Pantry REDO!!!

I've been on quite a decluttering rampage lately. It started a few months ago in my closet, then I cleared out nearly a trunk-load of kids' toys. Next up on the chopping block was my pantry.

I know this pantry is enormous and enviable. It's pretty ridiculous that I have not one but TWO walk-in pantries. You'll be happy to know that even with this much space, it still gets cluttered and chaotic. It's a fairly regular occurrence that I can't find something, buy it, only to find it somewhere in the pantry. It's also pretty common for things to fall down when little hands are rooting around, and it just looks so damn messy even after I've "cleaned up." As the sole provider of meals and grocery shopper in the house, this was my domain and mine alone, SOMETHING NEEDED TO BE DONE!

Step one: Look on Pintrest and Google for "pantry organization ideas" This took about 10 minutes for me to quickly get an an idea of what I wanted to do.

Step two: Go to stores to check out bins/baskets. I went to Walmart, Target, Kohl's, and Ross, before finding my sweet spot at At Home, a superstore of home furnishings. No less than three aisles of baskets to choose from, I was there for at least an hour, before finding these sweeties on the clearance shelf, $5 each!!! I bought 4, and as soon as I brought them home and installed them, I wanted to run back to the store. I bought 10 more on the next trip!

Step three: I wanted to have labels of some sort, I went to Michael's and there was quite a range of options. I went for these cheapies just to try them out. 18 for $1.50, you can't beat that! The chalk, unfortunately, smudges right off, but I'm sure after a few days, we won't even need the labels anyway. I stuck them on with rolled up Duct Tape.

Step four: Group, organize and clean. Sit back and rejoice! 

Here's what's in our bins: Water bottles and straws, caffeinated tea and coffee, decaf tea and coffee, flours and mixes, pasta, beans, candy, fruits and nuts, (healthy) snacks, chips and pretzels, alcohol accessories, medicines and vitamins, baking and cereal. This is simply what we had the most of, and that I thought would be easiest to manage in the bins. I was able to purge miscellaneous boxes and jars, and expired food in the process. At first one might think that putting it in the bin may mean we'll forget about it, and end up buying more but I'm hoping/thinking the opposite will be true. I'll have one, very defined place to look for what I need, and if the pasta bin is full for example, I'll use what I have first before I go out and buy more, regardless of the type! Same with snacks, we may run out of a preferred snack, but if there's still other snacks in there, well those need to be eaten first!
Since signing on with Wildtree, I haven't been relying on spices as much, so I put almost all of them in a clear bin on the second shelf corner. If I happen to need it, I'll know right where to go, but if it turns out that I don't even go back there in six months or a year, I'm going to pitch it all!

 See the third shelf on the left? That is all of Ted's current meds for his chronic Lyme. I would love to organize those, but that's his thing, so I didn't touch it! I cleared so much space that I was able to have a whole shelf for all of our lunch bags, and the bottom shelf is almost all disposable products for parties. I cleared off a lot of floor space too, which makes me oh so happy.

The bottom back corner is Ted's emergency prep rations, He started building it about a year ago, and I'd love to find another place for it, but that hasn't happened yet!

I am RIDICULOUSLY excited about how it looks! What do you think? Do you think this looks ridiculous and insane? Am I crazy to think this will work?

Happy New YOU everyone!