Project: Pantry

Tidbit about me...I love organizing.........I am not organized.  Yes you read that right. I love, love, LURVE organizing, labeling, categorizing, etc. yet find my house in disarray so often!  When my home is clean and organized and everything is in it's place, I am a much happier, calmer, at ease person.  I am addicted to organizing blogs.  Since I am off during the summer, and I have little bambino joining our family next winter, I have a TON of projects to get done throughout my home.  Some big, some small. Today, I thought I would spend a few minutes in my pantry.

I have never had a pantry until a few months ago.  My home has two coat closets that weren't being utilized properly, so my sweet hubby had the idea to turn one into a pantry! Oh was I ever so happy. The closet closest to the kitchen was right in the hallway.  Not the ideal place, but within 10 feet of my stove, so it works perfectly for US.

Here is a pic standing beside my stove.

The door to the right leads to the basement, and the door to the left is another closet. Yes that one is closer, but as you can tell, it "technically" is in the family room and I just couldn't see an 11 and 9 year old grabbing cereal and spaghetti o's and trekking them across my carpet. Plus, we use this cabinet to store all of our media and electronics.  Anywho... on to my pantry.

This is NOT my pantry! 

But this is the type of pantry I dream of having. <3 Organized, clean, and labeled.

THIS...is my pantry.

Disorganized, disheveled, I don't know what I have or what I need!  So I spent a quick 20 minutes going through and cleaning out my pantry.

May not look a lot different, but boy is it soooo much better! My shelves are labeled.  My top shelf is of course flour, sugar, and extra bottles of sauces, etc. Second shelf is veggies, tomatoes, and soups. Third shelf is pastas, rice, and mixes. And lastly, is the shelf the kids use: snacks, cereal etc.

This handy, dandy drawer thingy is perfect for my "packets": taco seasonings, dip packets, etc. I also have a drawer for tortillas (which we use OFTEN), coffee and tea (where I keep extra K-cups and tea bags) and Snack Bars, etc. (where the kids keep their individually wrapped granola bars, etc.)

This system works for us like a charm.  Luckily both of my stepdaughters like things as organized as I do. When they help put up groceries, they look for the labels and try to put things where they belong.  Until, we all just give up and it turns into another jumbled mess! :)

This pantry is far from finished, however.  I want to paint the inside a warm, fun color and repaint the shelves as well. Hopefully, I will be able to get this done this summer. :)  and will update if I do. :)

Off to see what project is next! and...to the grocery store!