Pantry Organization

A new year is a fresh start and for many people that often means a jump start in organization. I got inspired a little early this year and tackled my kitchen pantry back in October. I had gotten completely fed up with my messy shelves, a jumble of food and office supplies, and products falling through the wire shelving slats. Something had to be done.

Enter, the basket. I originally thought that I would just have a few baskets but they looked so clean and orderly I kept going. I bought a lot of baskets. Basically, the whole supply of all of the Target stores in a 25 mile radius. But look at my pantry now.

Early on I thought that I wouldn't need to have labels on the baskets but once I had more than 5 baskets, it really proved to be necessary. I found these Martha Stewart labels at Staples (similar labels are here). The plastic sleeve has an adhesive back and is lightly sticking to the baskets. The paper inserts are nice and big and can easily slide out to be updated down the line.

I keep my printer tucked away in the pantry so it made sense to store extra paper in there as well. Then I started gathering magazines there. Then some bills. And you know how it goes. It had turned into a messy jumble of stuff. So I got some boxes to store it all and stuck the plastic sleeves to the boxes, too, so there is some consistency in the look.

I then added one more layer of organization – a dry-erase monthly calendar (this to go along with my DIY dry-erase message board).

I'm so happy with the updated pantry. It looks good while being useful, too. Case in point – my father was over a few weeks ago and as he opened my pantry, I heard him say out loud, "I wonder if Jillian has any coffee...." And then a moment later he answered his own question, "Oh yes, she does. Here it is."

Success.