Fox 19 Messiest Kitchen Makeover

Time here as we approach 9 o'clock. Couple flurries out there earlier this morning, but you know what, we're gonna take a break from all that snow talk and cold air talk. Our Tracy Johnson this morning, she is getting us organized. You know, Trace, we announced this a few weeks ago. We were just looking for pictures of messiest kitchens because we want to give some great tips for those out in the tri-state. Good morning.

Hi, Frank. Good morning. You know what, so it was a little treacherous making our way up into Mason this morning. The roads were a little slick, but here's the great thing. We've been so excited about this for weeks. So what we asked you to do was to send in pictures of your messy kitchen because our friends at Organize365 offered to go in. They chose the kitchen they thought they could help the most. So take a look. These pictures— this is the kitchen that they chose here in Mason. This is Jennifer and Jeff's house. And when you understand their journey and their story, you'll understand why Lisa and her group chose this home and wanted to help. So those are the pictures they sent in. Now, Lisa's group came in about a week ago and they started. So we're going to see the process as we're working through some of the cabinets here in the kitchen, and then the finished product. So you'll get to meet Jennifer and Jeff at the end, and we'll kind of reveal their new clean kitchen. But here's the bottom line, okay? We all know, anybody sitting there watching, you look at your kitchen cabinets and you say, oh my goodness, what am I supposed to do? You know those corner cabinets that the builder put in and you said, how can I fit anything in there? Or the ones above the microwave or above the refrigerator that you could hardly reach, and you say, what am I supposed to do with those cabinets? Well, my friend Lisa Woodruff from Organize 365 here this morning. Lisa, thank you.

Thank you.

What she has done for this family is amazing because they came in, her group, about a week ago and you started kind of doing some organizing. And so we're going to reveal that as we go on through the next 2 hours, but you give some basic tips to organizing your kitchen. So let's go through those. Let's put that up on the screen. And the first one you say, Don't organize spaces that already work.

Correct. So in every single kitchen there is something that is working. You don't want to change things that are already working. So they had a great solution for the kids' plates, they had a good solution for their pots and pans, but the food storage was not working in this kitchen.

Okay. You also say be organized, which is— sounds easy, but you say, you know what, have a cabinet for everything.

Right, and there are some things that you have in every kitchen that you forget about. Like you always have office supplies, you have paperwork, you need to have a place for that and then it won't pile up.

Okay. And our third, look at how the builder has just— has kind of designated a particular space, but you don't have to look to fill that space. You can use it to your benefit.

Right. So the thing that a professional organizer will do for you is they will come in and they will see how you use your space. I have never organized the same space the same way twice. So I use some of the same I use some of the same products, but every single kitchen, every single space is individualized for that family that's using it.

I think that's the key there. It depends on the family and what they need the cabinet for. Okay, what would you say is the biggest mistake we all make in trying to organize our kitchen?

We buy the products first. Oh yeah. So the reason we were out here before, we didn't start organizing before this morning, but what I did for this show is The Container Store has donated products for this. So I did come and I measured and I figured out in my mind what we would use, and I did buy the products first, but I almost never do that. You need to declutter first, figure out what you have left, and then go out and buy the products that will work for your space.

Perfect. And why did you pick Jennifer and Jeff's house? Because I know you got a lot of people that said, I need your help, I need to start over in my kitchen, I need to get organized, this is the first room. But why this particular home?

I picked it because it's the most normal. Like, of all the pictures that were sent in, they all had the same problems, that the kitchen looks okay, but the cabinets are a mess. And so a lot of times we feel We feel like our house looks good, but it's uncluttered on the inside, which makes us nervous and anxious. And so their house was the most normal.

The bottom line is they have 5 kids. You know, we all think we're busy, but when you hear 5 kids in middle school, right, 1 in high school, 4 in middle school, you think, oh my goodness, you know. So we're going to help them get organized. Lisa's going to help them get organized. I'm just going to hang back. But throughout the next couple of hours, Frank, we're going to show you what you can do with that under-the-kitchen-sink cabinet where we just kind of shove everything, and the cabinets, the corner. I think that's the big one, you know, oh my goodness, what to do with that? And then those cabinet spaces that you can't hardly reach. So over the next 2 hours, Lisa and her team are going to be giving tips, and then at the end you will meet the family and we'll just reveal their new kitchen.

Correct.

Thank you. This is very sweet of you to do this.

