Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Stove Top Organization

In case you were mislead by the title of this post. This is a post on how I organized the top of our stove (or more specifically the side of our stove), not how I organized a collection of Stove Top Stuffing ;).

I don't want to make sweeping statements like "we all have too many spoons" or "I bet you're like me and have too much stuff beside your stove" but I will say, WE keep too much stuff on the counter beside our stove. A container so full of utensils I can't fit another one in , a pepper grinder, a salt grinder, a salt hog, multiple bottles of oil.
So as part of my New Year's Resolution to simplify, I simplified beside my stove.
First I got rid of all the utensils in the container that I don't use. A rusty pair of BBQ tongs, a bunch of plastic spoons (I'm hoping to make the switch to all wood spoons), a giant ladle I never use because it's huge (it's like a bowl on the end of a stick) and a really ugly whisk (I already have a nice one, how many whisks does one girl need?). Now we have TONS of room in the container.
I had both a salt grinder and a salt hog, I didn't need both. I knew I wanted to keep the pepper grinder because fresh ground pepper is great, but I always used the salt hog over the salt grinder. So OUT went the salt grinder.

 And I finally picked up some bottles to decant my Olive Oil, Grapeseed Oil and Sesame Oil into. I picked up these small bottles with spouts from Homegoods. I made sure to get small bottles because Oil stays best in darker tinted bottles and can go rancid in clear glass bottles (it takes a while but it can happen). So I made sure to buy small bottles so that we can use up the oil in each bottle before it goes bad!
And I placed it all on this tray from The Real Canadian Superstore. I love a round porcelain tray!!! This way if a little oil drips down, the tray will catch it and it won't sit on our granite counters and make a big oil stain!!
Time: 10 minutes
Cost: $10 for round porcelain tray
Value: Priceless ;) haha But it really is nice to pull out your whisk and not have 5 other items come out with it.

22 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about too many utensils! We finally paired ours down and now have a nice set, but still a lot (hubby uses them, so it's all good). I too store some of ours alongside our salt/pepper/oil on a wooden lazy susan. I had a hard time with wooden spoons...we would forget a put them in the dishwasher and of course ruin them. However, I did find some wooden ones at WS that CAN go in the dishwasher and LOVE them!!

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  2. I keep my pepper salt and oil on the sides of the stove too. I have a small drawer for the utensils that I fight with because of the potato masher and ladle. I do use all that is in there though, so no getting rid of anything. I like the bamboo wooden spoons. I bought a few from Pampered Chef a long time ago and am still using them.

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  3. Funny, I keep almost exactly the same items on a round tray beside the stove (except the little oil bottles - I need to get me one of those, thanks for the tip!). I love how the round tray softens up the sharp edges of the tiles and stove top.

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  4. LOVE that tray! I always get so mad when you show us items from Canadian stores that I can't get down here!

    This is inspiring me to free up some space in our utensil crock. And maybe run it through the dishwasher, too, since it's gotten sort of slimy and crusty from use (gross).

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I love the tray and how it ties everything together on the counter! Might have to make a trip to the Superstore but first, to pare down the utensils...

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  6. I have just joined the 101 storage solutions 52 weeks to an organized home challenge. This week the challenge is to declutter countertops! So that's how I spent myafternoon and quite successful, too. One of the problems is exactly what you show here - we have like 8 different bottles of different oils and vinegars, and I'd LOVE that white tray and bottles you have there.
    I will go to Ikea tomorrow, but I don't think they have those. But I'll be looking in another shop where I think I can get something similar.
    Another problem is bread. Where do you store that??? It takes a lot of counterspace in our kitchen and doesn't look nice!
    Jule {inside9B}

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  7. Love this! I currently have three (yes, three) containers next to my stovetop with various utensils. It's certainly time to reassess what I use. Thanks for the inspiration! I'll add it to my 2013 organization goals :).

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  8. just stopped reading this post and took out the following

    3 gorgeous silver ladles- new used just for pretty
    1 wisk ( i don't need two)
    1 red kitchen aid spatula
    huge bbq tongs that belong in a drawer (or outside)
    misc salad sets...

    whew I feel so much better!!!! thank you!

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  9. My oh my how I need to follow your advice! Time for a utensil purge! Only I have a container ON the counter, and an overstuffed drawer UNDER that same counter! :)

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  10. This is exactly what I needed to read today! My bowl of giant utensils is totally out of control--I even have a can opener in there! I'm inspired to go home and toss out 3 of the 4 wisks I have and more. Looks gorgeous, thank goodness for the real canadian superstore!

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  11. Ha! I did the same thing and organized our DRAWER full of gadgets. Feels so good to get rid of this dumb stuff. I want to get one of those salt hogs, where did you get it? I've seen them places but I can't remember where and I love yours.

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  12. Love that tray. Isn't January the best? I didn't know that about oil and getting rancid, thanks for the info!

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  13. I've never heard of a salt hog before. I went through my utensils a while ago and weeded out the old and unused. Makes sense to just keep what you actually use close at hand.

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  14. We use a similar method for organizing the counter next to the stove. I found some great bamboo utensils at our local grocery store to replace some of my old ones. Do you ever have issues with your salt getting clumpy or hard during very humid times of the year? I love your little wooden scoop! So cute!

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    1. Hi Christina,
      I actually don't notice that it goes clumpy. We live in a pretty mild part of Canada, it never really gets humid here (mostly because it rains so much).
      Lots of Love
      Ashli
      p.s. Thanks for the Little wooden spoon love!! ;)

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  15. Wahoo for new year organization! We must have caught the same bug, because I've been trying to organize more in our house. Or maybe our house is more disorgainzed than usual due to holiday craziness. Whatever it is, let's keep it going. :)

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  16. Happy New Year! I have been looking for perfect round tray to organize my oil bottles to keep the counter top looking neat! Here I am reading your blog post and eyed one.

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  17. Hi! I have been looking for a pretty salt hog, and I adore yours, could you tell me where you got it from? thanks!

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  18. Hi!
    I have a similar bottle for oils, but I haven't figured how to clean them once in a while. Do you have a trick?

    Thanks a lot

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    1. Top shelf dishwasher!!! :) I made sure to get ones that were dishwaher safe :)
      Hope that helps a bit!
      Lots of love
      Ashli

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  19. I came over to this old post to drool over your salt hog once again, because i just found one like it in a miniature size yesterday! major mini-manor moment for me! :) hugs, I

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