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I am not a coffee drinker like my husband but I do love me a good cup of tea. Recently I organized my husband’s coffee cabinet and a couple of weeks ago I decided it was time to tackle my tea cabinet.
Now you might be thinking that I wanted to tackle this job because the tea cabinet was a mess. Nope it really wasn’t that bad. Take a look at the before.
Not terrible and thankfully nothing was falling out on my head every time I opened the door. So why, you might be wondering, did I even want to bother organizing this cabinet in the first place? And here’s what I need you to know.
The main reason to organize a space is to realign its function so that it serves your needs in the most purposeful, least chaotic way.
My tea cabinet, while organized, was not working for me anymore and that’s why I decided to reorganize it. Some questions to ask yourself in this same predicament include:
- are the items you use more frequently most accessible?
- what annoys you about the space?
- is your space crowded? Stacked too high?
- what is no longer necessary in the space?
- are current solutions/systems still working for you?
- if needed, are you using storage solutions to maximize the space
- how can you make your space function more purposefully?
My issues with my tea cabinet were:
- teas I like to drink in the spring were out of reach on the top shelf
- I’m a shorty and even accessing the middle shelf was tricky for me
- there were storage items no longer being used taking up valuable space
So with these things in mind and a plan in place, I continued on with my PROCESS steps and removed everything from the tea cabinet. I sorted through all the contents to determine what could stay and what could go.
This clear divided acrylic tea sorter was one of the items it was time to let it go of.
We used to use it for regular orange pekoe teabags that my husband liked. However since he no longer drinks this type much anymore, the container has been sitting practically empty just taking up space. The acrylic container didn’t fit the individually wrapped type teas so instead those sat on top in the white plastic basket. Many of these particular teas though were not my favorites and older as well so I tossed many of them. As a result I was able to condense them down to a smaller container which I’ll show you below.
Here’s how my tea cabinet looks now.
Adding the turntable to the middle cabinet was a game changer for me. I had that turntable leftover from when I reorganized my lazy susans. You can find it in my Amazon Organizing Shop if you are interested (affiliate link). It’s the first item in the shop. I love that I can now reach everything on that shelf, yay! I also added a simple mason jar to it to contain some of the smaller awkward tea items like the tea infusers.
The few random tea bags I had left I consolidated into an empty tea box that I covered with Washi tape to differentiate it from the others.
I do prefer to keep my teas in their original boxes as much as possible for two reasons. I go through it so fast that it doesn’t make sense to transfer it and I like to have the ingredients on hand for when company comes over. The Washi tape box comes in handy when I only have one or two tea bags left in a box. Oh and the teas in the small floral dish are some of my husband’s that I’m hoping he’ll use up shortly. I figured if they are right there front and center he might 🙂
This whole tea cabinet project only took about a half hour. Just making these few small tweaks now makes the space function so much better.
Remember, organization isn’t just about cleaning up messy spaces. It’s also about maximizing the efficiency and function of a space so you can live with less stress and chaos!
That’s what it’s all about friends. Function, function, function. I hope this helps you analyze your spaces with a different eye so you can tweak them to work just right for YOU and your family.
Happy organizing y’all!
- *Please note that affiliate links are included in this post to make it easier for you to find what is being referenced. A small commission is made should you purchase product using these links, but this is at no extra cost to you. As always, any and all opinions are genuinely my own – or the author, in the case of posts by my guest contributors. Thank you!*
Cathy says
I love how just a few tweaks made the space more functional and more visually appealing. Lazy Susans rock!
Julia says
I love this kind of post. Sometimes it’s the small things that make all the difference. Good to be reminded!
meryl says
Your tea cabinet is the size of one of my two main kitchen cabinets!
My tea “cabinet” is a small plastic box with locking lid – we don’t leave any food items out in boxes, packages or open containers all is sealed in plastic boxes if it is not in a sealed can or unopened glass jar. Don’t want to encourage small things to come looking in our house.
Actually there is not much space that is convenient as I cannot reach any shelf above the bottom and the front of the second shelf. I can’t reach the cabinet over the stove at all without a ladder, which I don’t have. That basically leaves me with two shelves the size of your tea cabinet that I can reach fully and the fronts of two others. Anything else involves climbing on a step, chair or the kitchen counter.
Debbie Behler says
I have a 2-step ladder that folds to 1″ to help me get to the upper shelves. It fits alongside the end cabinet.
Deanna Piercy says
I need to do a major overhaul of the cabinet where I store my teas. We also use it for coffees and we have some alcohol in there as well. I want to find a different place for the alcohol and then organize the teas and coffees. I love the idea of covering tea boxes with washi tape!