Project: Simplify: Pantry Organized

Back in March I participated in Simple Mom’s: Project Simplify 
Here are my results for organizing our pantry.

Pantry (before):

Pantry (before)

Yikes!  Need I say more?

In addition to all the pantry items, below is a picture of all our baking supplies (which were stored in a different location before).  I’m trying to combine them to fit in our pantry. Miracles can happen, right?

Pantry (other)

Pantry after – Ahhhhh! (I can almost hear the angels sing)

Pantry (after)

This was the hardest part of the Project Simplify challenges for me to date.  I first watched a few videos on-line to get some great ideas of how to organize a pantry (so helpful!).

Here’s a couple Youtube videos I watched to get some ideas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJqgllKHlJM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AMV6GPMg6U

You can get some other ideas from googling things like (make sure to click on “Videos”):
- Pantry Organization
- How to Organzie a Pantry
(or click on “Images” if you want to just see visuals of pantry organization)

Here’s what I did:
1. I took everything out of the pantry and wiped down the shelves.

2. Items were separated by “like items with like items” (ie. all baking goods, spices, canned goods, etc.) – checked for any expired dates.

3. Placed items back in panty in an organized and easy-to-use way.
- Top shelf: big kitchen items (crock pot, rice cooker, electric knife, stock-pot hand blender, food chopper, and coffee pot).
- 2nd shelf: spices & baking items.
- 3rd shelf: canned fruits, oils, pasta, rice & beans, and canned veggies.
- 4th shelf: potatoes & onions (still looking for bins I can put them in), and *drink mixes (ie. punch, tea, and coffee). Update: I found some great stacking bins to store the onions & potatoes
- Bottom shelf: overflow condiments, electric skillet, cases of soda.
- Floor items: big bag of rice (since it’s too heavy for me to lift consistently), garbage bag liners, canned goods (right now we have jars of fig jam & homemade veggie broth), and dogfood.

4. New organization items/ideas – hubby bought two under-the-shelf baskets from Target which work great!  One is used for baking items (such as pudding mix, box mixes, etc.) and the other holds rice & beans.  I re-used a tupperware container to place packets of taco seasoning, etc.  I put our powder sugar and spenda in plastic containers w/lids (making sure to label them).  I would still like to put the flour & sugar items in glass jars, but that will be at a later time.  Because I found a few duplicate spices (due to lack of organization), I alphabetized them in our tiered spice rack (I know a bit OCD – but I’m really hoping this will help not buy unneeded multiples).

I’m so excited, as I’ve never had such a neat & pretty pantry before!

Week 1 – Project: Simplify: Master Bedroom Closet
Week 2 – Project: Simplify: Paper Clutter
Week 3 – Project: Simplify: Kids Clothes & Toys
Week 4 – Project: Simplify: Pantry & Fridge

Reflection:
It’s now been almost two months since I completed this pantry organization project, I can honestly say that my pantry still looks about the same.  It is just as organized, and I love how much easier it is to prep meals as I’m able to find what I’m looking for.  It’s been such a time saver!

* After taking a 2nd look at the “after” pictures to see where I can make some room for improvement, I realized that it would be really cute & practical to add some baskets for: punch, tea, and coffee (with cute labels, of course)