Thursday, February 10, 2011

Pantry Organization Part II

I finally got around to organizing the Kitchen Pantry. I still cannot believe how long it takes to set up a house. I remember when I was little I could find the play husband, set up the play house, take care of the fake babies and have it all down by dinner.
But one thing at a time and yesterday was the kitchen pantry.
First I we Lee installed the pull down racks (thank goodness because standing on my tippy toes was starting to hurt). They were really simple to install (for Lee anyways). Although we had to install one twice because we didn't leave any clearance for the door hinges and the rack would hit them when you pulled it down.
I choose these exact ones, first because of their price ($10) and second because they could hold more then just little spice bottles. These racks can hold anything from soup cans, to jars of pasta sauce, to a box of jello. They were too narrow to fit the big double cans of tomatoes and chick peas :(




I was able to install the little wire basket by myself, as it involved no tools :) I thought it was a good place to store our coffee filters and coffee. Because we don't often drink coffee, we only have a small bag of it on hand (I Love coffee but I have to limit my intake to once a week). So the little basket works great for that.


Lee is a big tea drinker, and I enjoy a cup here and there so we do have a lot of tea on hand. On the middle shelf you'll see a clear container labeled Green Tea, we buy loose leaf green tea and store it in an air tight container. And on the lowest shelf on the right hand side you'll see some tea bags in a clear container (from Ikea) made for holding tea bags. I love this container, it has little dividers inside to separate all your different tea bags.

I like to bake, sometimes from scratch, sometimes from a mix. So I have a dedicated cupboard for just baking supplies. I found that when I kept all the baking ingredients in with the rest of our food, I would be moving the condensed milk I use twice a year to get to the tea I use twice a day. So I picked the small cupboard next to the pantry cupboard and designated that "The Baking Cupboard".
Inside the baking cupboard I keep the Brown Sugar, the chocolate chips, the vanilla extract, the raw sugar, the brownie mix (yum).


There wasn't enough room to keep all the flour and big bag of sugar, so I made space in the Lower part of the pantry.
Under the counter is our lower pantry.  I store things that I don't need to get to everyday here. It's also the COSTCO part of the kitchen (if you shop at costco you need a costco part of the kitchen, a place where you store all of the "extra" food, because nothing at costco comes in a one pack). Since these doors wouldn't be opened on a daily basis, I thought it would be a good cool, dark place to store our onions, potato's, yams and garlic.

You've seen it all open, here's what it looks like all closed:


Organizing the Pantry has completely gotten me in the mood to empty out the rest of the kitchen cabinets and get to work. Can't wait to share :)

35 comments:

  1. ~Oh this is such a gorgeous blog! And you have inspired me to get off my bottom and get to work on my own pantry, which could be harbouring heaven knows what and a ludicrous amount of tinned soup I never get round to eating...
    tank you! Have a lovely day.x

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  2. It looks great Ashli!! I too have mine separated by use, and it is so much easier. Did Lee get his cookies?!

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  3. I love these organizational systems and what a great price! - I linked to your blog through Ikea Hacker - What a brillant way to create the look of built-ins! I am following along now- Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Those pull down bins are genius! your kitchen is just gorgeous!

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  5. Looks awesome! I've never seen pull down bins like that....but I'm already trying to find a place where they'd be useful.

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  6. Very nice! I love looking at organized spaces. You did a great job!

    Have a great day!
    Pam

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  7. How do you manage to be so organized?? Your blog is one of my favorites and a great inspiration. I am so excited to see what you post every day. I love it when you include Max. I too had a Yorkie, named Lily, the love of my life (Shhh...don't tell my husband). She sadly passed 3 years ago, and we now have a beautiful Bichon named Haley.

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  8. Looks wonderful! I have such limited cabinet space in my kitchen that I keep my "pantry" in the basement--and only keep what we use daily (and weekly) upstairs. I too have a "baking cupboard." It's just logical!
    One thing, though. Potatoes and onions should not be kept in the same closed cabinet together. Each "off-gasses" (somehow) and can cause the other to spoil more quickly. I do keep potatoes in the cupboad, but the onions are in a wooden bowl on a kitchen cart. Hope that helps.

