Before and After: How to Clean and Organize the Pantry

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I figured while we were tackling big organization projects (like our laundry room HERE) I might just keep plugging along for some more spring cleaning. Next up on my list of to-do's was our pantry. Oh my gosh, exploding at the seams and beyond disorganized, it needed some serious elbow grease to get this puppy in working order.

One thing I absolutely loathe about our pantry is the shape of it. It has a non-flat back, meaning one of the sides is at an angle so we can't install gliding shelves or really do much with it. I think I've come up with the perfect organizational option...plastic baskets. I popped into the Dollar Tree the other day for some Easter Basket goodies (check out our green Easter ideas HERE) and I stumbled upon these bright colored plastic baskets for $1/piece. You know my complete adoration/infatuation for anything turquoise so I quickly snatched ten of them up.

So let me walk you through the process. Starting on the top shelf, I removed everything and laid it out on the kitchen counter and wiped down the shelf with our Seventh Generation all purpose spray. I inspected each item for it's use by date and either a - threw it away (recycling the packaging if I could) b - left it on the kitchen counter to organize later. I did this for every shelf.

Also, as I was taking each item out, I grouped it with other similar items. Let me remind you that there was no order to the chaos before this. Pam spray was next to sugar and popcorn was by the cereal. It was a downright, disorganized, non-functioning mess and it drove me crazy! Next, I placed each item back on it's newly organized shelf in this order from top to bottom:

top shelf - cereal/oatmeal/morning eats

shelf 2 - canned goods/pasta/bulk foods

shelf 3 - cooking oils/vinegars

shelf 4 - baking goods/salts/sugars

shelf 5 - snacks galore

bottom shelf - potatoes/onions/rice/liquor

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See, look above, what did I tell you...we had Mini Blow Pops next to Pam next to canned green beans next to Caro syrup. What in the world, right? On the bottom picture you can see how organized my pretty $1 basket makes us. Now, when I need Pam spray or olive oil...I know exactly where it is!

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I have no excuses for the above image. Truthfully, now that everything is all organized, I can't even believe we lived/cooked like that before now. It was just complicating our home in ways that it didn't need to. Glancing at the after image above you'll see that our salt and sugars are now in baskets with all the baking goods (flour, bulk sugar, powered sugar) around those on the shelf. It feels so much more user friendly for spending a mere $10 on the baskets.

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This might be the most embarrassing areas of all. Though truthfully the picture does it no justice at all. The floor of our pantry was a complete disaster. Onion skins, bagged potato dirt and a huge cappuccino machine that needed to find a new home pronto (now it's in the cabinet above our fridge). No more onion skins or potato dirt on our floor because they are safe and sound in their respective bright turquoise holders. I also love that we also have two extra un-unused baskets under the onions and potatoes too. So if I find I need an extra one, they are right there.

I can't even begin to express to you how much more organized I feel after doing this. It makes cooking such a breeze and there's no digging in the pantry for things. I can see everything in there and when CC Hubby opened the door (without knowing I had done this) he exclaimed, "WOW!" The whole household is totally appreciating our newly organized space. Next on my list...maybe a label maker.

Cost Breakdown for Organizing the Pantry:

Seventh Generation Spray - already owned

Paper towels - already owned

10 plastic baskets from Dollar Tree - $10

TOTAL = $10...and worth every penny!