We have lived in our home now for 7 months have have completely transformed it in that time. It’s been a series of fun projects for us, even though at some moments it felt overwhelming. From backsplash to paint to new carpets to new furniture, we have made this house totally ours and we love it. The one thing I knew I really wanted to do but hadn’t gotten to was organize our kitchen. When we moved in, we kind of just put stuff away as quickly as possible, trying to make our kitchen as functional as we could, but ultimately stashing all sorts of random tools in different drawers. I put organization on the back burner thinking I’d finally figure it out myself but with the chaos of life lately, it became a low priority.

At the beginning of November, Helen from Uncluttered Austin reached out to me about collaborating and I couldn’t believe the perfect timing! I was so excited to work with her and revamp a place I spend so much time in: my kitchen. She began her organization business a year ago and obviously the pandemic hasn’t made growth all that easy, so I’m so thrilled to show you the incredible work she did in our kitchen. Seriously, I have never felt more organized or with a more functional kitchen space and I’m blown away by all that she did!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 I think the before and after pictures speak for themselves in terms of the transformation that took place but I wanted to dive into the details of how this whole process works in case you need some organization in your life!

Helen and I met and enjoyed coffee while chatting about how our project would work and what exactly I wanted done. I talked loosely about maybe doing our pantry and kitchen and we ended up doing it all. You have choices about whether you want to use the current organization products you have (bins, dividers in drawers, etc) or replace or add more. Often people start from scratch.

She explained that she would literally take out every single item from my pantry and drawers to examine, group with like things, label, and throw away (if expired). The main thing you pay for with organization is the organizer’s time. So if you are on a more limited budget, you may choose to do some of this yourself and pull out all these items before her arrival. You can also choose to do your consultation virtually if that makes you more comfortable! She offers a lot of options for you to choose from.

After pulling out every item and placing them into categories, Helen then does some measuring to find out what can fit where. There are all sorts of styles and items to organize pantries with for all different budgets. You can go high end or with cheaper products, all based on your own preference. We did middle of the road. I just asked her to make it as practical as possible while also looking crisp and clean. After making purchases, she then labels every single box so you can find your things easily, whether your bins are see through or cute wicker baskets like the variety I chose :)

It’s important to discuss a realistic budget when it comes to organization. Like any other contractor that works on your house, you pay for both the products to keep your things in place and the organizer for her time. A space like our kitchen takes approximately 3 days of time or around 12 hours.

I think the best part of what Helen did was put everything into places that made sense for us. All of my daily essential items were placed in one cabinet. Baking items found their own drawer. And all of those random grilling tools/spatulas/tongs/etc found the perfect home. Everything now gets placed back in the right spot after a dishwasher load and we can always find what we are looking for!

I had so much fun working with Helen and admired that she understood exactly what I needed. As a mama of two littles herself, she understood the importance of having things in certain areas for littles reaching and NOT reaching, ha. This was such a wonderful collaboration and if you’ve been thinking of organization at all, I highly recommend you check her out! In the meantime, a great way to support a small business is to follow or engage on Instagram. You can check out Helen’s page here.

Thanks to Helen for working with me!

In collaboration with Uncluttered Austin

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