Some of you know that my resolution for this year is to continue decluttering our home & ORGANIZE! In fact,if I chose a word for this year, organize would be the one. Since I can't work on the room I really want to work on, I started in the pantry.
We are somewhat blessed with a large pantry in our house. I say somewhat because I really wish it wasn't in a shared space with the laundry/mudroom. Plus, I don't care for wire shelving, but this is what the builder installed. I'm too cheap to spend money on new, so I'm working with what I have. I did not buy anything new for this project, but I did buy a few things last year and even before, some of which I'm just finally using! Here's what I have done:
- I had a sheet of plexiglass cut to size for one shelf. I put things like extra spices on this shelf. I can't stand to have things tipping over or falling through.
- I have some thinner plastic sheets that are made for this purpose across 2 shelf sections. This is where my can racks reside so the legs don't fall through the wires.
- I purchased 3 can racks last year from LTD Commodities for about $4 each. They are a little flimsy, but once I figured out how to use the extra supports that came with them, they work pretty well. I use these for items we use frequently, but don't really buy a bunch of at one time. Each section has only one type of thing in it; I even had room to separate my light red and dark red kidney beans!
- I've picked up a couple of wire baskets at a garage sale. I use these on the bottom shelf for snacks & things so the kids can help themselves and I don't have stuff dumped all over the floor.
- Hubby got a great deal on canned veggies around Thanksgiving (like 50 cents a can for name brand - I HATE generic vegetables!), so he bought an entire case of each and brought them home in the boxes - what a smart man! Nothing tips over and they slid right in on the bottom shelf.
- I separated everything by type to make it easier to find. All baking items are on one shelf, pasta & rice on another, etc. Extra cereal & stuff I don't want the kids in go on the top shelf on one side, along with the ice cream maker, coffee maker, & other stuff I rarely use on the other side.
If you've read this far, leave a comment letting me know your resolution/goal this year. A random person will win a prize! I'm not sure what it will be yet; let's see if I have something that will work with goal of the winner! I'll choose a winner on Tuesday, January 12th.