Over Loaded Pantry

If any of you saw the last few pictures I posted for the 365 Day Photography Challenge, you may have been wondering what the plywood was for. Well I’m still de-cluttering and we had such an over loaded pantry that needed a total overhaul. During the weeks we were decluttering our kitchen the pantry ended up being a catch-all for any extra food items. So over the weekend Lia and I tackled the pantry!

Before we started clearing out the pantry we made a trip to Lowe’s for a piece of plywood. After Lia measured the width and length, Rich cut the pieces to fit each shelf. I put a piece of plywood over the wire shelves so the small items wouldn’t fall through the cracks and it keeps the shelf level also.

Here is the pantry before we started, we couldn’t get another box or can in it and it was even hard to figure out what was in there! So Lia and I rolled up our sleeves and started one shelf at a time. We started on the top because I know cereal and other little tidbits that feel out of boxes would fall to the lower shelves.

Lia was the “runner and pile upper” and as I handed her cans and boxes she would stack them on the table. She had fun stacking all the tuna fish cans up, I didn’t even realize I had that many! After a shelf was emptied off, I put a piece of the plywood down and Lia started bringing everything back from the table.

The top shelf is always too high to stock things in the back of the shelf or I forget what’s there. So I remedied that by using a crisper drawer I saved from our old fridge 5 years ago! I put that in the left corner and stacked the cereal boxes in it! This way if one happens to fall or tilt a bit, it won’t fall over and spill! The plastic shoe boxes from Dollar stores are great to store my extra bottles of vinegar and bread crumbs. Look at the difference in just having one shelf purged and de-cluttered!

Moving down the line, the second shelf is mostly canned items and the next shelf is packaged items. Did you notice the drawers? That’s the only thing I saved from our kitchen makeover and they sure came in handy! I have all the beans in one draw and on the next shelf I put all Alex’s boxed and bagged foods. The other drawer is from my trail mix goodies, dried fruit and nuts. Notice the small space between the drawers? I even utilized that by putting the Ramon Noodles packs in there, they fit perfectly!

The overloaded candy bin was fun to sort out especially with Lia carefully watching! Everything from the bin went on the table. Yes this is another drawer from our old fridge, they sure to work perfectly since I can pull them out if I need to see what’s in the back. First thing I did was sort out all Lia’s fruit snacks and put in a Dollar store plastic shoe box. Then I put all my protein bars in another door shelf from fridge. Because this shelf is just about eye level to Lia, I camouflaged her fruit snacks under my protein bars. Sneaky, yes? Of course for the candy bin I had to hide the MM’s way in the back and I put the things she doesn’t care for in the front. Sneaky again, yes? I’m happy the way this shelf turned out and the amount of out dated things I tossed!

Since we have limited pantry storage space I have to plan the best I can. The only container that is not in the best spot is the pudding and jello cups. Lia opens the door and there is the covered container in full view on the bottom of the pantry. I have yet another old fridge drawer with her mommy’s meal supplements, the flour, sugar and pancake mixes are in covered containers and all the extra bags of flour and sugar are in another sealed container. If the pudding container gets too tempting I can put the flour and sugar container in front of it. The shelf right about the bottom of the pantry stores my baking sheets in a cool rack where I can slide them in and out easily.

I thought I was finished but I had one dilemma since I was out of space. Where do I put my bags of crackers? My challenge brain went into overdrive and this is what I came up with! I had a spring tension shower rod at the very top for when I use to hang pans up. I just happened to find a cable in the garage with loops on each end. I doubled the cable and attached the loops over a hook we use to hang our fabric samples on when we had our decorating shop. The cable came to the third shelf and I attached another hook and slipped the bags onto that! Problem solved, my crackers are stored on the cable and ready to grab a bag just like at a grocery store!

The over loaded pantry has a new, clean and organized look and is not over loaded anymore! The plywood is on the shelves, they are all organized and look at this trash bag full of outdated packages or things that were opened and no one wanted to eat them! I think I tossed about five or six boxes of cereal! I even re-organized the door shelves so everything is easily accessible! For the amount of items in a small space, I think Lia and I did a great job.

So now I can cross off the upstairs playroom, Lia’s Princess Playroom, the kitchen , Lia’s new kitchen and now the pantry! I wonder what room I will tackle next!