My Pantry Makeover

It's time for me to show you one of the deep dark secrets of my house: the pantry.

I know, not very shocking to most, but to me it was.  Once upon almost three years ago, Mr. Nag and I were looking to buy our first house.  We wanted a house to knew we'd be in for 7+ years, a house to grow into.  One thing on my must list was a nice-sized pantry, if we were a growing family I needed a pantry to be ready for when we're 'grown'--- a must for the Mister was a 'build-your-own' home.  This was hard to do in the area we wanted to stay in.  So, since marriage is about compromise, I sacrificed pantry square-footage, to build the house we wanted.  I did so knowing that we would do something about it later.

Later has come, my friends.

I wasn't able to add a magic-extending spell, I wish (like Hermione's bag-- Harry Potter 7).  However, I was able to do the next best thing which was ORGANIZE.  I know that's a dirty word to some people, but it's seriously easy and addicting once you start.  Let's go outside in.

OUTSIDE

First off, your eyes don't deceive you, it is a Magnetic Door.  In order to make this you need: metal (from the roofing section-- it comes in rolls), cabinet trim (you can even have them cut it there, if you don't own a saw-- we do, so I had to let Mr. Nag use his tool), and calk for windows and mirrors (in the calking section).  You also need a little patience to let everything dry (overnight-ish, each time).  Basically, cut & mount the metal, let dry.  Then, repeat with trim.  Put a lot of  weight on the metal, so it doesn't dry wavy.

1. Days until countdown:  I saw this idea floating around the web & pinterest, on a board painted with Chalkboard paint, so I thought it would be great to put it on the door.  Yes, Mr. Nag has a BIG birthday coming up. :)
2. Remember:  This is our little reminder section.  Reminder for anything... including being awesome. ;)
3. What's Cooking:  This is how I meal plan.  I like to look more than just a week ahead, so I printed off a 2012 calendar half-sheet size & plan as much as the upcoming month as I can.  Days get switched here and there, but overall, it works well & cuts down over-shopping at the grocery store.
4. Our Week:  The most recent week in our lives.  This is where all appointments, meetings, parties, nightly dinners will go.  It's dry-erase vinyl.  Yes, I know Wednesday is missing.  This was the first time Silhouette ever played with DEV, they didn't get along, until I sweet-talked (i.e. fixed the settings on the machine).  Unfortunately, I only had a couple of sheets, so I ran out before I could finish Wednesday.  This will soon be remedied, as I bought a roll of DEV at Hobby Lobby today. :)
5. Love Notes:  Another idea I saw around, I think the original was at {Kiki Creates}.  Basically, it says, I love..... because....  The idea is to think of random reasons for loving family members.  The one in the picture says I love the hubs because he made breakfast and lunch; he also made dinner later that night.  My guy is amazing!
6. Mail Organization:  I was sick, sick, sick of seeing mail and other random papers sitting around on our counter.  One trip to Target later, I came home with the mesh magnetic basket, the mail sorter, and chalk marker holder.  Sweet!  Not sweet, Mr. Nag is still getting used to this and that little Netflix envelope sat there for THREE days--- it's okay though, he does other good things (like make the aforementioned meals).

INSIDE

1. Over the Door Organizer:  If you're pantry is smaller than you want it to be, the first thing you need to do is buy one of these.  It instantly adds so much space.  We bought this one on {Amazon}.  This is where we put boxed goods & other random things.
2. Dollar Finds:  I found these mini-baskets in the Dollar Section at Target.  Perfect for storing plastic cutlery (and chalk markers on the door).
3. Backsplash & Cereal Organization:  The backsplash is actually painted fiberboard.  Every shelf has one, the top shelf's is wider.  I'm not going to lie: it. took. forever.  BUT, it was worth it.  I cut out a stencil from my Silhouette, stenciled it on, then painted every little section.  Each time I finished a section was a victory.  Add, it's easy to change.  Not like that's going to happen anytime soon, though.  We got the cereal containers at Target; easy to figure out which cereal is which.  FYI:  Chalk Markers are GREAT for labeling.  I can use them on chalkboard (vinyl), plastics or metal.  So, I wrote the kind of cereals & snacks for the snack shelf.  Fantastic!
4. The Basics Shelf:  I <3 IKEA.  It's not a small heart, either, it's rather large.  Every room in our house has a little bit of IKEA in it; it's like our extra family member.  This pantry reorganization would have crumbled to the ground without IKEA.  All of the silver-lid & blue-lid containers came from IKEA.

5. Snacks & Baking:  When we get home from the grocery store, we immediately get rid of anything self-packaged within a box.  This saves a ton of space.  This is especially true for the snack shelf.  Bigger snacks have their own blue-lid container, while small snacks are group together in a Target-It-so skinny tray.  Then, I have a green tray with all our Drink Mixes in it.  The shelf under snacks has two baskets, one for extra (or random) condiments and the other for Baking Goods.  If all of my similar items are together, then I don't have to hunt for them when in 'kitchen' mode.
6. Cans & Floor Level:  Target rescued me on this shelf.  Three-tiered organizer so I can easily see everything.  The floor level has a closet container from IKEA; it contains my foil, wraps, paper products, and extra snacks.  Anything on these two shelves is shatter-proof, since little hands can touch.

It's amusing to me how much this has made a difference.  If Mr. Nag has to make dinner (which has been a lot lately, sorry, babe!), then he knows exactly where to look.  He's still getting used to having a place for the mail, but he's allowed a little bit of a learning curve... only a little.  I'm excited for when the kids get older and we'll be able to have the weed laid out for us, or have a random love note from one of them.  This was definitely a for a future project... I just hope that future includes Wednesday. :)

I link up {HERE}.