  Let me know if you try this out and how it works for you!

Comments

[Dad Smith]

Wow! I like the way the “boxes” can be sized to fit the existing contents, instead of trying to fit the drawer-contents into preformed dividers. Neat!

[Auntie A]

Hmmm. And you'll be home, when?? HAHA. You're always welcome to come organize my utensil drawer. It is a nightmare!

[Arielle]

Auntie A,
Start saving up your milk cartons! :) If you ask really nicely, I might be persuaded to help when I'm home next. :)
Love,
Arielle

[Betsy Henning]

This is awesome -- I'm going to start saving my cartons!