Home Organization 101: Week 3 - The Pantry

So far, I've accomplished 3 of the tasks for the Home Organization 101 challenges in 2 weeks. That is awesome! Especially since, when I started, I was 8 weeks from my due date and it's supposed to be a 14 week challenge. I know. That math doesn't really add up, does it? Well, that's why I am trying to get as much done as quickly as I can (without cutting corners!).

For the last task I finished Week 2 - The Garage (and now we can actually park in there. What a concept.) This task was to tackle the pantry. I have to start off by saying how hard it is for me to keep my pantry clean. I think that's because I wish it were bigger. I know... who doesn't want a bigger pantry? But we (try to) buy in bulk and then we come home and have to find a place for all that food! Let me tell you, when your "pantry" is more of a set of shelves or an over sized cabinet, that can be difficult. We have actually talked about making room for food items in our garage, but have never gotten around to it... maybe when this challenge is over I will be motivated to get around to that...

At any rate, this is the first time I have actually been semi pleased with my pantry. It turns out, if you take out all of the "junk" in there, you can fit more food!

Well... I won't keep you waiting any longer. Drum roll, please. Here is my newly organized pantry:

Here is an overall view. The shelves extend about 8 or so inches on either side of the door way. Which is nice because the pantry is slightly larger than it looks, but that's also a pain because the items back there are harder to reach.

Now let's go on and have a look at what I did shelf-by-shelf:

So there you have it. It's not perfect, but it is definitely an improvement.

And for my next project -- which I hope to have finished this week -- I will be doing my office/guest room. Wish me luck!! It will be difficult for two reasons. First, I am not able to do anything in there during the day because N thinks that he is just entitled to rummage through every drawer and container and bookshelf and whatever else he can get his hands on. Which brings me to the second reason. It is a DISASTER! Whenever I am cleaning the house and come across something that belongs in there, I just throw it in there where it fits and close (and re-lock!) the door to keep him out. So I think that I will either take an evening this week or a day this weekend and have E take N out to the park for a while so I can get some serious work done!



Also see:
Week 1 - The Kitchen
Week 2 - The Garage
Week 4 - The Office (Part 1)
Week 4 - The Office (Part 2)
Week 5 - The Laundry Room
Week 6 - The Master Bedroom
Week 7 - The Linen Closets
Week 8 - The Dining Room
Week 9 - Kids Closets
Week 10 - The Living Room
(And more still to come!!)