Organizing: Day 7 The Pantry

Our house has a pantry that was originally supposed to house the washer and dryer. The original builders of the house decided to move them into the fourth bedroom and split that in 1/2 and create 1/2 a laundry room and 1/2 a walk in closet. We are in the beginning stages of remodeling that space back into a 4th bedroom for the house and the washer and dryer will go into the garage (eventually). So... that means we have the closet area where the washer and dryer should have been (which is in the middle of our dining room no less) for our pantry. We also have the small closet next to our garage door but we use that for the trash and recyclables.

Here is the before picture. What is sad is that this space was organized way back when on Our Frugal Future  and looked great! It has since fallen from grace and needs a facelift.

 

The first thing I did was pull out everything at the bottom. The vacuum and steam mop really don't belong in there. They are supposed to be in the trash/recycling closet but have found their way here. I put those where they belonged and then dealt with the candles and lunch boxes. The dog food needed to be dumped into the container for it (the bag was behind the Dyson).  

Someone wanted to help (but with the yard stick?)

Then the kitchen table got everything! Then we scrubbed the floor and prepared to put new drawer organizers in the bottom and guess what? They don't fit. They are about 1/2 an inch too tall. 

I'm pretty sure the dilemma is because this was originally intended for a washer and dryer and then the contractor just threw up shelves. There is a HUGE gap in the top to the ceiling which makes organizing a nightmare. 

So..... off to Target to get smaller containers or..... rip out the bottom, shelf cut off a piece and reinstall higher up? Oh the options (and I do have a nail gun)

So, yeah, I did it. I ripped out the bottom shelf. This gives me the excuse to redo the whole thing as soon as I get a chance.

Instead of ripping out the entire pantry I just re-organized what I could sans last shelf plus new organizers. Eventually I will buy another drawer organizer to complete the bottom and then put new shelving into the entire pantry. Believe me I am actually very excited to do this myself.

My label maker is out of labeling film and I didn't realize it until too late. I will need to label these drawers but for now here is what they contain. The organizer on the left has all my teas in the bottom drawer. The middle drawer contains all of our snacks (100 calorie packs, popcorn, fruit leather, etc).  The top drawer has all our drink mixes. The blue Tupperware container sitting on top has our oatmeal packages. The right organizer has straws and paper plates in the bottom drawer, candy melts and marshmallows in the second drawer, and crackers in the top drawer.

These little lovlies are bins I picked up at Ikea. I had them shipped a while back since Ikea is 1 1/2 hours away and I wasn't driving there just for pantry bins. They are labeled with my label maker.

On the right hand side are my baking supplies. They are in Tupperware canisters. The potato bin is next to it.

The cans are on the top shelf (until I redo the pantry that is. When that happens they are moving down).  The top shelf (the wasted space) currently holds our excess couponing purchases. They include: extra juice, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, juice pops, cereal and condiments. I hope when the pantry gets redone to move them down as well so I can put paper towels, toilet paper and tissue at the top. They are currently in a cabinet in my kitchen.

Well, here you have it. A torn out shelf so my organizers could be used, an organized pantry (for now) and the birth of a new DIY project yet to come! Aren't you glad you stopped by?

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