New, Improved Pantry

First of all, let me just say that the response to yesterday's post has been overwhelming! Thank you all so much for the support, kind words, and for actually caring enough about this little blog to read it.(it amazes me that any of you read this thing. HA!) It was not easy to put it all out there, but I like to keep it real. I also know how helpful it is to me when I read what real women went through. Thank you again for the amazing response, y'all!!

Now, you know I've been on this road to a more organized home, what with the home binder and all. P.S. The meal planning is going wonderfully! Still haven't had to go to the store (normally by now, I'd have taken at least 1-2 trips to get something!). I did have my husband stop and get a pack of Splenda, 'cause let's face it, momma's gotta have that coffee in the morning to function. I know you all know what I mean! Other than that, meals have been made every night (and let me just say this Crock-pot Italian Chicken is going to be a winner!) and no other trips have had to be made. My cleaning checklist has helped me stay on top of things around the house, and I feel so much less stressed because of it. Not scrambling to find something to cook for dinner makes me one happy lady!

The next thing on my "Operation organized household" mission was the pantry. Oh, that pantry. I should've had it perfectly organized from the get-go, but ya know.......didn't happen. Today I decided it was time. It had gotten bad. Real bad. You'll see, just wait. Not to mention when we got home from our huge grocery trip Saturday, we were in such a rush to get Hudson down for a nap, get things put away as much as we could, and get ready for my mom to come and watch Hudson so we could go out, things just kind of got strewn about.

Y'all don't judge me too much for this, ok?

As you can see, our pantry is pretty big. Like, it's got some major potential, right? Growing up, we didn't have a pantry, so we used literally every square inch of cabinet space available in our kitchen. In the last 2 houses Joseph and I lived in, the pantry was a tiny closet. Even that was huge to me! But my childhood bedroom could fit in this thing! (Ok, not really, but I had a tiny bedroom.) 

Anyway, there's so much storage space in this pantry and it hasn't been used to its full potential. I took the time during Hudson's nap this morning, and a little while after it to get this thing in order. I took pretty much everything out of it, disposing of things accordingly. Surprisingly, there wasn't that much to be thrown away....a couple things that had expired, a few crushed crackers, as well as some stale ones, and a couple of empty boxes (WHY, OH WHY!!?!!?) 

And while I was getting things organized, someone else was making them messy......

That Hudson, he just didn't want me to be without something to do when I finished. He's real thoughtful like that. ;-)

Things moved along pretty quickly and before I knew it........

Ah...much better, right? I didn't have to do anything with the top shelf. That's where I store all my buckets and bins. I tried to put all the things we access regularly at eye level, while keeping things I didn't want Hudson to be able to reach up high. (light bulbs, heavy objects, etc.)

I'd eventually like to put all the boxed goods, baking supplies, and anything else that doesn't have a fully resealable bag in those clear containers. They are from Target. I have lots of the labels printed up too. I got them here. There are several more on that site, too. Instead of printing them as stickers, I used laminating sheets to cover them, then put a piece of velcro on the back. I put the other piece of velcro on the containers, that way if I decide I want to change up the containers in which I put certain things, just rip off and re-stick onto the other one. Voila! 

I have several small appliances, most of which I don't use very often. The empty spot on the right by the toaster is for the Crock-Pot. That one gets the most use, by far!  

I like the 2 baskets for fruits and vegetables. I have potatoes in the oval basket, and will put things like apples, tomatoes, etc. in the rectangular one. Obviously the baking section to the right of those still looks a little messy. I can't tell you how seldom I use those things anyway. ;-) 

So there it is! It might not be perfectly organized, labeled, with everything in a beautiful clear container, but it works for me! I'm getting this house organized, one area at a time. Next up.....the laundry room. And boy, does it need help?!?!?!!