Pantry Makeover

When we moved into our new house this summer, I had a lot of rooms to organize (and repaint and remodel).  I brought boxes and boxes of bins and baskets with us to the new house that we had used in the old house.  Different colors and shapes and sizes. However, you can't just organize a new house in the exact same way as an old house because nothing is set up the same way. Dimensions are different, rooms are different, the way you will use the rooms is different. So while I had bins and baskets galore, some of them just were not going to work in the new space.  

That was true of our pantry.  Our old pantry was a completely different shape, and the bins I had before were just not working for this pantry.

While It wasn't bad, it wasn't working for us.  The kids couldn't see what was tucked in the back corner, and the baskets weren't being used as much.  Everyone was starting to toss things in wherever they felt like it, and no one could find what they wanted.  I found that I was being asked more and more if we had any cookies or where are the crackers, and I was starting to buy doubles of things because I couldn't find the originals either.  This was starting to happen on the shelves as well:

The old bins weren't working, so it was time to organize it into something new.  I headed out to The Container Store with measurements and a plan.  I like to have most of the food I store in the pantry readily available and visible to everyone.  That way no one ever needs to ask me if we have any more granola bars; they can just look for themselves.  I also like to keep bulk items on the top shelf to replenish the bins as we run out.

Before

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Before

After

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After

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It looks brighter and everything is easier to find and put away.  I can easily see what I need to get from the store or refill from the bulk boxes on top.  And much easier to life life, organized.  I used some of my favorite pantry items from The Container Store  to get it all accomplished.

MadeSmart Lazy Susan

Large Expand A Shelf

AkroBin

Multi Purpose Bins