Weekend warrior!

Happy belated 4th of July to you all!   I hope everyone celebrated responsibly and that there were no visits to the local emergency rooms for firework mishaps!

So, as I've said before, the kitchen is my favorite room to organize and de clutter.  I spent last weekend doing just that.  Well, at least my pantry.  When I got divorced, I had to move into a smaller house, which was fine, but I lost a lot of kitchen space.  I went from having an entire room for a pantry to having a small closet.  I had to figure out how to make it work.  When I moved in, I bought some cute baskets and containers for the pantry.  I did not plan for the sides of the closet to be partially blocked by the door frame.  This made it difficult to get the containers out so that I could get to the contents within.  I dealt with it for a while, almost a year. I finally got fed up this past weekend and decided to do something about it.  I decided to document the process, in photos, for all to see my madness.

The first step, of course, is to take everything out so that you know what you are working with.

I tried to keep like items together when I took everything out. I like to keep items together by type in the pantry.  For example, my pastas will be next to or one shelf above or below my sauces.  This picture is some of my condiments, seasonings, and oils. 

This is my breading materials, canned goods, and other side dishes like instant potatoes. 

  Soups and broths....

Pastas, pasta sides, canned chicken and tuna, and taco shells

More condiments and a good look at the containers I am using.  I ADORE the Pioneer Woman, so I have a plethora of red and turquoise in my kitchen.  I purchased the red containers at Dollar Tree! Nobody said organizing has to be expensive!

I like stackable containers if I can find them.  They save space and can hide those cookies you don't want the kids to find!  These turquoise containers in front are just the right size for holding seasoning packets for gravy, taco seasoning, muffin mixes, and the like. 

More containers.....these are good for cereal and chips. 

So to give you an idea of the space I am working with......

my other pantry was easily twice this size and it had 

solid wood shelves and not the wire/modular kind. 

I had already purchased and over the door pantry rack.  As you can see it holds mostly mason type jars.  Those jars have items such as nuts, sugar, flour, granola, etc.  The jars on the top 2 shelves are Dollar Tree finds, again! Those are my most used spices. 

Step 2 is to look and see if any of the items that were pulled out, are expired.  I tossed about half a dozen items simply because they did not get used before their lifeline was up!

Finally, before I started putting items back in the pantry, I had to figure out how my containers were going to fit so that I could avoid fighting with the door frame to get to my food.  I tried a few variations before I finally settled on one that I liked and I felt would be most efficient for me.  As we get to know each other more, you will notice that I am a symmetrical person.  Everything has to be balanced. I simply cannot look at asymmetrical designs without it making me twitch.  I kid, kinda! I blame it on the fact that I am a Libra!

Now the fun begins! Putting it all back in!! 

I had to decide where I wanted to put my items and who I wanted my items to be neighbors with in the pantry.  

I saved some space by putting the boys snack items and lunch box items on this lazy susan style snack container.  It currently has drink mixes, chips, applesauce, pudding, protein bars, popcorn, and more of the like.  Then there is the fruit basket and banana hanger.  I purchase the snacks in bulk and refill it every Sunday with a weeks worth, or more, of food.  I keep the "extra" in a foot locker in the garage next to the deep freezer and extra refrigerator. 

  

A few pictures of the final product.  I like it because it looks appeasing to the eye but also because it makes grabbing stuff to make meals so much easier as well as making a grocery list! You can see where I have stacked a few of the containers, as I mentioned above. There is just enough room on the bottom for me to store paper towels on one side and vinegar and dish soap on the other.  

There you have it! My thought process, complete with pictures! I hope this gave you some ideas on how you can organize your pantry or closet! I'd love to see pictures of things you have organized and tidied up!