My Organized Pantry

It is embarrassing, but here is what my pantry looked like on Monday! 

Please.Close.That.Door.

I had stayed home from work because I was sick but decided I couldn’t live with it another minute.

When the girls got back from school, I recruited Natalie to help me clear everything out.  Once the kitchen table couldn’t handle anything else, we started just putting things on the floor. 

And for the next two days we all just walked over the mess and ate standing up around the kitchen.

A couple of weeks ago I had gotten an over the door organizer from Walmart for only $14.99.  It looked kind of flimsy but I did not want to spend too much money.  After clearing everything out, I installed it on the door. 

It turned out just perfect for what I wanted.

It now houses our cereal boxes, hot cocoa and drink mixes.  I love it!

On Wednesday I finally realized that things weren’t going to put themselves back in the shelves so I took my trusty helper Natalie and decided to hit the stores looking for some containers.

We went to Target and Walmart and I quickly realized that it wasn’t going to be an easy task.  Containers.Are.Expensive. We left both stores empty handed.

I decided to hit Goodwill and another thrift store we have in the area.  I found some glass jars for only $1.50 each but I needed a lot more.

By now my shopping partner was getting tired and cranky, but I bribed her with a quick stop at the mall for an Aunt Annie’s pretzel if we could go to another store.  We went to  Christmas Tree Shops and found some good containers.  They were not as cheap as I would have liked, but I decided I was going to have to spend some money to get this done.

After a warm pretzel and a quick walk around the mall we made it back home ready to have some fun.  Well, my little helper said she had enough “fun” for one night and decided to watch some T.V. while I started filling the different containers. After it was all said and done I had two big trash bags full of empty boxes and expired foods.

Here is a look at my newly organized pantry! I am very happy with how it turned out!

I love the tall glass jars.  I want to go back and get four more to house the rest of the pasta that is in boxes.  We eat a lot of pasta in this house.

These big plastic containers are great for housing snacks. We eat a lot of snacks in this house.

(Yes, it does bother me that the lid wasn’t all the way in.  I almost go back and take another picture [grin])

Here is the baking shelf.  We also bake a lot in this house.  Can you tell there is a lot to be desired about our diet? [grin].

The cans are sitting on the floor for now.  I want to get a couple of THESE can organizers but they are not in the budget right now.

Speaking of budget, did you keep track?  I spent $60 on this project [ouch!].  Much more than I wanted, but not too bad considering it got me a door organizer and 20 containers plus a bonding/shopping experience with Natalie.

I am so glad this project is done!  Here is the before and after picture.

And now is on to the next organizing project… 

THE COAT CLOSET [Da-Da-Da-Dum]

Stay Tuned! 

Happy New Year!

2011 is off to a good start and we are in that “first love” stage with our New Year’s Resolutions.  Mine fit into three buckets:

1. Get Healthier and Exercise Regularly.  It’s the fifth day of the month and although not much exercise has been actually done, I have thought about it quite a bit.  So that counts for something, right?  Actually, we got a family membership to our local YMCA and have gotten as far as typing up an exercise schedule.  Tomorrow is the first time the girls and I are hitting the gym.  I can’t wait to feel that all over my body pain from sore muscles.

2. Spend more time nurturing our spiritual life as a family. I would like to have family worships at least three times a week. This is one of the most difficult things for me to do. I could write a whole post about how traumatized I grew up with our “worship” experiences as the daughter of a very conservative pastor, but will spare you the pain. Still I think it is something that is important and that will bring more peace into our home.

3. Get organized! When I open the door to my house and everything is in its place my heart sings in delight.  Unfortunately, I don’t get to hear the singing very often. Maybe this year will be the one I finally get organized.

My husband and the girls spent New Years visiting with his family in Nebraska, and that gave me some time to get an early start on my organization projects. Well, at least it gave me the time to think about them [grin]. While spending some “productive” time reading blogs about decorating and organizing, I saw this post by Just a Girl and immediately got a burst of inspiration.

I don’t have a laundry room, mine is a laundry closet and it has looked like this for a long time. It's normally the first thing I see when I come into the house and it completely drives me crazy.

After a trip to Dollar Tree and $20 in baskets, tags, and ribbons I decided to tackle it. Here it is what it looks like now… [cue angels singing]

My heart skips a beat everytime I open the folding doors.

I love it so much I have not done any laundry since I got it organized because I don’t want to mess it up! But that is a different project [grin].

Hope the New Year is off to a good start for you!

Day Four

A little project that kept me occupied all day yesterday and the majority of today.