Before and After

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This is my best friend's pantry and because of that I had high emotions at play for both of us. She was sensitive about opening her pantry for judgment. I had to help her explain that my questions do not judge, but simply gather information on how the family uses each item. 

Things special about this pantry

1. Dora uses everything in her pantry. She bakes and cooks all the time. She needed to find things simply and quickly. Ability to purge unused items was at about .009%.

2. There are three adults who pack their lunches and access the pantry. Lunch making supplies and snacks needed to make sense in their location. 

3. Dora's husband is in charge of putting everything away. So, I needed to make sure it made sense to him. 

4. One trip to the Container Store for some risers and under the shelf organizers. Cost of supplies $150.

5. I wanted items not stacked so that Dora can easily grab items without fear of a pyramid of items tumbling down. 

6. Stepped risers worked to keep everything visible. I want all food items to be viewed easily so that a grocery list can be easily made by anyone in the household. 

7. Used all the vertical space without it seeming cluttered.

8. Placed all cake and cookie decorating supplies on a rolling cart that was previously outside the pantry. Now Dora can wheel all supplies out in the kitchen instead of going back and forth. 

9. Overflow items are on the floor in bins. So, when looking for the extra brown sugar, this will be the place that should be searched. 

10. Moved 1 item that is rarely used to a spare bedroom closet that had plenty of room. The item was a drink dispenser that was very bulky. 

Friendship was left intact. It was an amazing process of trust. 

AFTER is always so much better than the BEFORE. 

The steps to many organizing projects are always the same:

1. Empty the space and give it a good cleaning!

2. Group like items together

3. Assess what you have

• Do you use everything in this space?
• Does it make sense to be housed elsewhere?

4. Now look at what you have left and try to visualize where everything will be housed.

• Place things you use often within easy reach.
• Place things you use infrequently up high or even in another space in your home.

5. Now place in the containers or go container shopping.

• Too often people have this as the first step. Big mistake! A container does not make you organized, it is the process before the container. If you buy the containers first, you don't know what will fit. You may purchase things that are the wrong shape or simply make no sense in your new space. 

This entire project from start to shopping and completed took me about 2 1/2 hours. Home Goods and The Container Store were within a few blocks, which really helped. Most of the things already were on hand. The glass containers were flower vases. The turntable was one that was already in the home.  

The project cost under $150 including the art on the wall. 

This was a hated space, a typical laundry "closet" in a rental. 

Everything was thrown in as a temporary home, eventually becoming permanent.