Home Organization 101: Week 3, The Pantry

So, according to A Bowl Full of Lemons blog it is week #2 The Garage, but since I don't have a garage, we are skipping over to week 3: The Pantry.

A Bowl Full of Lemons

This week I will be organizing our pantry. Our pantry is not in the kitchen, and since it's a fairly big job in itself, it's separate. Like last time, I will be emptying my pantry COMPLETELY. And putting everything back once I have found solutions to the lack of organization that is my pantry...I'm not joking.

Here are the embarrassing before pictures...seriously it's absolutely awful. I think both the pantry and the coat closet (that challenge is right around the corner) have become places to throw things that don't fit anywhere else.

There are four shelves that cannot be adjusted. There is also a significant amount of space underneath the shelving where Frank and I have been storing some of our large appliances that don't have a place anywhere else...and we don't use that often.

As you can see we have WAY too many plastic bags and they have begun to take over the left corner of the closet. We also have no real place for potatoes and for now I just set them in the closet since it's a cool, dark place.

Baking items and condiments are just shoved onto the shelf.

Our crock-pot lives on the top shelf with the cereal we rarely eat. Canned goods, pastas, and grains are strewn all over the place. It's extremely difficult to find anything I need as you can see.

Step 1: Take everything out and wipe down shelves and sweep floor. Check.

Step 2: Lay items out and categorize them. Put aside items that do not  belong. Check.

This week I will be working on Step 3: putting items into bins and containers and labeling them accordingly. 

I have quite the project ahead of me! I took the time today when I emptied the pantry to make a list of items I need and plan to head to the dollar store, Walmart & Target for affordable organizing items. I will be working on this project for the rest of the week. You can look at what A Bowl Full of Lemons did with her pantry (here). 

Stay posted for our results this weekend!