Kitchens are always the most interesting part of a house, I think. Especially in rentals. A renter can’t easily change a kitchen around to suit their needs like they can in a bathroom or bedroom by simply adding shelves or a dresser. In every house I have rented in, the kitchen has had the most things that make me go “I would change this if I owned this place”.
In this house, what I was given for a pantry was a simple 5-shelf bookshelf. When we were unpacking the kitchen boxes, we threw all the food items onto/around it. All the cupboard space was taken up with dishes, so I had just the bookshelf to work with. You can see that absolutely nothing has been organized. The Pam is neighbours with the Corn Flakes and the peanut butter is next to the Worcestershire sauce. Yum.
It took me longer than necessary to organize, but I like taking my time when tidying because I enjoy it and I don’t want it to ever end! But here is is after. One of the best kitchen inventions I have ever seen is those shelf hangy things (found at Home Outfitters) because who likes empty space above their items on a shelf? Not me! Everything needs to fit perfectly.
And that’s my pantry!
Pretty soon the rest of my house will be tidy enough to do a full house tour. Stay tuned!
Do you have any favourite pantry organizing tips?
I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog and following your adventures. I love organization and love how you’ve maximized on what you have. I’m still working on that in my home, only because I’m so busy with work and theatre I’m almost never home. It will get there. I just need to set aside the time, because like you, if I’m going to clean and organize I like to do it right the first time.
Great job on organizing your pantry!! I love organizing too……..it’s so satisfying to see the “before” turn into a beautiful “after”. As for organizing tips, I have one for the massive amounts of paper that keep wanting to take over the house. Earlier this year when I organized our office, I put a paper recycling bag, the paper shredder and a garbage can all in one corner. Now when I sort the mail or collect paper from around the house, everything can be disposed of in one place, and anything I need to keep has a place in the filing cabinet.
Great job, Larissa! You always have liked to have a place for everything, and everything in it’s place. Having an open pantry also makes it a little more accountable as to what you buy. Looking forward to seeing the other rooms and hopefully I will be able to get out there and see it “for real”!
Way to use what you’ve got :) I have never had a pantry space before, so everything has to fit into my cupboards. I’m looking forward to having a pantry in my new house!