Some of you know that my resolution for this year is to continue decluttering our home & ORGANIZE! In fact,if I chose a word for this year, organize would be the one. Since I can't work on the room I really want to work on, I started in the pantry.
We are somewhat blessed with a large pantry in our house. I say somewhat because I really wish it wasn't in a shared space with the laundry/mudroom. Plus, I don't care for wire shelving, but this is what the builder installed. I'm too cheap to spend money on new, so I'm working with what I have. I did not buy anything new for this project, but I did buy a few things last year and even before, some of which I'm just finally using! Here's what I have done:
- I had a sheet of plexiglass cut to size for one shelf. I put things like extra spices on this shelf. I can't stand to have things tipping over or falling through.
- I have some thinner plastic sheets that are made for this purpose across 2 shelf sections. This is where my can racks reside so the legs don't fall through the wires.
- I purchased 3 can racks last year from LTD Commodities for about $4 each. They are a little flimsy, but once I figured out how to use the extra supports that came with them, they work pretty well. I use these for items we use frequently, but don't really buy a bunch of at one time. Each section has only one type of thing in it; I even had room to separate my light red and dark red kidney beans!
- I've picked up a couple of wire baskets at a garage sale. I use these on the bottom shelf for snacks & things so the kids can help themselves and I don't have stuff dumped all over the floor.
- Hubby got a great deal on canned veggies around Thanksgiving (like 50 cents a can for name brand - I HATE generic vegetables!), so he bought an entire case of each and brought them home in the boxes - what a smart man! Nothing tips over and they slid right in on the bottom shelf.
- I separated everything by type to make it easier to find. All baking items are on one shelf, pasta & rice on another, etc. Extra cereal & stuff I don't want the kids in go on the top shelf on one side, along with the ice cream maker, coffee maker, & other stuff I rarely use on the other side.
If you've read this far, leave a comment letting me know your resolution/goal this year. A random person will win a prize! I'm not sure what it will be yet; let's see if I have something that will work with goal of the winner! I'll choose a winner on Tuesday, January 12th.
I am SO jealous of your de-cluttered pantry! Mine is a disaster zone awaiting explosion upon opening the door! I don't have all the space in mine as you do, so I have cans on top of cans, boxes on top of boxes and so on, BUT, I do have a door I can close to hide it all, LOL Thanks for sharing and hopefully it will give me the incentive to get mine a bit cleared up- if nothing else, make it so we aren't attacked upon opening the door :) *Hugs* Alicia
ReplyDeleteI get my pantry looking great then well the lazyness comes out in me and i dont do it again for a while. This year i am focosing on my health i have all ready had to go to the drs 3 times in a week. so i am working on a better me also im getting in more exercise even if it is 5 more min a day.
ReplyDeleteWow! The pantry looks GREAT! I do mine a couple times a year but I never thought of the plexi-glass idea. I'm going to steal that :) My resolution is to get more scrapbook pages done so I've been trying to get more pictures printed! Can't wait to see the new crop space... party at Lori's!
ReplyDeleteLove how you have the pantry set up... Mine used to be but a lot get dumped in it as it is also part of the back entry. My goals this year are a minimum of 25 cards a month for Operation Write Home, 52 layouts done and in albums, and spending time doing fun stuff with my son :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I can be as organized as you! After I write up my grocery list and gather my coupons, go to the store and put it in the cart then take it out of the cart at checkout then load into my car then unload the trunk and carry it all in---the last thing I want to do is organize it in the pantry--that is my husband's job! This year I want to start using all the scrapbooking products I'm buying instead of just collecting them!
ReplyDeleteLike you, too, I am trying to get organized!!! Your pantry looks terrific. Thanks for sharing your tips too.
ReplyDeleteLooks great! I wish I had a pantry - even a disorganized one. LOL!!
ReplyDelete