organizing the baking cabinet (for under $40!)

Dear friends… let me reveal to you the secret reason why I don’t like to bake that often.

May I present to you… the baking cabinet…

Oh yes. Look at that wonderful mismatch of “stuff” just crammed in there for the sake of being in one place. No organization past “this container fits on this shelf” … no semblance of order whatsoever. But, everything is self-contained in one location. That’s the only thing my poor baking cabinet had going for itself at all.

I decided to actively change this cabinet. Take back the power from the clutter and fix this whole mess. The main problem, though, was everywhere I looked for inspiration there were people spending way too much money for “organizing containers” than I ever needed to! (seriously OXO… $100?!?!) No one is going to see my organizers on display, since we don’t have an open pantry, so I really just need things that will get the job done and no more or no less.

And, as usual, my train of thinking led me down the street to the bastion of all things cheap and homey… IKEA. I originally went in there with the intention of buying their clear “OXO-like” IKEA 365+ containers, but while I was stuffing my cart with them, I found these guys instead:

JAMKA organizers!

And it turns out that the tall ones hold more than the IKEA 365 containers, and you get two containers for the price of one tall container ($5.99). Um… yes please! The smaller set was only $3.99, and they even had more small containers for $2.49 for a 3-pack.

So… for $37.10, I walked out of IKEA with 15 organizers (4 BIG, 4 medium, 2 medium-small, 2 small and 3 compact) and some serious excitement for what I was about to do!

And, ladies & gents, here it is:

Yes, my baking cabinet might not be as elaborate as those plastered all over pinterest, but it accomplishes what I need it to, and is definitely a space and time saver!

Here’s how I organized the shelves…

Top Shelf

I’ve designated this shelf to be the home of random baking necessities (see the cupcake carrier and “Cold Stone” marble ice cream slab) as well as my pre-packaged mixes. So when I buy a new mix, it’s going up to the tippy top shelf and it won’t ever block out any essential baking ingredients.

Middle Shelf

This is the “essentials” shelf. I packaged all of my sugars and flours into the tall containers, and I’ve organized the other main essentials to the left of them. I’ve also pulled the containers out a bit so that there’s space in the back to keep the overflow ingredients, like extra flour and sugar! Sometimes I stock up during sales or big baking sprees, and it’s too much to keep in the plastic container, so it now has a “hidden” place to go!

Bottom Shelf

And here we’ve got the “fun stuff” shelf! All of my cookie cutters are in the box in the back, and food colorings are in the tub up front along with icing tips stored in those cupcake wrapper packages. I’ve also got my chocolate chips and almond flour stowed away in the containers.

So once again… the BEFORE/AFTER shot:

And even without tons of fancy labels, I’m pretty darn happy with my 90 minutes of organization spent on the cabinet! It already made making the “ecstasy tart” super easy… and I’m sure all of this will come in handy for the holiday baking season!