Kitchen Updates – Creative Storage Solutions

Storage in an RV is always an issue, but storage in the kitchen is essential – especially with how much I cook.  My drawers and cabinets have started to overflow, so my husband has spent his week cooking up some new storage solutions for me.

He started by creating a cabinet for the spices, which have previously cluttered up the space behind the stove.  The cabinet includes hooks for my rolling pin and the hanging recipe cards that my cousin made me.  Next to the cabinet, he hung my strainer.

 

 

 

 

Next, he added this garbage can and the plastic bag holder that we picked up at Ikea.

 

My knives were previously in a knife block which cluttered up my limited countertop space.  In order to give me back that countertop space, my husband hung up two magnet bars - also from Ikea – behind the stove.  Every knife (and a few other metal items) now hang from these magnet bars.

 

Finally, my husband hung some hooks from the cabinet between the stove and the sink to hang some of my stirring spoons and spatulas.

 

Going into the holiday baking season with this extra space is making me super excited!  More counter top means more space to roll out dough, cool cookies, store goodies, etc. etc.

 

 

 

Storing Kid Art in an RV

My kids love to draw, color and paint, but this 30 foot RV doesn’t have room for piles and piles of kids’ artwork.  So, how do we store artwork without having piles of papers everywhere?  Here are a few of our solutions:

 

1.) Take a photo!  My kids are much more likely to let me throw things out if I have a picture where they can save their art or creation forever.  My 7 year old even let me throw out this amazing salt map he created because he knew we had a picture for his Country Study project.  We store our photos in Photobucket – find more ideas for Photobucket at this blog post I recently wrote.

2.)  Chalk!  Let the kids play with chalk, they can draw twenty pictures, which are quickly erased by the rain and I have nothing to store.

3.) Virtual Art!  Let kids draw on the computer or tablet.  There are tons of specialized apps, programs and websites, but my kids have always had a great time just playing with paint or layering shapes in Power Point.  Also, movie making websites satisfy the same creative needs in many children.

 

4.)  Make gifts!  Many of the paintings and drawings my kids make get signed at the bottom and given away as gifts to their loving grandparents and aunts.

 

5.)  Build with Nature!  My kids love to glue sticks together and pile rocks into sculptures.  These creations can either be put back to their natural form or burnt in a campfire.  To preserve the creation before destruction – snap a photo!

 

6.)  Edible Art!  Have kiddos decorate cakes and cookies or create those cutsie Pinterest snacks.  Once they have finished, snap a photo and then gobble it up.

 

7.)  Keep a scrapbook or journal!  I hate having paper lying around, so unless the kids are using paint or playdough, I try to keep their drawings in their journals.  A notebook of drawings seems to take up so much less storage than 20 random pieces of paper which create clutter!

 

8.)  Dry Erase Boards!  Like chalk, kids can draw and erase over and over.  If a kid wants to save a picture he has drawn – snap a photo!

 

9.)  Photography as an Art Form!  Hands kids the camera and see what they can come up with.  Then, create a video collage of their photography.

10.) Fashion Design!  Let kids decorate white t-shirts with fabric paint.  Or let them cut out designs from different fabrics and glue them together into designs on white sheets and use this for skirts, capes for dress up, or even curtains.

 

What handy art storage trick do you use?

Our Stuff Has Arrived!!!!

In 2011, when we moved to Morocco, we sorted out, sold and gave away about half of our stuff, but still shipped 20 foot container to Morocco.  Coming back to the US, we knew we were moving into an RV and needed to downsize, so we started the process of sorting, selling and giving away again.  We took no furniture, almost no kitchen equipment and narrowed our clothing down to what would fit into the suitcases we were taking with us on the airplane.  However, it was still necessary to ship some things – one pallet.  Our pallet included 3 large boxes, 6 plastic totes and 2 suitcases, full of what was left of our “stuff”.  After all this paring down, what made the final cut?

 

Books – Although we got rid of quite a few books, knowing that each of the boys and I own a kindle and have a good supply of e-books, there were still so many great books in our possession – both from home and my classroom library that I always stacked with my own books - that we brought quite a few books – in English, Arabic and French, which will come in handy when we start homeschooling on Monday.

 

 

 

Toys, Games & Puzzles – Not all of the toys survived the cut, but the classics survived, including wooden blocks, train tracks, trucks, soldiers, wooden jigsaw puzzles, Monopoly, Scrabble, Battleship, etc.  However, the boys were most excited to see their roller skates!

 

 

 

Quality Kitchen Supplies – I used to sell Pampered Chef, so I had so many great kitchen supplies, and I cook – a lot!  I did sell some, but had to keep 3 different stones, my Mandolin slicer, my mixing bowls and of course – my can opener.  However, my favorite kitchen supply is my Kitchen Aid Mixer, which allows me to make bread and bake daily, without acting up my tendinitis.  As you can see from the picture, it’s already been put into use.

 

 

 

 

Blankets – Since most Moroccan homes do not have indoor heat, you can find the absolute BEST blankets in Morocco during the winter.  When it gets cold, we will be prepared and have no worries about the cold!

 

Memories & Holiday Materials – Scrapbooks, pictures, Christmas stockings and ornaments.  Those things that you don’t use or look at much, but are so hard to give up. 

 

 

While we were waiting for our stuff, we kept looking around and going – I hope we have enough storage.  Now that it’s arrived, we have found a home for everything and still have some storage space.  I’m amazed at how much this RV holds!  I am also amazed at how little stuff we “need”.  When you have a big house and a big garage, you think you need every little thing.  Then, so much of it sits around waiting for you to use it.  We have a lot less stuff now, but we use most everything in our “house”.