{pantry overhaul}

The pantry in this house is totally different to the pantry in the old house. When we moved in, I just did the best I could with what I had ... just wanting to get unpacked ! Well, it had been driving me crazy for some time now and the other night I had just had ENOUGH ! I took everything out and got to work.

My organizing 'style', if you will, is to use what I have on hand, before going and buying new stuff. (For this job I only bought the container that now houses 10 kilos of rice and the containers that came inside that big container !) I have a shelf in my garage for organizing equipment and I don't often throw stuff away (in that department) because I find that systems are forever changing and needing re-doing and I often use something that I had used somewhere else. In fact, all of the plastic 'shoe boxes' that you see on the second shelf of my pantry were being used for craft storage until I re-did that system two weeks ago !

I've taken a few before and after shots for you and I'll give you explanations as we go. Feel free to ask any questions you like !

The top shelf didn't need too much work. I have sugar and salt up the top there. To the side of the wire baskets is tea bags (yeah, we drink a lot of tea and I like variety !!) Then there is the honey and agave nectar that both have to live in tupperware so the ants don't get them ! (been there, done that already !!)

The 'shoe boxes' are catagorized and labeled. One is 'japanese', one is 'indian'. There's the cake decorating stuff ... you know, sprinkles, candles etc. One box is nuts, seeds and dried fruit. There's a box of dried lentils and beans. Packet soups and dressing mixes in another.

The bottles of sauces, vinegars, oils etc were really irritating me so I moved them to this cupboard and beside the stove. Much better !!

These drawers are fantastic. The one on the right is snack stuff. Crackers, gum, marshmellows, you know ... that sort of stuff. The one of the left is salt, pepper, tahini, peanut butter, that sort of stuff ...

That big box is sushi rice. 10 kilo's of it ! We eat a lot of sushi 'round here !

The cereal needs to be on lower shelves so the kids can get their own breakfasts ... and the big pullout drawer beside it is all my spices. I have quite a collection. I loooooooove spices. They are all labeled on the top for easy access !!

The floor of the pantry ...

The potatoes live in an old crock pot dish. The electrical part stopped working but I couldn't bring myself to throw away the dish. It is perfect for potatoes ! Keeps them fresh for so long ! The onions are there on the floor too, as you can see. The two drawers are my grains. The top one is pasta and noodles. The bottom one is rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth etc ... Beside the drawers is drinks. There's a big juice and a couple of soft drinks for special occasions. In front of those are my brown sugars. I debated changing the canisters but the kids like to have brown sugar on their oats and they don't make a mess with them in these so I left them ! The big tupperware is flour ...

Where are my canned goods ?? NOT IN MY PANTRY. I didn't change this in the overhaul as it works quite well. But, I'll show you the system anyway. I have sort of second pantry in the garage. The garage is just around the corner from the kitchen so it's good on the convenince scale. This second pantry is home to all of our excess appliances. The only ones that live in the kitchen are the rice cooker, the kettle and the coffee makers. (yes, more than one !)

Everything else, lives here. I like it because I have easy access to all of them, and yes, I use these all quite regularly. (except the deep fryer ... it only gets occassional use) No digging to the back of an inconveniently placed corner cupboard ! I hate that and more often than not decide against using what I might have to dig for !!

Anyhoo ... the cans live out here too.

Well, there you go ! Anything I haven't covered ? If so ... ask me about it ! I'd love to have a discussion with you !! Anything you see that could be improved ? Again ... let's talk !! :)