Thank you.

So, all right, Frank, back to you.

So we're going to see some of those cabinets. You know, they look cluttered now. By the end of the 2 hours, they'll be decluttered, right?

Absolutely, yes.

Nice.

I like it. Okay. Thanks so much, Trace. Tri-State's more messier kitchens with our friend Lisa, and the organization process has begun. What are we looking at, Trace?

Okay, so Frank, what you're looking at is this, what we call command central. Everybody has one of these cabinets in their kitchen where, you know, we kind of just shove everything in there, you know, from candy to vitamins to, you know, somebody's at the door and we have all this stuff on the counter and then you run You grab it and you shove it in that cabinet. We all have it, right? Well, Lisa Woodruff with Organized 365, she said, okay, you have to have that cabinet, but it can be organized. And it just makes life feel a little better, doesn't it, Lisa, when you get up and you know you're organized?

It does. And the thing about having baskets like this is that then your children and your husband or your babysitters or nannies can all follow the system. So if you have a basket and it's labeled, then they know where to put stuff back and they know where to look Okay, so kind of tell me, so Lisa started on this particular cabinet.

So this is called Command Central. You started pulling stuff out of the cabinet. Tell me just randomly the things that you were finding in that cabinet.

Okay, so this is very typical of a kitchen. You're going to find medicine always. You're going to find money. They keep all their kids' allowance money, so this is a big money basket. And then you're going to find things that don't fit well in boxes like these little Keurig pods.

Okay.

Go much better in a bigger basket like this. when you get home from the store.

Sure. Okay, so Lisa, you said before, in case folks missed it, you said the best thing to do when you start organizing a cabinet or a room is declutter first.

Right.

So go in, clean out all the cabinets, all the drawers first.

So like we have, I know she's gonna want to keep all her little Scentsy things, but we have more candy than is gonna fit in this little candy basket. Yeah. So I'm actually I'm actually not going to put that in the basket right now because I'm going to make her declutter. So already we found a big bag of jelly beans on the top and, you know, probably all of that stuff.

Jelly beans out of here. You know, I'm laughing because I'm thinking, oh my gosh, are we in my kitchen? I mean, that's what the cabinet looks like, right? I mean, we have straws, we have candy, we have vitamins. So the bottom line is take everything out, clean it out, get rid of what you don't want, throw it away, and then you're going to decide what size baskets you need before you actually go and purchase them.

Right.

Okay.

Exactly.

Let me show you. This is very cute. Oh shoot, this was the one. Okay, so Lisa has them all marked. So like she said, if she has a babysitter or family coming over, everything is marked so you can see it. So once she starts to put the baskets back in that cabinet, you're gonna see what you're kind of grabbing for.

Yeah, and she already had— look, like, see what's already working. She already had all of these little gift cards in a bag like this, so I'll just put it right in there. Just Ziploc bags. It doesn't take a lot to get these things organized.

So I know what you're seeing is a lot of busyness behind us. Lisa has her team here working, and then of course we have Jeff and Jennifer. This is their home, and they're helping as well because I was just chatting with them, and you're going to meet them coming up in a little bit. It just feels good to declutter. But Lisa, you said as much work as people see going on, you think, oh my goodness, I don't have a full day, I don't have 2, 3, or 4. But it does, it's not bad, it just takes a few hours, correct?

Yeah, to do a kitchen with 2 of us from my team will take about 5 hours.

Okay, so you come in and you get started.

Start to finish, 5 hours, we're done.

Start to finish. So you hire Lisa and her team, they come in, they clean your kitchen, and you're good to go. You know, there's just something to be said for feeling organized and clean, right?

Right.

And especially for this family, they have 5 kids. 5. And so, you know, once you kind of get unorganized, right Lisa, it kind of snowballs after that. Yeah, so this is a good way. So we're getting them organized and I know they're excited. They actually are probably going to have you move on to some other rooms as well. So, okay, so this is Command Central. Lisa and her group got started. She's going to finish. We're going to show you coming up in about 15 minutes what Command Central should look like— clean, organized, ready to go. And then we're moving to the corner cabinet.

Yes.

That is a nightmare.

Yes, but I have the best solution for that.

Because I always say, who, who was thinking of that when they put in a corner cabinet where you don't feel like you can get anything in? But Lisa's going to take care of it. So when we come back, we'll show you Command Central finished, and then we're moving on to the corner cabinet.