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  9. Ashli, you're an inspiration! I love the idea of using the spice racks to make the taller shelves more user-friendly. Looks great too!

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  10. I second the comment on the onions and potatoes thing. I thought they weren't supposed to be together for that reason either. In fact, onions wreck other stuff too . . . right?

    Anyway, everything looks AMAZING! So are you saying you got the Rubbermaid pull down spice racks and they're big enough to accommodate canned goods? That is genius! Does it seem sturdy with all the weight on it when you pull them down? I've got some ridiculously high shelf space in my little pantry cupboard and I've been trying to figure out how to best utilize the space while still making it easy for me to reach. This is getting my wheels turning. Thanks for the idea.

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  11. Thanks Alana
    I had heard something like that. We're not too worried we only keep about a weeks worth of potatos and onions. But if I ever buy a big bag I will definetely store them seperately.
    Thanks so much for the TIP!

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  12. Skooks,
    They are big enough to store regular sized cans like a soup can or or a 14 oz can of tomatos but not big enough to store a 28oz can of anything.
    I have one of them fully loaded with cans and it's still super sturdy!
    Hope that helps!
    I would definetely reccomend them, they're great!

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  13. What type of clear containers did you use? I love them - are they Rubbermaid or OXO and where did you purchase them? Also does 1 bag of flour or sugar fit completely? I have a problem with my current flour and sugar storage that I always tend to have a little left in the bag but my container is filled to the brim.

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  14. LOVE!! Would love to know where you got the clear containers w/white lids as I am in desperate need of something like those.

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  15. The Clear containers came from IKEA they are fantastic. BPA Free and a good price.
    Here's the link:
    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90066708
    Hope that helps :)

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  16. Love the organized pantry. I especially like the pull down wire racks. Thanks for sharing. You are giving me ideas.

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  17. I have to agree with others on how awesome the pull down racks are. What a great way to utilize the upper cupboards and still have relatively easy access to those items. I will have look for some of those when we get a larger kitchen because at 5 feet I can barely reach the middle shelf!

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  18. This is awesome. You must be happy every time you get something to eat.
    Mary Ann

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  19. I just found your blog through the Style at Home blog site (and I LOVE finding new Canadian bloggers too)! Amazing!! where did you get the rack that houses your coffee filters? that's a brilliant idea! I may need to run to Wal Mart to get some storage ideas for myself!!

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  20. These are always my favorite posts, I just get giddy seeing all those clear containers and labels and everything lined up so neatly! Great work, as always! :) You absolutely know how to make the most of a space!

    xoxo,
    Jen

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  21. Oooh! I do love an organized pantry! Some people sneak peeks into medicine cabinets, but I'd prefer a pantry any day. Nice work! It certainly makes spending time in the kitchen more enjoyable when it's organized and efficient, huh?

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  22. THe pantry looks great. I love the pull down racks. What a brilliant idea. Thanks for linking to We're Organized Wednesday.

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  23. Gorgeous! I really love your organization!

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  24. I am in lust!
    Where did you find those pull down racks?

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  25. Thanks, the pull down racks are from Walmart, they are made by rubbermaid! I'd check Amazon too!!
    ~A

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  26. Thanks!
    BTW when I first saw your house, I said that looks local. The superstore cans confirm!

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  27. LOVE THIS - What kind of labels do you use and how do you print them?

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  28. The labels are just from a plain old label maker with clear labels!! I think it's a BROTHER label maker!
    Hope that Helped
    ~A

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  29. Are the pull down racks these ones by Rubbermaid?

    http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rubbermaid-Pull-Down-Spice-Rack/16408640

    Just curious because they're listed as spice racks and don't look like they can hold larger items like the ones you have pictured. I'd love to get some of the same ones you have!

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  30. Yup those are the ones, I originally bought them to use as spice racks, but when I found they could hold cans and jars of pasta sauce, I moved them from the spice cabinet to the pantry!!!
    They're still my favorite part of the pantry :)
    ~Ashli

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  31. Those pull down bins are genius! your kitchen is just gorgeous!

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    Feel free to surf my web-site - Chesterfeild Lounge

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  33. Your kitchen looks great. Love finding Canadian bloggers, I am your newest blogger.

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  34. Your kitchen is beautiful! Really really impressed by how nice a job you've done.

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