The Pantry

The new year started last week.  Whenever the new year starts people seem to want to get organized. 

While the calendar changed last week my life revoles around the school schedule.  So for me the year starts in September and ends in June.  When the school ended last summer I was looking forward to...organizing our closets! We had moved in a little more than year before and hadn't done much with the closets since. The morning after the last day of school I was up at 9 and tearing apart the pantry.  Fun, I know!

There many awesome looking pantries out there, do a quick pintrest search or pick up a home magazine and you'll see plenty.  However, I was looking to finish in a weekend and use organizational tools I had on hand. And of course I couldn't change the size of our pantry.

My method was pretty simple.

1. Take (blurry) before photos

Good luck finding anything!

 

2. Empty everything out

Hello paneling! 

3. Be shocked at how much food there was. I realized never need to buy canned beans again.  Reorganize food by type.  Put often used/favorite products in containers.  I did have a buy a few canisters and jars, but was able to repurpose many baskets.

4. Paint the walls, ceiling and shelves- going with my "use what I have" theme, it's the same paint as the dresser/buffet which shares the same space. We also added a shelf. The bottoms of the shelves become the tops, because they were covered in some kind of vinyl that did not come off nicely.  They couldn't be made smooth enough to paint, but needed to be covered.  I couldn't find a contact paper or shelf liner I liked....so I  decoupaged wrapping paper the underside of the shelves.  

What a difference paint makes, huh?

5. Refill pantry.  Keep items organized by type/use.  The most frequently used are at eye level/easiest to reach.  I also added 3 small and 1 large hanging basket things, with tags.  I also put some of those tiered shelve things in for cans and boxes.

 6. Paint the inside of the door with chalkboard paint.  This is a list of the food in the freezers- but that is another post.  

It took me a full weekend, including trips to Target, Home Depot, and the Container Store and painting.  The result was totally worth it!  Is it beautiful and amazing like the magazine ones? No, but it is far better than it was.  And it is functional!  We've I kept it pretty organized and have been working through the crazy food stash since everything can be seen there is no need to buy duplicates. 

1B. And has happens so often one project lead to another. I tackled my "staples" pantry.  No before photo, but basically new flour/sugar containers and better organized the oils and vinegars.   

What color is your pantry?

Oh, and I tackled 4 other closets last summer...stay tuned!