Before & After: The Pantry

I am a self-proclaimed lover of all things elfa.  Me and the Container Store?  We go way back.  I distinctly remember my first-ever trip to the Container Store when I was in college.  I went with my then-college roommate to the store in Houston.  I laid one eye on their drawer systems and I was in love.  A few months ago when my sorority sisters and I got together, we stopped in at Charming Charlies and they all said, “Kathryn, it’s the store made just for you!”  {everything is color coded – brilliant!}

Some people call it OCD, I call it being efficient.  I only consistently lose two things in my life – my cell phone and my shoes.  For everything else, there is a place.

Our pantry wasn’t horrific, but we didn’t have a system and I needed a couple more shelves for bulk storage and seasonal kid items, like water bottles.  The shelves were all funky and we had an odd angled wall which made storage a little tricky.  My old pantry in our smaller house was double the size, but I didn’t have near the cabinet space.  In this house we have many more cabinets, so I truly only store food and a few kid items like water bottles and lunch sacks in there now.

We had a three-day weekend and after “convincing” Scott of my plan, he accepted it on one condition.  His part of the project had to be completed by noon on Saturday.  Done and done.

Here’s the result!  I got rid of all the bulky cereal, snack and pasta boxes.  This way, I know exactly how much food we have left.  Any instructions needed were just cut out and double-sticky-taped to the top of the container.  The smaller things were placed in some wire bins I scored on sale from Crate & Barrel.  I reorganized the shelving on the wall and the door to group like things together – like all the pb&j supplies (jams, nutella, PB and honey) are on one shelf, within easy reach for the kids.  All in all?  Love. It!

If you ever need me to come help you declutter and maximize your space – holla anytime.  I love it when a plan comes together!