When we downsized 3 years ago, we felt the house had good bones on the most part. I say “on the most part” because the kitchen didn’t have a pantry in the kitchen, but instead there was was what I would have considered a hall closet which was located inside what we are calling the living room. It’s probably because the space we are using as a living room was separated into a small living room and formal dining room thus a closet as a pantry could be considered off the formal dining room.
We have since added a small pantry inside the kitchen in the breakfast nook area but it wasn’t big enough to provide much storage. Back in November I started researching on YouTube and Pinterest what others have done to organize their pantry. I began visiting Dollar Tree, thrift shops, 99 Cent Stores, Tuesday Morning and picking up containers to create general categories of items. I also purchased some chalkboard stickers and tags for labeling.
In January my husband went away for a few days which was the perfect time to pull everything out, go through items and get rid of anything with an expired date.
Here is where I started.
This is where I ended up. The empty spot is where my Instant Pot now lives.
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It’s now been 5 months since I did this project and I only wish I had done this project years ago because….
- my cupboards have consistently remained organized
- seeing what I have on hand or need to replenish is easy
- allows my husband ease in finding items or putting them away
- the large tub for Extras provides a sealed space to store items that come in large bags from Costco, etc.
- placing measuring cups and directions with storage containers for rice and quinoa expedite cooking
- storing larger items that aren’t used often in the back of deeper shelves is a good use of these space. The front part of the shelf can be used for what is needed most often.
