Howdy people. Man I’m feeling good today. And I think I know why. Yesterday I spent cleaning a neglected house and organized my pantry.

Confession: I may have left the doors open for the majority of the day just to stare at the beauty of my everything-perfectly-in-place-pantry.

I never thought of myself as super organized but then I remembered cleaning the kitchen pantry was sorta my gift to my mom each time I would come home from college. Her pantry was overflowing with stuff. It was like she was practicing some kind of hoarding/dooms day prepping. Anyways, it was always utter chaos. The shelves were bowing in the middle and the bi-fold door would rarely close. It was the definition of out of control.

Not to get all Freudian on you, but I’m gonna anyways. I think this “skill” I had as a child was rewarded in a way that I craved. A parent allowing a child to be better at something than they were. It was, well, empowering.

Guys, this little blog is a constant and usually unexpected little gift to my heart. It feels like each time I try out something on this blog my mind makes connections that I would have rarely made had it not been for stretching my own abilities in areas that I don’t usually think of myself as qualified to do let alone blog about it.

Alright enough of that. Let’s talk about my perfect pantry.

First of all it isn’t perfection but I needed a catchy title. But it is organized and I love it. Actually, that sounds like perfection doesn’t it?

Here’s what I started with.

kitchen pantry organized 5

It’s not as full as my mom’s pantry used to be but I’d say I’ve certainly inherited some habits of hers. Don’t you love the wire organizing shelf stuffed in at the bottom shelf. Not only is it not being used but I do think it’s mocking me every time I open the pantry.

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You probably can’t tell from this picture but at the far left is a unopened bag of Halls cough drops. What the what? I have two words for you. Big Daddy. Also, don’t miss my other DIY fail. Remember my post, Silver Linings Pantry? I obviously didn’t get it quite right and I had to rip out the contact paper along the back of the pantry. At least the contact paper on the shelves is staying put.

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I did tackle this project last year and I threw out a lot of spices that were old. In fact, I even made cute spice jars that we still use. But that DIY project is stored in a drawer and is doing well but as you can see I failed miserably with the overflow spices.

I love that the photo above shows  all of my spices knocked over and off of the cute little spice rack I bought last year. #organizationfail.

But I wouldn’t be deterred in 2014!

kitchen pantry organized

My entire organization plan is based on one principle. What Big Daddy uses the most goes on the top shelf no matter where you want it to go. That was my critical error the first go around. I overestimated Big Daddy’s need to be organized in the same way I do. Lesson learned.

The bottom shelf is what I call the Costco shelf. Our extras if you will for when I can’t say no to the buy one get one free. From there step up to the baking shelf. You’d think I was some kinda baking bombshell since I made my Christmas Cookies and dedicated an entire shelf to the baking paraphernalia.

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One shelf up from the baking bonanza is the canned goods shelf. Enough said. Finally, the top shelf is the Big Daddy drop zone, which isn’t perfected yet but I think I’m getting a handle on it. I’ll keep you updated with that.

And finally, above the pantry double doors are the doors for the “upstairs” pantry. The upstairs pantry has two shelves; the first is dedicated to breakfast, and the second is basically storage. I also have a blue and white magazine holder up there holding the plastic wrap and tin foil.

So there you have it. Round two with my pantry.

kitchen pantry organization

If you’re interested in using the same storage solutions here’s a little break down.

1. The canned good holders and stair step spice holder (white wire shelves) were purchased at Marshalls/TJ Maxx

2. The red plastic stackable bins that hold my cookie cutters and other baking tid bits are from the Dollar Tree.

3. Ball jars for any dry goods that comes in a box or bag. I’ll make labels soon and I’ll share them with you in a later post. The ball jars are the quart size and come from Walmart.

4. The two tiered spice rack is also from Marshalls.

5. The blue magazine holder is from Target’s Dollar Spot. I bought several of these for my office last year but any magazine holder will work to hold your plastic wrap or tin foil.

6. The cereal is in a container I found at Marshalls. I’m actually going back today to pick up a few more for Big Daddy’s elaborate collection of cereals.

I hope this helps you get organized!

What are you working on?

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