A little over a month ago, I was going through one of the many piles of crap that happened to be sitting on our counter at the time. I came across a Lowe’s Creative Magazine, that had probably been there for a good month if not longer, and decided if it hadn’t been read yet, it was going in the trash… and in the trash it went.
Later that day hubby came home and went to throw something away. He noticed “his” magazine in the trashcan and unknowing of the wrath that was about the spark said “why did you throw this away, I was going to read it”. Well, friends… to say I lost it is a little bit of an understatement. I dug it all up and threw it in his general direction.
“You didn’t even know it existed until you saw it in the trash!” (true)
“You never help me keep things clean!” (lie)
“The piles of crap are overtaking my life!” (exaggeration)
“I can’t stand it anymore, I hate this dining room table!” (grasping at anything)
This went on for a good hour, and I did go a LOT little overboard, but that rant helped me get my kitchen a little more organized- go figure! I headed over to iheartorganizing and Sunny Side Up hoping to get some help organizing paperwork, and discovered I needed to organize my whole kitchen- don’t you love when that happens?
I started with cupboards, purging all of the old Tupperware that didn’t have matching lids or was stained. After that I realized I had a whole bottom shelf in a pretty big cupboard that could be used for small appliances, so those were moved over.
Here is a before photo of my pantry- I was already in the cleaning process so it is usually a little more organized that this, but not much.
Here is what I hated about it:
1. The wire shelving- it’s not something I could easily or cheaply fix, so I needed a different solution so that my small bottles, cans, and boxes didn’t fall over constantly.
2. There are some really heavy appliances on the top shelf.
3. The bottom shelf contained glass bottles and old baby food jars which are breakable and easily accessible to E.
4. BOXES- so many boxes, some half full, some mostly empty… but too many boxes!
5. Overall lack of organization.
Here is the in-between:
My kitchen was in COMPLETE disarray for a good three days. E LOVED it though! She wheeled her wagon in there and spent hours playing with boxes and placing things in her wagon.
So, to solve the issues that I hated, there were a couple of things I needed: baskets, bins and Snapware. Also a HUGE trashcan for everything was being thrown out! I headed to Ross first; I had read that sometimes they carry Snapware products, and they did! I cleaned out both Ross’ and the Marshall’s in our area. I also went to Target and The 99 Cent Only store for the other items on the list.
And this is the finished product!
I LOVE IT! I showed everyone that walked in my house my new pantry!
A close up look of the dry storage- sealed tight! I changed the small labels out to my chalkboard labels.
Snack Storage
Now for the breakdowns-
1. All of the Snapware Storage that you see (snacks, dry storage) came from Ross and Marshall’s. I got what I needed plus a few extras. They ranged from $5-10 each. Organization and box problem solved!
You can also buy them on Amazon if you don’t want to go searching-
Snack Containers
Large Dry Storage
Small Dry Storage
Small White Stacking Basket
2. All of the clear and white containers that you see came from Target. The clear containers were 5 for $4.97- less that $1 each! and the white ones ranged from $3-5. Wire shelving, organization and box problem solved!
3. All of the green baskets came from The 99 Cent Only store, and were all only 99 cents 🙂 Some of these hold the glass baby jars on the top shelf so E can’t get to them now- problem solved!
4. And finally we moved all of the heavy appliances to the ground or bottom shelf- problem solved!
Thanks for reading- let me know if you have any questions! Have you ever done a big organization project like this? How’d it turn out? Any tips?
Linking up here:
Awesome! What a difference some containers & a few days can make 🙂
Wow!! You did a great job! I did some spring cleaning the other week and totally underestimated the time consuming kitchen! Way to go!!
You did an awesome job. You can work on mine next.
It looks fabulous! I”m going to have you come to my house!
You did a great job! Now you’ll be able to find things so much easier than before. I’m sure a big weight has been lifted. Way to go!!
Looks great!!!! I follow iheartorganizing religiously, but I haven’t heard of the other site. I have been planning my pantries for awhile now, and actually got a bunch of the tupperware for Christmas. I am excited to get over into our new place here soon so I can start organizing!
Wow! You have inspired me Stephanie! This looks fabulous! Thanks for all the tips, and I love when people share where they got things/how much they were – so helpful. Hope you’re doing well! Seems like ages since I’ve talk with ya!
Inspirational!!!! And I feel I should add in that you’ve kept it this clean since you did it; that’s the mark of true, good organization — it lasts longer than a week 🙂
Now, when are you helping me do mine again?
Your pantry looks fabulous! I love how you pitched the boxes and put the contents in containers. Boxes can really take over, can’t they?
I bet it feels SO good to open the door now! I just love pretty labels!
Thanks so much for linking up to Simply Sensational Tuesday! I’ll be featuring this post on my Facebook. 🙂
You should know that I am totally swooning right now. 🙂 I love it! You did a great job tackling what I know can be an overwhelming project. Whats next on the list?
That looks AWESOME! I have pantry envy 🙂
Your pantry looks awesome! Thank you so much for linking up! I’ve used one of your pics and highlighted your post today in my week 14 link party post!!
I love it! I’m planning a pantry overhaul this Summer, and I look forward to that “mission accomplished” feeling and having some pantry peace.
I had wire pantry shelving in our former home. I wanted to throw white, cut-to-size, mdf shelving on each shelf, but that was too costly at the time. When my Sister came to visit, she suggested and helped me cut foam board purchased from the art store with an exacto knife which we covered in decorative contact paper on both sides. (It was for my viewing pleasure because I’m short.) It made such a difference especially because it was functional, pretty and washable! (It was a bit difficult to install because we couldn’t bend it very much.)
I think large, appliance cardboard cut to size would work on your shelves and would even allow a bit more flexibility for installation. It’s perfect the way it is especially with the reorganization and all the great containers, but if you find things leaning a bit more than you would like, it may be an option.
It looks great! That’s just what I’m looking to do with mine. I heard that Walmart has good inexpensive containers for pantry things too. Thanks for the visit to my blog. I’m following you now- Always nice to meet another mom 🙂
Love this!! Where did you find the labels? Are they chalkboard labels?VCan’t wait to try some of these ideas in my own pantry.