Frank?

I look forward to that. My spice cabinet's always the one that's always messy, you know?

Yep.

Yeah, thanks. Getting Things in Order joins us in Mason as we try to make some order of one of the tri-state's more messier kitchens. Trace?

Okay, so Frank, you've been doing the talking, we've been cleaning the cabinets. Actually, I haven't. I've just been kind of standing behind and watching. So take a look at this picture. Okay, so this was what they call Command Central. This is what Lisa Woodruff and her team, Organized 365, calls that one cabinet that we have just all of the above in. Okay, I want to show you what her team has done. Lisa's going to step in. All right, Lisa, let's make the big reveal. So this is after, and this is just 10 minutes in, but this is going in, right Lisa? Cleaning out the cabinet, and then what is key about organizing this particular cabinet where you have all of the above?

Okay, so it is to decide what your categories are and then find containers that'll fit in the space. So with a mom of 5 kids, the handles are great to pull these containers in and out.

Oh, that's key, right?

And the kids help a lot in this house, so it's easy for them to do that as well. And they're big containers because there are 5 kids. If you have younger kids or, you know, less amount of people, you would have smaller containers.

But the key is, you said, clean it out, find what you need, and then go buy the containers. And then you have them labeled as well. Here's another thing that I found really interesting. So let's take the candy bowl or basket, whatever you want to call it, empty it out. Don't keep the stuff in, right?

Right. I emptied all these in here. We have one left. And so all of these bags are now in one container.

Just takes up less space.

We did the same with cereal bars, we're doing the same with the Keurig cups, all of those things, take them out of the package.

See those Keurig boxes and the cereal bars? I mean, they take up a lot of space.

Yeah.

Okay, so look how clean this is. That is so nice. I mean, you, as a mom, I'm sorry, pardon me, as a mom you have to open it up and go, oh, it's such a great feeling. Real quickly before we go, take a look at these shelves. So these are expandable shelves, so it actually creates another shelf for you.

Yes.

How do those work?

Okay, so this will move in and out.

Yeah. So you create the space that you need or the extra shelving according to size.

Right.

Alright, so now here is this dreaded corner cabinet.

Yes.

That you go in now, but I want to show that this is a standard-size kitchen. So you walk in, I mean, this, this size looks like most kitchens that most people live in.

Yeah, this is very average.

Okay, but you said they weren't storing their food in here, and that was the first thing you said when you walked in is They can have it all in this kitchen.

Yeah, they were using 2 armoires in their dining room to store all their food because, you know what happens when you live in a house is you move in and you move everything in and then you never move anything back out. So you have multiple sets of CorningWare, you have a whole spinner full of Tupperware, you just, you keep all that stuff in here and we can move a lot of that out. They still want to keep it for camping and things like that, but you can move it out to the basement so you can have your everyday food in here. So these are going to all be full of food when we're done.

Wow, and that will make life so much easier for Jennifer, right? When she's cooking for 5. Alright, so the corner cabinet, what is your secret to organizing that? Because you look, the opening into a corner cabinet is not very wide. There's much more, everybody, you all know what I'm talking about. So you go inside the cabinet, it gets much wider. So what is the key here to making that corner cabinet work?

So this is an 8-foot 18-inch lazy Susan. They are not cheap, but they are well worth it because nothing gets lost in this cabinet anymore. And so we're doing them on every shelf and then also putting one in the refrigerator.

One in the refrigerator?

Yes.

I had no idea.

So you can have a skinny shelf in the refrigerator and then spin all of your like cheeses and stuff, and so you can see all the way back, and then you get a bigger shelf for like gallons of milk and things like that.

It's why she has a company called Organize 365. Okay, so tell me how you So how did you organize the shelves then? What did you do? How did you organize each shelf?

Okay, so Jennifer and Jeff have been in the other room sorting all their spices and deciding what they use most often. So on the bottom is what they use most often in cooking, followed by next often, followed by baking, followed by specialty.

Wonderful. And you said that oftentimes a lot of your clients, a lot of the homeowners will stay and help you because then they know they're kind of making that choice, helping you decide What goes where, so they're organizing alongside of you.

Yeah, so we can do it with or without the homeowner. It goes faster with the homeowner because they can be giving us immediate decisions, and Carol and I kind of play ping pong with them. So Carol will be in one room organizing with them and asking them questions, and then we'll notice they're kind of getting tired, and she'll say, why don't you go see Lisa?

