School is back in session which means making lunches is back in session. Majority of our evenings are spent at some activity for the kids, and mornings are busy preparing for work and school. With having limited time to make lunches it was imperative to create an efficient and organized pantry making it easier to find items.
Being a family of 5 our pantry has become a dumping ground for snacks, appliance manuals cans, and more. I can’t even believe I let our pantry get so out of hand. I had been putting off tackling this pantry, because I knew this was going to be a major haul. With the help of The Container Store, I finally decided to pull up my sleeves and attack this pantry organization.
Since organizing my pantry making lunches has been so much easier and a major time savings. Not to mention on this overhaul we found so much food that was hidden in the depths of our messy pantry.
I know I am not the only one that has dealt with an unorganized pantry. So today I am giving you not only a tour of my pantry makeover with The Container Store. I am here to help you through this by giving you easy tips so you can also get an organized pantry.
First let me begin with I have a Small/Medium size pantry to help you get an idea when visualizing how the items I have will fit in your pantry.
Here is a sad picture of our before, so you can see exactly how big this makeover is! BEFORE
I know for me sometimes I want to get a video glimpse into a space to fully inspire me to recreate my own space. With that, I have started my Youtube channel. I feel my pantry reveal is the perfect opportunity to make my debut to my Youtube channel. Make sure to like the video, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE to my channel.
Alright, so let’s dive into this pantry makeover. So hopefully I can help give you the tools to be able to have an organized pantry too!
Assess and map out a game plan
Don’t run out just yet to grab your storage items. Take a second and assess your current pantry. Where are the areas of improvement? What type of items need to be stored? How much of each item needs to be stored? These are the questions you should start asking.
After that I went online and started browsing what storage items would fit each storage need the most. This gave me an idea of what to get from the Container store based on my needs. Then I could start making my game plan. I mapped out my pantry in my head but if it is easier definitely write it down or make a diagram.
Time to shop
Once you have it mapped out, its time to go shopping! Grab all your desired storage needs, and don’t forget your labels and label pens!
Purge the pantry
Time to pull out all those items in your pantry. Group them together, so its easy to store. Also use this time to throw away expired items (I had some items with 2017 dates ugh!) If there are any items you don’t want but are still good to eat make a donation pile.
Clean out pantry
Before you put your new storage items in your pantry give those shelves a thorough cleaning! I completely swept, mopped, and wiped down the entire pantry. I opted not to do any shelf liners, but if you desire this would be the time to lay those down after cleaning out the shelf.
START PLACING ITEMS
At this point all of my food items were on the counter I had all of my storage items place by each food item, and I was ready to start placing.
I place most items that are quick grabs in the baskets.
Give yourself time to put everything together, move things around. As mentioned earlier i didnt create it a diagram so this was all trial and error. If a basket didn’t fit I would then swap it for a smaller one.
BREAKDOWN OF THE PRODUCTS THAT WERE USED
Water Hyacinth Bins – I opted to do majority of my storage using Water Hyacinth bins, I used an assortment of X-Small rectangle, Medium Rectangle, and Large cube. This was personal preference for me, it felt more at home with this style, plus I loved that unless you look in the food isn’t as visible. After my kids get a hold of these snacks there’s no telling what the inside of the bins will look like.
OXO POP products are great, I love the POP seal that helps keep products fresh. Also I love there are a variety of products to fit any of my pantry needs. The Container Store had a whole wall of POP canisters. My recommendation is to really assess the products you need to store prior to going shopping so you can get the best size.
Artisan Glass Canisters – I loved the Artisan glass canisters, I felt that it looks a bit more elevated than normal glass canisters. However, I instantly imagined the sound of glass crashing down, so I opted to use these canisters for non kid items. This way I could put them up higher out of reach from the kiddos.
If you are on the fence about cleaning out your pantry I would 100% take the leap and tackle this project. I found items in my pantry I didn’t even know were there. It is night and day. Our pantry makes it so much easier to find snacks for making lunches, I know when I am actually running low on an item. It overall has simplified my life. Not to mention makes my kitchen look that much better!
I already feel it saves us time looking for food, saving us money because we are not ordering duplicate items. If you are a mom just beware, because my boys are now sneaking snacks more than ever because they can see every item so much easier!!
*All products were generously provided by The Container Store, all thoughts are my own*
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