Meredith’s Pantry

Generally the best way to tackle a pantry is to take everything out and start from scratch. Not including shelves! :) But give everything a good wipe down and start over. You may or may not have that kind of time and that’s ok, you can go from shelf to shelf. Whether you pull everything out or not one of the first things to do is pull out anything that doesn’t belong. Here are my first impressions from the pictures and I provided a couple of links of some things I thought of.

Photo #1

Top shelf: You can make better use of the top shelf by putting your less frequently used items.

There is a box all the way to the right – does it belong and what is in it? Does the picnic basket have picnic stuff in it? If not try to use it a s storage when not in use. I know you have shelves in your living room for baskets can these baskets even fit out there?

Looks like something lying down flat next to the picnic basket, maybe a book? Move it to the bookshelf if it belongs in the pantry.

I would consider putting in one more shelf under that smaller shelf. I think one more could fit and still not touch the water heater. Then those two shorter shelves could be used for cleaning supplies, trash bags and things like that.

Photo #2

Initially I though you should ad more shelves here but I think it will make it harder to move around in the pantry then, so I came up with these ideas…

I would use the wall space to store your spices instead of the caddies. You could use a spice rack like this. Or make one your own based on the size of your stuff. The one I linked to has a larger shelf on the bottom and it is adjustable, there were even taller ones at the home depot I checked this weekend. Smaller bottles can fit in the bigger trays as well.You can just grab the things you need and put them back when you are done.

I would also think about getting a wrap rack and possibly a bag dispenser if you need one. You can find these at other stores but it’s just an idea. A good way to get more stuff on the wall.

I store potatoes and onions in separate baskets on a shelf. I don’t know if you will free up that much room or not but that would be a good option or you could just hang them in bags. If there in bags maybe they can go on the other wall in photo #1.

Do you use the bread box? If so that’s fine, if not you might want to take it out or use it as storage up high.

Photo #3

I would get all of the books on the bottom shelf and then get all of your canned goods on the other two shelves. Move the things that are on there up and out of the way especially if it’s something you don’t need much. If you move the spices to the wall you could use the top of this shelf maybe for some shallow baskets for potatoes and onions.

Photo #4

If the containers are working for you then that is good, get more if you need them. You can move them all to the front and keep the extras that can’t fit in the containers towards the back of the shelf.

Photo #5

Hopefully with some of the ideas above it will help you with what is going on here.

The idea is to maximize the wall space as much as you can since you can’t really put in more shelves. Get all of the canned goods together, all of the boxes together and all of the baking together. Use the tops shelves to get as much of the non essentials out of the way.

I am hoping this gives you enough to get the project started and I am here to help you along the way. If you have questions and comments you can email me.