And I'll be like, great, we're going to do paper, and we'll keep—

I'll keep them for like 20 minutes.

You keep them moving. The bottom line is you get it done in one day.

Hours.

Yeah, this isn't, this isn't a week-long project. Okay, now the dreadful cabinet underneath the kitchen sink, which we all know exactly what happens there. So Carol's been busy there. We are going to reveal the new cabinets coming up in just a few moments. Frank?

Yeah, you know, my kitchen sink's a mess. That's one thing I need to work on. I'm gonna look at that. Thanks so much, Trace. Appreciate it. It's like where you used to throw all the old vases, and there's probably old like Windex bottles that are empty back there. It's nasty. Hey, more on the Extra when we come back. Stick around. Spending her morning outside of our Fox 19 broadcast plaza, she's helping to get things in order. So what we're looking at is one of the tri-state's messiest kitchens. Our friends from 365, Organize 365, came in. These shelves had all sorts of stuff in them. Lisa was telling us earlier, Tupperware and whatnot. When it's said and done, it's going to be strictly food storage in that area. This family was storing the food in a different area just because they thought And it didn't have enough room. So we're going to tackle it. We've learned some great tips. That corner cabinet, make the investment, get the lazy Susans. Man, oh man, you're going to use every single ounce. And coming up, we'll talk about that under-the-sink area with all that Windex and Clorox wipes and all that good stuff and how to keep them organized. Coming up from Organized 365, and we're tackling underneath the sink, right ladies?

See, Frank, you can still smile. You can have a good time when you're cleaning the kitchen.

Yes, you can.

Yes, we're having really a great time. Actually, Lisa's got quite her crew in here and they're busy moving all over around our feet, above us, you know, cleaning. But Lisa, why did you pick this particular home? Because you got a lot of pictures, a lot of pictures of messy kitchens, but why this home?

I didn't like that their food was not in their kitchen. Their food was in their dining room. And no matter what size space you have, you fill it. And this is a standard kitchen, and yes, they have 7 people in this family, but you can still have the food in the kitchen even if it's a small kitchen. You just have to have only what you need and use every day in your kitchen. So I wanted the food in their kitchen and not in their dining room.

And here's the great thing. So Lisa and her team come in, and this is an hour project, 3-hour project, meaning it's not days, it's not weeks. You come in and you're out in one day. You say it helps a lot when you have the homeowners here because they're kind of helping you go through, get rid of stuff.

Right.

And kind of helping you decide what they use often and what they don't use so often. Yes.

So a kitchen on average, an organizing job for a kitchen is anywhere from 6 to 8 hours.

Okay.

So with 2 organizers, it would be 4 hours.

Okay.

And so Jeff and Jennifer have been in the other room and I was saying, where's all the food for these cabinets? And they're like, you have all the food. I'm like, this isn't how much food we had. Well, they've been purging back there and they've been getting rid of stuff that's expired or the kids are no longer into anymore.

Okay. Now we're going to show you that dreadful cabinet underneath the kitchen sink that everybody just kind of shoves. So let us show you. We showed you before going into the last break. It was a mess, like every cabinet in our own house. I mean, we just— why is it, Lisa, that the cabinet underneath the shelf or underneath the sink, we just shove, we just shove stuff in there?

Because who wants to get down on their hands and knees and look under their sink? No one. So you just go with whatever's right in Alright, so Carol did an amazing job.

So tell us what she did here. Again, she used those baskets.

Yes, these are larger baskets with handles on them than the ones that we used in the other cabinet, and then she organized them by kind. So like all the hand soap is in one and all the dishwasher soap is in one.

So I like this, just what you're saying. So when the kids need to come in and wash their hands, they're going to grab out of this basket. Then you have all your dishwasher soap, which is amazing. Okay, so what's this basket?

That's just your random things that you need like to clean the oven or peroxide or, you know, the specialty type cleaners.

Uh-huh.

And then this particular basket?

Same thing.

Okay. I love this little contraption on the door.

Yes.

My sponges, when they're laying in the sink, I don't know, that's one of my pet peeves, just them laying around. Here is a perfect thing. You just kind of shove them in the door.

And I noticed that like, you know, you're never going to have your counter completely clean, especially with 5 children, but I noticed how many sponges they had in the pictures. And I thought they need those, but they don't need them on the counter.

