Thursday, August 23, 2012

58 UHeart Organizing: A Pantry Project To Be Proud Of!

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to a super lovely gal, Megan, from the blog Honey We're Home.  Megan has amazing design style and she adores organizing as well, and to me, organizing and style go together like peas and carrots!  She recently updated her incredible pantry space, and is stopping by today to share all the details and motivate us to take another look at our own personal kitchen spaces!  I looove me some pantry projects!


Hi guys!  I've been anxiously awaiting my contributing post on I Heart and wanted to make it a good one for you since I know you've come to appreciate great, relevant content on this blog.  I saved up a super big project that I've been wanting to tackle for a long time to share with y'all- a pantry overhaul.  I've seen so many beautifully organized and functional pantries here so I was very inspired to dig in and redo ours.

Our pantry is giant, but was kind of a mess before I got started.  And the thing is, I completely redid the pantry about a year and a half ago, but I think this is an area that needs a thorough clean out about once a year.  The picture below is how our pantry looked right before I cleaned it out {for the second time}.


After two trips to the The Container Store for cork paper and clear storage containers, and several days of editing, purging, and organizing . . . we have a nicely organized pantry {again!}.


The first thing I did was line the lower three shelves with cork paper to keep them from getting scuffed up since our shelves are simply painted wood and needed the extra protection.  

The key to organizing our pantry was to create zones.  The middle shelves that are most accessible hold the most-often reached for items like pastas and canned goods.  Baking goods went one shelf higher and heavy small appliances are on the lower shelf.  The vases, serve-ware and candle holders go up high since they aren't being reached for everyday.


I decided to decant all of our baking supplies, pastas, and crackers.  I decided that I like the clean, natural look of no labels so I'm going with that for now.



I also invested in two large, sturdy, plastic 3-tier organizers for our canned goods.  I like these because they are wide and deep and store a lot.



Baskets are a great item to use in a party to contain items that you don't necessarily need to see all the time.  Two blue baskets from World Market hold some random items like mac-n-cheese and roman noodles and a wooden basket holds our chips. 



The chocolate area is my favorite- I dip into those dark chocolate Hershey Nuggets every night.  My 2-year old son loves M&Ms but I have to teach him that he only gets a "few."


The biggest change to our pantry is that I finally realized that we had room to store our large serving platters, vases, and candle holders in one place so I gathered them from random cabinets and the butler's pantry and transferred them to the top shelves.  I love being able to see what we have and keeping them in one place is such a bonus.



Thanks Jen for having me over today!


"My name is Megan and I am a lawyer by day, design and decor lover by night, and Mama to the sweetest 2-year old boy you've ever seen. I'm passionate about fitness (and chocolate!) and could not live without my relationships, girl talk, and my morning coffee. I've been blogging for two years over at Honey We're Home, sharing my love of keeping things organized and beautiful at our house.  My efforts to live in the moment and cook more are an adventure in progress."




58 comments:

  1. I would kill for a pantry of that size! I have everything on a giant, eyesore of a shelf!
    http://aslouisepleases.blogspot.com/

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  2. What a fabulous pantry!!!! I am a HUGE fan of both of your blogs! You inspire me every day!
    Thank you Megan and Jen :)

    Blessings,

    Kristina

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  3. Happy to be here today Jen! Hope you and your readers are having a great day!

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  4. so awesome great job Megan!! I love everything in clear containers makes it so much easier to see what you have and don't.

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  5. beautiful oranized pantry!!!! Great job Megan!

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  6. Turned out great Megan! As you know, I am a huge fan of OXO containers. A bit pricey, but sooo very worth it!!

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  7. Oh my goodness, I love it! I wish. Your pantry is bigger than my kitchen lol

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  8. Such a great pantry. I'm big on using clear containers to see what you have and to save space. The containers are worth the investment. Great pantry transformation. Sharing...

    Julie at Simply Savvy
    http://gosimplysavvy.com/blog

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  9. Looks great! What are your pantry dimensions? I'm contemplating of setting one up!

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  10. I would kill for any pantry, but this is gorgeous! The array of serveware and vases feels like I'm in pottery barn. I'll bet this helps you "shop" your home, instead of buying more things.

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  11. Such pantry love. I am envious of all of the extra storage. Thanks for sharing, Megan.

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  12. You're more than welcome to jet up to Indiana and help me organize my pantry, Megan. Looks awesome!

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  13. This pantry is awesome!
    Those plastic containers are definitely an investment....I hope my Ikea has them for cheaper! I've been trying to figure out how to transform my pantry(my layout is similar to this, minus the shelving on the left for the cookbooks).....
    I'm doing this THIS weekend! I'm going to Ikea tomorrow!

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    1. Good for you! I accumulated my containers over time, watching out for sales. The trick for me was to just get the sizes I needed. I had to return some.

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  14. I wouldnt even know what to do with a pantry that size!

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  15. I love this but I have a question-how do you remember how long to cook each type of pasta?

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    1. Ha! Great question! I guess I just remember rice takes about 20 minutes and most pastas are about 8-10 minutes. You can always Google if you get stuck or tape the box label with the cooking instructions underneath the container.

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  16. OK, my dream home now has this pantry on my wishlist! Beautiful work Megan!

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  17. LOVE IT!!! also, I seriously think your pantry is bigger than my first apartment!
    ;)
    lots of love
    Ashli

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  18. This is awesome, Megan! I love that you included your serving/display items here - so pretty! You're definitely blessed with a monstrous pantry, which can be harder to control in some ways - this is just down right organized goodness :) Thanks for sharing it!

