As part of the 52 Weeks to a Organized Life/Home Series, we recently organizing started in the pantry. As I pointed out in the post, my pantry was out of control. Basically I was just using it as a place to shove junk in when we had guests. It was a mess. No wonder I had no interest in cooking any meals.
The day after I shared my before picture, I got started on get my pantry cleaned out and organized. During my hair appointment earlier in the day, I mentioned to my stylist that my one goal for the day was getting my pantry organized and cleaned out. She replied “That should be easy.”
I don’t think she realized how disorganized and out of control my pantry had gotten. It took me over three hours to clean out, organized, and restock the pantry and the spice cabinet. Oh, did I mention or share pictures of my spice cabinet? I was living in a bad infomercial where I was attacked by spice jars whenever I opened the spice cabinet. Spices out of control, I tell ya.
It is slightly extremely embarrassing when disorganization gets so out of control. But even more than it being embarrassing, it costs me time and money. Time because I have to dig for spices or canned goods. Money because I end up with duplicates because I can’t find the things already in my pantry. Having an organized pantry and spice cabinet make me happy. (A fully organized kitchen would be awesome but we are taking this project one week at a time!)
So how did I get started? I followed the advice in my Organizing the Pantry post. I didn’t buy any new containers. I used only containers I had on hand. Luckily, a couple years ago, I had purchased numerous of the OXO storage containers, which I had already been using but when I organized, I made them even more useful. I really love my OXO containers because they are so easy to stack.
I also consolidated the numerous boxes of cereal into cereal storage containers. This Snapware Jumbo Flip Top container is my absolute favorite. I only have one of these and then a couple of imitations that are harder to snap together but work just as well. Cereal boxes take up a lot of space, sometimes they get knocked off and spill crumbs and pieces all over the pantry. I like using the storage containers for freshness and for the clean look it gives my pantry.
Shelf helpers are also nice. I have one on my top shelf where I keep extra paper goods and I would love a few more to my collection in the future.
I also purged items I didn’t think we would eat or use. I took an entire grocery sack to our office of freebies for the guys. I also ended up with a bag of trash of stuff that just wasn’t worth saving. I also discovered, I shouldn’t need to buy any pantry staples for a few months as we have plenty now that I can find them.
Onto the spice cabinet.
I was seriously living in a infomercial commercial where the lady has a mountain of spices land on her head. Then she discovers the Spicy Shelf and her life is no longer in danger from her spices. I actually purchased the Spicy Shelf at my local Dollar General over the Christmas holiday. I didn’t have time, of course, to mess with it during the holidays. I debated for quite awhile on whether to even purchase it or not. It looked cool but it would it actually work like intended? I even took all the pieces out of the box at the end of December and decided it looked too difficult at the time to put together. Really, it was’t difficult at all. I think I was completely overwhelmed at the thought of having to move around all my spices. (You can buy the Spice Shelf at the Dollar General for $20 if you can find it in your store or you can purchase over at Amazon.)
Has everyone heard about the Spicy Shelf? I know when I mentioned it to my mom, she got all excited and asked if I actually liked it. So far, I’m happy with it. It does seem to open up space on shelf and makes it easier to see the spices I have. My issue in the future maybe when I add more spices, will I just put them in the empty square area and get it all cluttered up again?
Here’s my after photo…now will it actually stay like this?
I also have a swivel shelf on the top shelf. I picked that up as a special buy at Aldi last year. It is so handy for a short person like me. I put my lesser used spices on this shelf and I can spin and grab what I need without trying to find a step stool. I have seen similar items at the Container Store.
P.S. My daughter who is 8 told me how easy it was to find the cinnamon today! She was adding cinnamon to her hot chocolate and found it easily. Normally, she probably would have given up. (She is also concerned that the cabinet will not stay like this but we will have to work to keep it organized and decluttered!)
If you don’t have any of organization tools or containers, I would suggest buying them slowly as you go. I have been buying these organization baskets and items for several years now and adding as I need to so that the expense is spread out over a long period of time.
Share your before and after pictures with me on our Facebook Page! I would love to see your organization progress!
{52 Weeks to a More Organized Home/Life}
If you have any of the hoarding tendencies we describe in this post, you may want to work on getting organized for the New Year. Getting organized and staying organized always seem to be on my list of New Year’s Resolutions. Would you like to join me in getting organized for 2015? Each week we will tackle one area of the home to help you get organized, reclaim your sanity, and save money since disorganization can lead to spending more or missing out on discounts.
Are you interested in actually getting organized for 2015? We have worked extensively on a series to help you get organized in 52 weeks. If you would like to receive these emails about how to get your home organized in 52 weeks, you can sign up to receive just ONE email per week. You can sign up at any time during the year without missing a beat.
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