Well, the organization process is coming along slowly, but surely. Today, I tackled a project I've been wanting to do for awhile - our pantry. See, our apartment pantry is tee-niny. I've been holding on to the belief that we'd be in a house by now or very soon, but it's looking like we have at least a year before that dream will come to fruition. The last couple years, we've held back on decorating, buying new furniture, using our new dishes...all that fun stuff...because we were waiting till we had our house to enjoy those things. Well, I'm not waiting around any more. I'm not going to go crazy and buy all new furniture (even though I really want to!), but I'm going to spruce things up and get comfy where I am. I'm tired of living in "limbo."
So, in addition to having a small apartment, we have a small pantry. A small pantry is a bit of a challenge for someone who likes to cook/bake as much as me. I decided that we need a little extra storage room, so I tried to get creative to find a solution. Take this cluttered looking door here. This is our coat closet. The items hanging on the door should probably be placed elsewhere anyways, so I figured I'd move them and make room for some extra pantry storage here.
I went to the organization store today and was torn between two over the door pantry solutions. One was a solution in a box - it had the hangers, the wall pieces, and even the baskets and it was pretty affordable, too. The other solution was a completely customizable set. you bought the wall piece, the hangers, and even the baskets separately. It was more expensive, but I chose the latter when I figured out I could add more baskets and had 2 inches more width space per basket, too.
I installed the door piece first and then the baskets. I can fit a few more on here, but I figured I'd start with 4 and see which ones seemed most useful for my pantry items.
The new pantry space will greatly improve not only our pantry area, but our countertops, as well. I've been storing my oat-goodies in this fruit basket, but it's not really the best place for it and it doesn't look very attractive. I also had a couple other items that needed to be moved to proper places.
I moved some items out of my pantry and moved ALL those oat goodies to my new pantry addition. It helped a bit...mostly to give me a better visual grasp on what I have on stock. I need to get a couple more baskets, though...maybe I'll get 3 next time? :)
With all the oat goodies out of the way, I was able to pick up more around the area and it looks sooo much better! Now, I have somewhere to put my fruit!
What a great idea! I might need to do the same in our teeny apt. Things are always falling off the shelves on my head! Let's make plans to get together soon!
Posted by: Michelle | January 24, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Great job on the pantry organizing! Thought I'd share with you to be careful about over the door stuff. If your door hinges aren't sturdy enough, the weight from the shelving over the door will weigh it down and eventually the door won't shut properly (happened to me when I hung towels and robes over the door!). So maybe you want to put the lighter stuff on the door if you don't think the hinges are strong enough. :)
Posted by: Chii-Wey | January 26, 2009 at 10:12 AM
I love the shelving inside your pantry! I have been looking EVERYWHERE for some ever since I saw this post a few months ago. I know you don't live in the same city as I do, but is the store that you bought it at a chain store? My pantry is a mess and this would definitely help me organize it! Thanks!
ps - I love your blog! I read it daily! :)
Posted by: Jennifer | March 26, 2009 at 02:36 PM