BEFORE
Let’s talk pantry organization! It’s not the first time we’ve talked about the pantry and I’m sure it won’t be the last.. ha. :) After the holidays my pantry had seen better days. It was still kinda sorta organized but everything was over stuffed and it really just wasn’t working for us anymore. One thing that has changed with my girls moving out.. we eat less food! We went from a family of 5 to a family of 3 and I realized that we just didn’t need all of the food storage containers anymore. Half of them were empty a lot of the time and that was precious storage space I could use for decor. Honestly with just the 3 of us we pick up take out a lot of nights or just cook chicken in the air fryer or make sandwiches. We’re all pretty low maintenance when it comes to food. :) It was time to take back this space!
Pic from a video of me cleaning our shelves. I have never done a pantry clean out this big. I took EVERYTHING out. My hallway and dining room were a mess for weeks because I started this and then ran out of time to finish it.. ha!
I really wanted to scrub everything clean (shelves were SO dirty) and I cleaned all of my serving items that were dusty too. It was also nice to clear the clutter and really think about how to organize things I wanted to keep. I donated a lot of items I don’t use anymore which also felt so good! Then I brought serving items in from other places that I wanted to store in the pantry.
AFTER
Here is the after! It might not look that much different but it FEELS so different! For starters it’s sparkling clean which feels amazing! I’m so happy every time I walk in!
It is also just functioning so much better and I’m not wasting any space.
I styled the items I use most when I host/entertain on these shelves and now it also doubles as pantry decor. I’ll take it.
The art is the only thing that I don’t use and it’s just CUTE in this space. We always have cuties (love them) so I added a bowl of them next to the art. Life is about the little things that make you smile and this is one of those for me. :)
The baskets stayed the same. They are lidded basket from PB and I just took the lids off! They are so DEEP and perfect for this space.
The drawers got a major clean out inside too and these dividers are so good! I’ve slowly switched out most of my drawer dividers to these acrylic dividers because they are light weight, pretty, easy to use and they stay locked in place so well! They also come in different heights. I have the taller set in my bathroom because those drawers are so deep and these 4″ dividers in my pantry. One of my favorite ways to organize a drawer!
This was the one drawer that didn’t need work.. ha! I just wiped it out and put in new sandwich bags. :) Game changer when I bought these two organizers!
I won’t bore you with every drawer but each is clean and not nearly as full as it was before. One drawer on the right is almost empty because I donated so many cookbooks I never used!
The biggest change in this space is now I’m only using one shelf for food storage and I switched from all of my OXO containers. I still love them! But the lids were a pain to keep clean and I had them for so many years (from my pantry in our previous house!) so they were looking a little beat up.
I decided to switch to these glass containers and we are LOVING them! They are lightweight and so easy to wipe clean.
I love the tall containers for pasta! I found these cute labels on Amazon too.. waterproof!
I also switched from 4 cereal containers to these two cereal dispensers because we aren’t eating as much cereal. For the most part I LOVE these. I bring my yogurt in and roll the little dial and instant granola on top! One thing to note.. when you turn the dial it can sometimes grind a piece or two smaller with bigger things like the wheat chex! Not a big deal but I wanted to mention it if you are considering getting these. The other thing to consider is they are TALL so make sure you have the space for them! Other than that.. coolest invention ever. :)
Kenny was giving me such a hard time about these labels! He walked in when I was putting them on and said “what are you doing?” and I said “putting labels on these containers” and he said “oh I am SO GLAD you are doing that. I couldn’t tell that was the pretzels! Or the nuts. What would we even do without the labels?” Ha ha.. he thinks he’s hilarious. Every time he gets out something to snack on he shakes his head and tells me how grateful he is for that label telling him what he is about to eat. IN MY DEFENSE! I ordered the labels for the baking items (flour, sugar, etc) but there were so many cute options. I had a sticker for everything! And who wants to let a good label go to waste!? Gotta love the sarcasm. Teasing me is his love language. But I will defend my labels to the death. They are sometimes useful and every time CUTE. Who is with me!? ;)
There are my baking items I needed the labels for! Who can tell between baking powder and baking soda!? NECESSARY. Side note.. these cute serving boards have a fun scallop edge and I use them all the time. Same with my marble lazy susan! Such a favorite.
On to the bottom section!
Baskets are all clean too! These are great for bread, rice cakes, potatoes.. things like that.
My shelves are so clean! I’m loving having them less stuffed. This can organizer is such a long time favorite I’ve had for years.
I also added a tray for my blow pop suckers.. ha. Like I said.. time to make this pantry work for me. ;)
I am happy and so are the singing angels. I hear them in this space often now.
SO happy to have this space clean and organized and checked off the list! Also happy to have my hallway and dining room back. And labels on EVERYTHING so we always know exactly what we are eating.
;)