Organizing Your Kitchen Pantry

The most neglected spaces in our homes are also the most used space, our closets. They hold most of the items we need on a daily basis. Which is why they stay the most cluttered and disorganized, it holds so many items! It is easy to hide the clutter behind closed doors, right? When selling a home, buyers will not hesitate to open all those closed doors. We all know Kitchens sell a home, what is behind those closed doors will help you stand out from all the other kitchens they have seen, good or bad.

Just think how it affects you when you walk into your pantry and get that disorganized feeling, every day. That's how I felt every time I walked into my pantry, along with stress and frustration. I tried many times to organize my pantry only to end up back like my before picture.
So I scowered pinterest looking for the ultimate pantry makeover ideas and came up a complete transformation. This included all new shelves, pretty wallpaper, glass jars, and all the pretty bins and baskets. Then I got real!
Luckily I am a planner, I designed it first researching the cost and time of the makeover realizing it was not going to be practical. I am not married to a Chip Gaines, and the scope of work was beyond my capabilities. It became obvious this was going to be a budget friendly, work-with-what-you-have project. 
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The best advice I took away from reading all the pinterest projects is to purge and sort first, then purchase storage containers. Purge I did, 3 garbage bags full of old expired food. Stuff I didn't know I had!
​You couldn't tell how deep the pantry was because of all the boxes and bags of food and clutter. I decided everything in a box had to have its own container. Ikea has plenty of inexpensive clear containers. I divided the pantry into different zones based on what I had. 
Breakfast
Baking
Snacks 
School Lunch
Pasta
Rice/Dry Goods
Can Goods
Seasonal/Occassional (top shelf)
Bags and small appliances (floor)
*Working Mom-win: paper products and easy to heat meals for the kids is great for long vacation breaks. Especially the 'make your own breakfast bar' for the sleep-in teens!

I hit the local Bed Bath and Beyond with my coupon for shelf liners, more clear containers, and can organizers.  I used baskets I already had around the house. I coralled everything in its appropriate zone and looked back and sighed with relief.

Then my son behind me asked where something was.  Then my husband walked in,  placed an item in the wrong spot. I made the frustrated Mom-face, urghh!
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My lack of success with organizing my pantry wasn't totally my fault. I was missing a critical component to a shared space...communication. The secret to keeping the pantry organized, labels, labels, labels!

I picked up these labels from the $1 section at Michael's and used my leftover chalkboard scrapbook paper for erasable labels. I also had an a-ha moment with the ugly wire-shelves.  Ribbon! I weaved the ribbon through the wire and suddenly my wire shelves became a must-have. What a difference a few labels and some ribbon can do! Now my pantry is pretty, organized! I am happy to report it is still organized months later. In fact I now collected all my seasonal decorations into pretty labeled bins. 

Its amazing something as simple as organizing your pantry can help you save time and money. You can see everything you have in stock, no more wasted food. School lunch prep and dinner selection is easily gathered. Everything in its place, and a place for everything, makes it easy to stay organized. 
If your selling your home, a pantry like this is going to help you stand out. It shows that you have plenty of space for everything you need and more. Stay tuned for future posts on the other room makeovers that shouldn't hide behind close doors. 
​         If your local, give us a call we can make your kitchen pretty and organized.                      ~gina g

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