#99: Organize our Pantry - DONE!

This is quite an accomplishment, as I seem to not be able to get anything done lately between working and spending time with Luke.

Just a reminder that this is what our pantry looked like before.

I took this picture way back at the beginning of 2010 when I set this goal.  You can see that post and more pictures here.

While I was in Memphis with Luke visiting my sister Rachel in July, Trevor got around to replacing our old wooden dinged up shelves with some new fresh, white ones he bought at Lowe's.  Here's a reminder of what the shelves looked like before:

...and here is how the pantry looked after just changing the shelves out.  Ahhh...already such a nice difference.

I told him NOT to put everything back in or I would never have the motivation to get around to getting everything organized the way I would like to.  So he held me to it.  Even when Dad came to visit for the weekend after I got back into town we left everything on the kitchen counters.  I wanted to just throw everything back in and deal with it later, but Trevor insisted we leave it all out.  I'm glad we did.  The next weekend, Trevor watched Luke and I headed out to go buy all the items I would need to get organized.  I stopped at Walmart first thinking that I would find some cheaper practical stuff there and then I would head to Target for the "cute" stuff.  I was very surprised to find tons of great things at Walmart and by the time I had spent way over an hour there I had pretty much everything I needed so I didn't even head to Target.  I bought quite a bit because I took the "I'm just going to buy anything I might possibly need, and I'll return anything I don't use" approach.  I knew that with Luke around I wasn't going to be able to just run out every time I needed something else...so I just got it all!

Now remember...THIS is what the chaos in our pantry looked like most of the time before this overhaul:

The kitchen was a a complete mess for quite a few days and it only got more chaotic with Luke "helping" by throwing things all over the place.

All the work was worth it though because this is how the pantry looks now!!!  SO much better than I ever thought it would turn out.  I love it!!!

I'm going to go ahead and describe each shelf at a time...so if you could care less about the details of my pantry, feel free to skip to the end and see the before and after pictures right beside each other.

The top shelf now stores our cereal in these clear containers that I bought at Bed, Bath, & Beyond towards the end of this organizing adventure.  I like having these since they not only look nicer than cereal boxes, but it is easy to tell when the cereal is almost gone and it's time to buy more.

The next shelf holds mostly baking stuff and some odds and ends that I wanted to keep in the super air-tight OXO containers I got for Christmas in 2009 from Trevor's parents.  Yes, I said 2009. No, I did not use these until now.  I have a bit of a problem of not wanting to use things until I can make sure I get to use them perfectly.  I also picked up a plastic carafe from Walmart to store Luke's Cheerios in.  To the left of the visible shelf, I have a black container I picked up at Walmart that holds disposable plates, silverware, etc.  To the right, there are some more baking goods in OXO containers and their original boxes.

Trevor's parents got me the set below for that 2009 Christmas and I have occasionally picked up some of the smaller matching OXO containers when I have a $10 off any purchase coupon at JCPenney.  I love the way these stack together so nicely and make things look organized.  They are also supposed to keep foods really fresh.  I'm hoping that will keep me from having the "brown sugar as hard as a rock problem" I've had in the past.  They open and close so easily too, I love the button mechanism on the lids.

On the next shelf, I have these super cute baskets I found at Walmart for a really good price.  Both Trevor and I weren't too sure how we felt about having to the pull the baskets out to get to things, but after a couple weeks we both really like that they keep things contained and it's really not a hassle to pull them out.  To the left and right of these baskets, there are other miscellaneous foods that we don't use very often. 

To add a little charm to the baskets and make it easier to remember what's in each basket, I made some chalkboard tags.  I had been reading on some home decorating blogs about chalkboard vinyl, so I picked up some at Hobby Lobby.

I also picked up a set of chalk markers.  These little guys are great.  They can write on chalkboard surfaces (and tons of other things) and they wipe off with a wet rag.  They show up really well, don't wipe off if you touch them, and you don't have the dust you have with chalk.

I liked the idea of chalkboard tags so that I'll be able to change what these tags say if I ever want to.

I'm totally in love with the can storage on this next shelf:

I saw the can storage idea on Pinterest.  Don't even get me started on my new obsession with Pinterest - that's a whole other post in itself. 

Trevor went to Lowe's and had them cut two wire closet racks to the depth of the pantry shelf.

Then he inverted the shelf and installed it at an angle on both sides of the shelf.  It was as simple as that!

Now I have storage that helps me keep like-kind cans together while enabling me to have the oldest cans roll to the front - so it's like a grocery store!

I also picked up three black storage containers in the dorm room section at Walmart.  One holds our bread and PB and unopened jelly. 

The other one is actually a CD/DVD Storage Container.

Here is what I had been keeping our spice packets in:

Now, instead we are using the CD/DVD Storage container.  It keeps all the packets nice and tidy and out of sight!

I also bought this pencil cup holder to store those long packets of drink mixes and other miscellaneous items.

The next shelf is pretty much identical to the one that is two shelves above it.  We keep our snacks in one and our condiments in the other.  I decided to call the condiments label "Jars" since I couldn't think of an appropriate way to fit "Condiments" on there...I didn't think "Condim." would be too appropriate for our pantry! :)

The final section is the bottom of the pantry.  I got a big black container to put on the left to keep potatoes in and off of the floor.  Then I bought that black crate to keep some of the small appliances in.  These used to be on the very top shelf and I'd about kill myself trying to get them down and dropping them on my head.  Now they are nice and low, but the crate keeps them off the floor and easy to slide out.

I also bought these jars while I was at Walmart and decided to not use them in the pantry, but to instead put them on the counter with some baking supplies.

I used the vinyl to make some more cute labels.   Side note: You'll be proud Mary Ellen...I actually used the scrapbooking scissors you bought me years ago to make these.  So even if I'm a total slacker in the scrapbooking department, I finally got good use out of the scissors! :)

And finally, I bought these vinegar and oil jars at Walmart to put on our countertop.  When we spent a college semester in Greece, we always had these on the table for bread and salads.  I'm hoping it will get me motivated to use them more.

Here's the final comparison - BEFORE & AFTER:

As far as the pantry continuing to look like this...so far, so good!  I really think containers and baskets were the right solution.  Everything has its place, so there is no reason for things to get chaotic again.  This was definitely money and time well spent for me.  Sometimes I leave the pantry open now just so I can see how organized it is in there!

P.S. This post took me like a WEEK to write from start to finish.  Luke apparently thinks I need to pay attention to him sometimes...go figure.  Now that he's mobile, he is a lot harder to watch from the laptop. :)  So now you know why I don't blog as often as I used to.