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Monday, March 18, 2013

Makeover Monday~ Pantry Revisited




 Makeover Monday

Pantry Revisited

My pantry has become my nemesis.

Phineas and Ferb Nemesis Song

You may remember my Makeover Monday: Sad Dawn post about my pantry difficulties. 
Like the laundry room, this is a room I going into several times a day. I really wanted to make it something cute. 
*sigh*

First, Before pictures. 


It was making my teeth cringe EVERY time I opened the door. Plus, I couldn't find ANYTHING. 
So, since I had a week off. I decided to tackle the beast. 
Step one: 
Take everything out. 


Um, wow...
This is what happens when you're unorganized. You end up with FOUR OPEN boxes of plastic wrap and FOUR OPEN boxes of trash bags. 





Empty pantry
Here is where it got complicated. Have you ever tried one of those puzzles where you have to move every piece to make a one piece fit ? Yeah, that was my kitchen. 
The goal of organizing the pantry was to move the spices from this cabinet and the storage containers from the other cabinet into new homes. 

Inspired by Alejandra, I decided to buy a  "Wall Pocket" for the spices.

 No, it isn't a shoe organizer. Having a shoe organizer in my pantry would be weird...

Then, I decided to concede my search for cute shelf paper and just buy practical that would give some color. 

HUGE MISTAKE! 
I tried putting a few items back in and realized every time I lifted a box the shelf paper stuck to the BOX, not the shelf. 
*Double sigh*

Having everything on the counter was making me twitchy. 
I just started putting it back in. 
It looked a little better. 
The wall pocket worked great. 
But, the rest of the pantry... Meh. 

On the surface, it looks organized, but do you see the problem I did? 
No boundaries. Nothing to keep that jar of Peanut Butter from wandering over to Sprite bottles. 

I decided to give myself one more day to work on some solutions. 
I added Lazy Susans to make use of the corner space and keep like items together. 

 

I created a snack station for the girls: Zip-loc bags, crackers, water, water bottles and Goldfish.
 
And, moved the paper towels to the bottom so they are easily accessible. 

Before:

After:


It is the cutest pantry EVAH? Um, no.
Does it make me smile every time I open the door? 
Nope. 
Can I find everything and see exactly what's on hand? 
Yeah. 

Any suggestions on how to liven it up? 
I really don't want to paint. But, I've given up on shelf paper.

What area of your house would you consider your nemesis? 


3 comments:

Teri Anne Stanley said...

I have to wonder...are you sure you put the shelf paper jelly side down?

I just went through this...we got a new vent hood thingy over the stove. For the first time in 14 years, we can now use the oven at more than 350 without setting off the smoke detectors in three states.
But the vent actually goes to the outside of the house, requiring some actual duct work that fills part of the cabinet above the hood. Where I kept 14 years worth of first aid supplies, vitamins that should have changed my life, and three cans of turmeric.
What the hell is turmeric? Why would I ever need more than one can? I gave it to my neighbor who actually cooks.
I still have a giant box of...stuff...that needs to be sorted.
Sigh.

Dawn Alexander said...

There is not jelly side to this shelf liner. It's the same on both side. After complaining to several people, I've been informed this shelf paper is cheap and crappy. UGH.

I laughed at the vent thing. That is hilarious. And, I have no idea what turmeric is or why one might need three cans of it!

Jen FitzGerald said...

Oh, if only I HAD a pantry!!

As for my housing nemesis, let's see...probably the hallway closets, at the moment. They really really need to be cleaned out.