my “new” organized pantry

I’ve lived in my house for almost nine years, and in that time I’ve grown to very much dislike my kitchen pantry. At first, our pantry wasn’t too bad because it was bigger than what I had at our former house. However, over the years it has caused much frustration!

Here’s the reason…

the shelves in the back were narrow
large cereal boxes didn’t fit anywhere
items became buried in the back
the swinging shelves took up space, but not much fit on them
the shelves dictated the size and shape of what you placed on them

See what I mean…

Let’s just say a trip to Costco wasn’t so much fun anymore…I couldn’t find the space to put away the items I had just purchased!!

And I wasn’t the ONLY one frustrated! Enter my oldest daughter, Audrey, who is home from college for the summer…

Let me start by saying that Audrey is super organized and very efficient, and she thrives on making spaces organized and run efficiently. We had many discussions about making this space more user-friendly without totally tearing apart the kitchen.

So while I was enjoying Paris, she (along with our local contractor, who also happens to be our neighbor and friend) set about re-doing my pantry.

First, the existing shelves and swinging shelf doors were torn out and replaced with top to bottom shelving.

Once the shelves were installed, Audrey got busy organizing the contents. She grouped the food items by categories and used various types of containers for storage. All the baskets, stacking bins, the lazy susan, and the canisters came from The Container Store, and I’ve provided links to the products below.

my "new" organized pantry | polka dots and picket fences

I love how she labeled everything! I think she did that so that I keep it organized when she goes back to college!!

What a wonderful surprise it was to return home from our trip to a better functioning and more organized space! Remember…those product links are below.