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  19. Wow, your pantry is huge! I really like how you've organized it. Mine could be almost that big if I removed my double wall oven, but I kind of like to roast the occasional turkey and do a bit of baking here and there! Guess I'll just have to make the most of my itty bitty space.

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  20. This is amazing! you are so lucky to have a big pantry like this! Thank you for the inspiration :)

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  21. oh wow, if only i had such a huge pantry like this one!!!
    even the BEFORE pic looked so neat to me :D :D
    i recently did a pantry organizing project too last month in my small apartment, but didn't buy anything from any store.. just used some makeshift stuff. this post gave me a lot of ideas to get some tiered shelves, baskets, etc. thanks for sharing, Jen.. and thanks for writing, Megan!

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  22. YAY! My two favourite blogs in one! xx

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  23. Looks great, Megan! I am so jealous--I only have one upper cabinet as my "pantry" and I can really only reach (and see) the first shelf well. Oh well, it's only temporary!

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  24. Excellent tips and photos. Thank you!

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  25. Great post!! I love the pantry. So nice and clean! I'm in the process of doing mine.

    Jen-Any coupon codes for your etsy site out right now?? =)

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  26. My tiny little pantry would make Megan cry! I'm soooo jealous! :)

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  27. So jealous of this gorgeous space! Way to go!

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  28. Thanks for all the sweet comments! We were very fortunate when we built this house to design an oversized pantry- just measured, it's about 6x9 feet. Down below in plastic bins are also seasonal holiday decor - except Christmas, which is stored in the attic.

    The pantry is designed to hold a second refrigerator, if necessary, but we haven't done that yet.

    Have a great weekend y'all!

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  29. I love the pantry makeover and most importantly, I love that is actually functional!

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  30. I think I found another blogger to love!

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  31. Absolutely beautiful! I love the look of everything in clear containers, but pasta loses nutrients if exposed to light. Still looks stunning though =)

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  32. Is there somewhere else I can get those container's besides the Container Store? I have a very limited budget. Also, where can I get wicker basket's like these?

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    1. The blue baskets are from World Market. The natural colored basket was something a gift came in I think. I've had it so long I can't remember! You can look for containers through google to find an online seller or sale. Target and Wal-Mart also sell clear containers.

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  33. I've seen this closet in person, and it makes your stomach do a flip flop!! It's gorgeous! Well done Megan!

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  34. Absolutely beautiful!Thank you for the inspiration :)

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  35. Lovely! It would be NECESSARY in our pantry to label all the white powdery substances, or there would be serious culinary flops!

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  36. I would be happy if my pantry looked like the "before" picture:) Thank you for sharing because I am in desperate need of tips for at least being able to find what I'm looking for when I'm cooking. If you'd like to see my disaster area, head on over to http://shantalhiatt.blogspot.com/

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  37. Love this pantry, I wish my pantry was this organized!

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  38. Wow, first of all you're lucky to have so much space! Love how you grouped everything into categories and made good use of it all.

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  39. Nicely done and I think you're right about re-organizing yearly or so. I especially like the tiered shelving for the cans. Also the items you group in baskets. So nice to pull out baskets for whatever you need without having to move cans/boxes.

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  40. LOVE this blog! This is my go-to when I need to get pumped to begin a new project. Thank you for showing us that it IS attainable!! (you can see the beginnings of my pantry organization here)...

    http://tondradenise.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-bag-of-opportunities.html

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  41. LOVE it! I think have a clean and well organized pantry makes life so much easier.

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  42. Where did you get the 3 tier organizers for your canned goods? I've been trying to find some that are deep enough for canned goods.

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    1. I think mine are the same, they are from the container store!

      www.organizedchaoslove.blogspot.com

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  43. There is one thing that I can do RIGHT NOW, and that is to put in all our bags of chips into a basket. Whoo-woo!! I do have a great pantry, but those bags of chips keep on upsetting the order of things. You bags, your regime is over! Thanks, Megan.

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  44. OHMYGOSH!!! What a great pantry and a butler's pantry too????? Holy cow! I want to live there! Great redo though! Looks wonderful (just ignore the jealous green eyes, ok?) :)

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  45. Hi Megan!

    First of all, congrats on this amazing project! Your pantry looks amazing. You absolutely have inspired me to take on my own kitchen (I wish I had a pantry) and to re-organize and "re-package" the ingredients in my cabinets. But...I have a question: I LOVE LOVE LOVE the same style canisters and storage containers, and though I would love to move into the Container Store, I was wondering if you have any suggestions on where I could possibly get storage containers in 1 style, but a bit cheaper. I checked Ikea, but they only had "spaghetti" containers, but that was it. Any suggestions?

    Thanks,
    Marieke

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  46. Hey!!
    Great post!! I love how you have everything neatly organized. I have a question though. Does not the serve wear gather dust when they are on shelves everyday? How do you deal with it?
    And a small correction, it is 'ramen' noodles.

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  47. GOod. I am the cook in our house and we now live overseas (retired) and in our temporary home we have the smallest fridge ever so i have to be careful how much i buy, etc. plus its a tropical environment climate (Philippines) so things go south pretty fast. Thanks for the organization...tips, etc. Woo hoo!

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  48. Could you tell me where you got the tiered shelves for your canned goods? Or provide a link to them? Thanks so much. Your pantry looks great.

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    1. Container Store has a few tiered shelving options that I love...

      One for spices: http://bit.ly/1WLBcuJ

      And another for larger cans and jars:
      http://bit.ly/24M6dh

      Jen

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