Oook. Since I have
no shame. . . I’m going to unleash on you our pantry monster!
We live in a
little 2 bedroom apartment, and this pantry also subs as our “hall” closet. Besides our tiny closet in our bedroom (that used to be a staircase so it’s extremely narrow. . . this is all we have! Still dreaming of a house with a basement someday!)
This is really what it looked like last weekend (I didn’t trash it for pictures).
W.O.W. Can you believe we let it get like that! It got to the point where it was dangerous to go in there for toilet paper because opening the door meant
AVALAAAAANCHE!
I decided to start off with the top shelf since it seemed like an easier step. We ended up throwing away THREE empty soda cartons and lots of old wedding present gift wrapping paper (I did salvage some tissue paper and bigger scraps).
Getting there. . . like I said. . . little apartment- no glamour here.
I grouped like items together such as all the painting related stuff in one section, all seedlings and gardening stuff in the planter (for the Spring), and then candles in that basket. We put the paper towels and toilet paper in an easier-to-reach, more sturdy spot. . .
Next we clipped all the open chip bags for freshness. . . and threw away some stale crackers and other questionable unsealed remnants. . .
Then I moved on to the bottom half.
Oh, did you see my OVERFLOW stash of canned tuna and tomato stuff? Looks like we’re getting ready for the “end times.”
Stationary supplies like pencils, pads and sticky pads went in that tub, and place mats are now rolled up on the side for easy grabbing.
Onions, shallots and garlic are supposed to be kept in the
dark to keep them from
sprouting. I’m using these baskets so they’re easy to reach for and because they keep air circulating.
(Things kept rotting inside the kitchen cabinets).
Isn’t that
bag of rice so cool-looking? It’s in that awesome zipper-pouch (no more spilling!) Also, I’m keeping these
bell jars handy for now until I decide what to put in them.
Moving on to the cabinets.
This is where I keep
my stock piles. Whenever these things go on sale (usually Walgreens has the BEST deals believe it or not- better than even ALDIs!) I stock up! It saves time later and lots of $! After moving the
chips to a different area, I reorganized the shelves. You can’t tell, but there are THREE 4lb. bags of
sugar, 2 jars of
peanut butter and 3 jars of
honey all on that top shelf along with TWO 5lb. bags of
flour and 2 packets of
cereal bars!)
I also have a stash of
mason jars, tons of plastic
flatware leftover from the reception and a huuuuge stash of all sizes of plastic ziplock and fold-top
baggies!- YES, Walgreens-brand! Running out of essentials is the WORST for me!
Here’s where we keep our most-used
shoes so we don’t track dirt and mud into the carpets, plus it’s so close to the front door when we’re on the go.
There’s our
charcoal and
vacuum also…
I love these shelving units! They were Garage Sale Finds from last summer to “build” our pantry. I think I paid something like $3 for the white one, and $8 for the 2-part black one.
Ok- so the camera isn’t the greatest, but here’s an idea. . .
BEFORE AFTER
Phheeew!
