“Stowing away in unfussy cabinets, boxes, and chests the practical necessities of modern life” p. 100 ,Easy Country by Katrin Cargill.

“Built-in cabinets were the earliest form of country storage.…Many were lockable and were used primarily to store foodstuffs, especially expensive bought items such as tea, spices, and sugar, which they kept safe and dry, well-protected from marauding insects and vermin, and away from the dirt and damp of the earth floor” p. 111

My pantry and food storage is a hodgepodge. I have a closet, shallow pantry, and many built in cabinets, yet to cook in the kitchen, it isn’t easy to for others to find what to use..

The counters then get cluttered with items no one knows where to put them,,,so they’re left out for Mom to tackle daily (which I don’t consistently because I don’t know either).

Katrin says that nowadays we have more to store.

That thought saddens me that we can’t live as simply, but how convenient are the wonders of the hand held blender, other blender, electric tea kettle, popcorn maker, and more?

” Provide places for your things, so that you may know where to find them at any time, day or by night.”— Shaker’s Mother Ann Lee

The Shakers were serious about keeping their homes useful and had simple solutions to organize using drawers and cabinets—large drawers were at the bottom for heavier items, and decreased in size as they went up to store lighter items.

Today, behind the modern cabinets and in the drawers are more than what’s needed. It’s cluttering up the mental load and not pretty like two drawers of children artwork, a Bible felt board story kit, homeschool books, etc.—I remember having my childhood schoolwork in my mom’s kitchen in one cabinet–I really liked that–it felt homey. So, we’ll see if it stays.

These quotes are all mulling in my mind as I look over the space to come up with a vision or plan.

Notes:

• Choose an influential style from the book –maybe Shaker–
• take all the Tupperware from attic storage and kitchenware from attic storage and pare it down to just be in the kitchen–using just the storage I have as the limit—plastic isn’t country but it’s all uniform and clear so I can see the ingredients.
• Use the storage boxes to consolidate the pantry and baking flour, etc. and protect the items like they were historically (using the clear Tupperware I have so I can see what I have)
• And get rid of the foodstuff we’re not really going to use
• tackle getting the clutter out–school materials, papers, and pare it down to what we really use to see the space I have–unless I decide I want to keep it in here
• Make sure my heavy items are in the lower areas, and anything up high is light and easy to access without falling on my head.

It’s a lot–we’ll see what steps comes naturally next.