Last spring we had our kitchen redone. The 46 year old cabinets were squeaky and gross, as was the rest of the room. But now I have a beautiful space that makes my heart sing. One issue though, is that it is still kind of bare, with nothing on the walls. My neighbors are probably a bit frustrated that we still don’t have window treatments up. Peek in after dinner and you can see my dance party while cleaning up. The kids love it. Not.
Anyway, making so many decisions during the process fried my brain and I just didn’t want to have to make any more choices when the work was completed, especially big ones. I sometimes doubt myself and that decision making muscle needs to be worked out for sure. I finally decided to start small.
My utensil drawer does not have dividers. In my old kitchen, I used the individual, narrow, utensil holders you can find in Bed Bath and Beyond. It didn’t matter that they slid all over the drawer in my old kitchen because well, everything was kind of crappy in that kitchen anyway. But this time, I want things to stay in place, be presentable, and have order.
I decided to try glue dots. Many professional organizers use a brand called Zots. Upon reading the reviews on Amazon, I realized these were permanent. Oh heck. I want my containers to stick but I don’t want to rip up my new utensil drawers if I decide to replace them in the future. I searched and wound up ordering Glue Dots Adhesives, which seemed better. Though they were permanent as well, the reviews were more promising. When they arrived in the mail I was a little nervous. Oh What to do? Go for it and have organization or chicken out and have utensil holders that slide to and fro when I open the drawer? What if I wind up destroying something in my nice, new space! It would almost be like the time I painted my bedroom and hung new art, only to see Luke do a parkour roll off the bed and put his foot through the wall a day later! Do I really want that to feel that agony again?
Aha! I decided to practice on my not so precious desk, which has been serving me well since 2003. After 16 years there has been some wear and tear and I’m not as paranoid about screwing things up. In fact, check out my drawer divider in the picture above. See that bird poop stain? It’s not actually bird poop, but this bad boy dates back to the time when White Out was once a staple in every desk across America. Hence, bird turd is actually White Out.
Here are the results. The glue Dot instructions indicate that you are not supposed to touch the adhesive dots but they should be placed face down on the object you would like to attach, in this case, poopy divider. I rubbed my finger along the paper/non-adhesive side of the dots to get them to stick, as seen above. Then I pulled back the paper. The smaller ones did nothing to make the divider adhere. I graduated to the big boys. Good thing I ordered both. Whoa Nelly! Success with the big boys! The divider stayed put nicely. However, did it pass the test? When pulled off, was the wood in the drawer harmed? I dove in. Three, two, one, PULL! Hooray! It came up but did not do any damage. For sure, I am going to do this in my kitchen, just as soon as I get myself some new utensil holders. I had been using the old ones but hey, why not start fresh to match the rest of the room.
These smaller dots can be used for art projects, scrapbooking or with photos and cardstock. The larger ones will supposedly also adhere to metal, glass, wood, plastic and foam. If you are looking for a good adhesive that, in my case, did not do any damage to the items when dismantled, this could very well be a good option.
So, my first small decision about the kitchen in a year is a success. Next up, I will hang the curtains and some of the wall art I purchased. What am I so afraid of? After all, I need to make a decision and stick to it!
Chaos to Calm 