I absolutely— that's what I'm purchasing this afternoon. I love this, love this. Okay, so you were saying though, not every cabinet underneath the sink will look like this. It depends on the family as to how you organize.

Right. So they have a lot of miscellaneous cleaners under there because all of their cleaners are in one location. With 5 children, you want to know where the things that are dangerous are so you can lock them up and keep an eye on them. The other thing is the dishwasher and the hand soap baskets give you a budget and they give you a visual checklist for what you need to buy. So when that hand basket, that hand washing basket gets low, she's going to put that on her shopping list, and when it's overflowing, she knows she doesn't have to buy it for 4 or 6 weeks.

Awesome point. So basically what you just said is I'm saving money.

Right.

Because I'm not just buying stuff thinking, oh, I can't remember the last time I saw hand Well, now you know what you need, so you're not just buying extra things. I think you're saving a lot of money too in the long run.

Right, and you don't have that where you go to wash the dishwasher and you don't have any soap under there.

I love that. Okay, next you are going to meet Jennifer and Jeff. We are going to reveal their new clean kitchen, and you're going to hear from them why it's been such a blessing to have Lisa and her group in here this morning. Frank?

Can't wait to see it, Tracy. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Hi guys, hi Rob, good morning. Okay, so the team from Organized 365, they have been busy since about 7:30 this morning getting the kitchen ready for the big reveal. You are gonna meet Jeff and Jennifer coming up in just a second. Okay, do you remember this was cabinet central? Central cabinet. Take a look. Oh, it is so nice. Okay, so we're gonna bring Jeff and Jennifer in coming up in just a second. We're gonna reveal Their new organized kitchen.

We'll be right back.

This morning, look at how nice that kitchen looks. She's going to join us live from one of the tri-states. Well, what was one of the messiest kitchens? We're going to show you the big reveal coming up. Now, 49 after 10. Now, our own Tracy Johnson's been pushing up her sleeves, helping those get things organized in their kitchen in Mason. She's with the homeowners now. to see their brand new kitchen for the first time. Hey, Trace.

Hi, Frank. Good morning. Yeah, this is Jeff and Jennifer. They were very gracious to let us come into their kitchen and to start organizing because, like Lisa said before, let's show some of those before pictures. You needed a little bit of help, and rightfully so. You have 5 kids.

Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, and we have a few of them with special needs, so every little bit helps. That's definitely for sure.

Well, let's show some of the reveal. Jennifer, I know you guys have chosen to work beside Lisa and her group, and that's helped a little bit because now you know kind of where everything is. But how does this make you feel?

This makes me feel just— it's amazing because all day we're having to make decisions with our kids with special needs. We also have quadruplets, and so this was one thing that we didn't have to make a decision. Somebody came in and helped us, and most of all, it's a project that's done. For us, we never get projects done, so I am so thankful. I'm so grateful that we have our kitchen done. And I'm so amazed. And I think the other thing is looking at all of it, our kids do help out and this is something the kids I think are really going to be able to do and keep up with, which is just awesome because I can come up with all kinds of ideas and they don't work. But this is something that I think they can do.

So it's awesome.

Well, I think you made a great point because Lisa, you were saying this particular kitchen, I mean, they were already doing a lot of things right.

Right.

They just needed you to come in and help them finish this particular project.

Yes. And that's always true with everyone. There is something everyone is doing right, and so they love to hear that from me, that there are things that you're doing right.

You know, another thing that I like about this with the kids especially, and even some of, you know, you and I too, is the fact that, you know, they really crave that structure and organization, and there's enough chaos in the house as it is, and this kind of stuff is definitely going to help them a lot. You know, they know where to put things back and just keep it kind of, you know, keep it where it needs to go too.

Well, I love that you said that this, that you guys can do this. You can maintain what Lisa and her group has done. So thank you very much.

We want to thank everybody that made this possible. This is a real blessing, so we're so thankful.

Well, you're very sweet to share your pictures with us. And so, and a huge thank you to Lisa and your group Organized 365, and they don't They don't just do kitchens. They do garages. They do all of the above. They can— Yes, they do garages. We'll be back at Jeff and Jennifer's next time. I'm kidding, but thank you.

It's been wonderful.

Frank, back to you.

Tracy, we love it. Thank you so much for bringing that to us. Hopefully you got some tips. We'll be right back.