52 Projects – Week Five – Pantry Organization

So, Mr. E and I spent the weekend a few weeks back, making these:

(Here’s how we did it)

Aren’t they great! And I found some similar, unstained ones at Michaels a few days ago, for $22 each!

I think we only paid a bit more than that for all the supplies – and we made six small boxes and three large ones! And these ones still needed staining. Yippee J

But, I digress.

I love the look of a clean, organized pantry, and once the boxes were finished, I couldn’t wait to put them in the pantry! But, I didn’t have a clean, organized pantry – mine was a disaster. 

Seriously – there was so much stuff on the floor nobody could actually get in there. We’d slide our feet in, lean over to grab something off the shelves, and hope for the best.

Spices were taking up a prime location, cereal boxes were jammed wherever they fit (and stayed in the middle of the floor), there were reusable grocery bags stashed in a corner, and nothing made sense. The shelves were overflowing with stuff – there was no room for any of the boxes we made.

Not any more – it’s fantastic!

This was a quick fix – I didn’t switch out the wire shelves or paint the walls to make the pantry seem more like a room, but I’m good with that. Having the space organized makes it easier to use, more efficient and the kids can help out by grabbing something when I ask. And, my main house goal for 2012 is to update the kitchen, so I want to finish that before I make any changes in here.

To make it easier, I didn’t do this organizing all at once – I did a section or a shelf at a time. Once I had a bit of open space, it was easier to move things around and keep organizing. It took me a few nights, but it was much less stressful that way.

I went through every shelf and threw out stuff that we’d never use – I was amazed at how much stuff should have been thrown out years ago.

Then I started sorting and organizing – woohoo!

Glass mason jars are filled with grains, some baking supplies and things that should stay airtight.

Baking supplies are all together

The plastic and reusable bags are now in pantry boxes and don’t take up much space – and don’t fall all over the floor.

Using the boxes has made a huge difference – there is so much space in the pantry now. And – we can see the floor again J

Having a personal challenge of completing one project a week is definitely challenging, but it’s such a sense of accomplishment seeing the project list slowly get longer!

Cheers! Kim

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