If I I thought I could talk my husband into it, I would absolutely turn our second bedroom into a gorgeous walk-in pantry. It would be a hybrid of some of the pantry ideas I'm sharing with you today, but it would probably also need some sort of comfy place to sit and admire all of my pretty dishes, or to write grocery lists, or more realistically: to read my cookbooks.
An organized pantry can be sort of an overwhelming and sometimes unrealistic goal to have. I'll be the first to admit that not every room in every house needs to or should look Pinterest-worthy. I do however, appreciate and find value in an organized pantry for a few reasons.
1. If I can see everything really easily, I tend not to buy duplicate items that I don't need. Rolled oats, I'm talking to you...
2. If I keep my pantry organized, there's more room to fit more things like my crock pot, or the excessive number of cake pans I own. Or to make room for those times when my Sam's Club card burns a hole in my pocket and I buy a year's worth of Ziplock bags or Olive oil by the gallon.
3. It's so much easier to scrounge up a simple meal if you can just look and see what you've got on hand before you panic and dial the number of the nearest pizza delivery joint.
4. I make better, more accurate shopping lists when I know exactly where everything is. It is much easier to notice when there's only a half cup of bread flour left if it is in a nice, big clear container with a label.
So dust off your label makers...it's time to get to those New Year's Resolutions before January is over.
(Click on the photos to visit the original posts.)
ariannabelle.com
Someday I will organize my cookbooks according to color. For now, they're in categories, which is nice too. (My foreign language section is giving the healthy cooking section a run for it's money. I'm not sorry.)
abowlfulloflemons.net
This pantry from A Bowl Full of Lemons is great because it makes such great use of a closet, which by my estimation, is more realistic for most of us. My pantry used to be just a hot water heater closet in my laundry room. Make the most of what you've got and go with what works for you.
honeyandfitz.com
I love the bin drawers in this pantry from Honey and Fitz. So many items don't work so well on shelves, and can get cluttered in a hurry. And the paint color? Dreamy.
kevinandamanda.com
The corner shelves in this pantry from Kevin and Amanda make perfect sense for storing bulky items that aren't used every day. Except the Dutch Oven. I keep mine on my stove because I really do use it every day.
Country Living
This chalkboard door is super fun. Although I don't write my grocery lists on the wall or fridge or anything at my house because then I don't have it with me when I'm at the store. I write mine in a little binder that I have with me all the time. The rows of jars are so cute. They remind me of an apothecary.
boxwoodclippings.com
The industrial look of this pantry is great. There's a place for everything, and it makes use of every square inch of space. You wouldn't need to have an extra room or closet to convert into a pantry if you had a sort of loft-style open floor plan, and you could keep it looking this neat.
thepaintedhive.net
The Painted Hive has been generous enough to design these adorable labels so you can get everything in your pantry labeled, complete with definitions! Plus, they're FREE to download! (Click the photo to go to the site.)
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! As for us, we're celebrating Michael's birthday! Happy Friday, friends.
~Mandy
CakePants
Wow, I have serious pantry envy with that first one. I really should invest in some nicer containers sometime soon...for the past 7 years, I've been storing brown sugar in a plastic potato salad tub. That should give you an idea of the current state of my pantry!
Abbi
Wow, these are beautiful. The idea of a pantry in London flat is nothing short of a pipe dream though.