Week 2 Organizing Challenge

Week 2 of the Organizing Challenge - I tacked my pantry and lazy susans. Last week I tackled a small project - my cookbooks. This week I was a bit more ambitious, and tackled my entire pantry, my 2 lazy susans, and a couple other kitchen cupboards. My goal was to make my kitchen more efficient, more organized (a place for everything and everything in it's place), and neater-looking. About 1/3 of my cupboards were working pretty well for me and looking neat and clutter-free, so I didn't have to revamp everything. However, the other 2/3, especially the pantry and lazy susans, needed major help. I did lots of rearranging and removing (some things went to the garage sale/giveaway pile). Then I got out my new organizing b.f.f., my label maker, and went label-happy in the pantry! I'll let the pictures and captions do the rest of the talking.

Pantry Before (Pretty messy! It drove me crazy going in there because it was such a mess. Note - if it drives you crazy...change it or accept it, but whatever you do...don't let it drive you crazy! My food storage containers and wrap were unorganized and messy. I ended up moving plastic wrap, aluminum foil, etc. to a lazy susan cupboard as I was always annoyed with constantly opening the bifold door leading to the pantry to get the plastic wrap and items for making my husband's lunch. The things I use for making his lunch and all our snack foods, crackers, etc. are now stored in a lazy susan, which is WAY more efficient for me. There was also way too much stuff on the floor, which made the pantry looked crammed and messy.)
Way too cluttered. I especially didn't like having so much stuff on the floor.



Pantry After (Floor is clutter-free. The top shelf holds dry good and rice. The second shelf holds my food storage containers. My parents bought me some containers with easy-find lids (they were on a great sale), which I love! They all match and fit so nicely together. They look SO much neater and make me smile when I look at them :-). One shelf now holds pasta, oils, dressing, which used to be stored in a lazy susan. The shelf underneath it holds baking items, canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned beans)


The third shelf holds baby food, canned fish, canned soup, and canned tomato goods. The fourth shelf holds pasta, dried beans, oils, and dressings (these were formerly stored in a lazy susan). The fifth shelf holds baking items, canned fruit, canned vegetables, and canned beans. The containers help keep my miscellaneous/extra items together in a neat, consolidated form. This is after the shelves were organized, but before I was able to get the shelves labeled. The floor holds my flour, distilled water for our daughter, and white vinegar for cleaning. All the other clutter on the floor is gone to a new home!


The floor is now clutter-free.



Here you can see that my shelves are now labeled to help keep things in their place.



Lazy Susan #1 Before (used to hold pasta, oils, and some kitchen gadgets. It was in disarray and very messy.)


Lazy Susan #1 After (All the pasta, rice, oils, dressings, etc. got moved to the pantry. The snack and lunch items got moved from the pantry floor to the lazy susan. It's organized now in a way that makes sense, and it looks much neater. I'm very happy with the change!)

Lazy Susan #2 Before (The top shelf and bottom underneath storage worked for me, but the second shelf just held stuff I hardly ever use and was taking up prime shelf space.)


Lazy Susan #2 After (Top shelf holds mixing bowls and salad spinners. Second shelf holds plastic wrap, aluminum foil, parchment paper, plastic bags, etc, which used to be stored in the pantry. After using this new system for a few days, I can definitely say this is working much better for me.



So far, this is working much better for me! It's more efficient, neater, and more organized! I think the biggest thing I learned this week was what I stated before. If it drives you crazy, accept it or change it...but whatever you do...don't let it drive you crazy! I have a few other spaces that are currently "driving me crazy." I'm going to change that soon...I'd rather not go crazy ;-)

*I'm linking up to Organizing Junkie's 52 Weeks of Organizing Challenge*