• 818-758-4076
  • office@legit.com
  • 3146 Koontz Lane, California
Let's Connect

Organizing My Pantry

We all drooled over this gorgeous pantry makeover by House of Smiths.

It is nothing short of perfection.  Who knew a pantry could make you feel calm and at peace?  
 
Feeling inspired to do my own version of a pantry makeover, I set out to tackle my mess of a pantry.  For some strange reason I didn’t take a before pic for all of you, but it looked something like this….
Before:
 
Messy pantry pic courtesy of The Thrifty Couple

And here is the much better….
After:

 
 
I have so many projects to tackle in this house so I made some rules for myself before I started.
  • I would not paint the pantry. (It was already painted red when we moved in.)
  • I would not buy a bunch of expensive containers/baskets for the pantry. (I only bought the vintage milk crates. 3 for $15.
  • I would work with what I had.
  • Everything had to still be in the pantry.  (No moving things to another cupboard because it’s ugly.)
These rules served me well and the project was completed in a day.

 
 
I used scrapbook paper, ribbon, and my label gun to make all the tags.

 
 
The vintage milk crates were found on Craigslist for $5 each and I love them!  They look cool and hold a ton of stuff.

 
 
It was pure luck that the yellow matched my little scrapbook paper tag theme!

 
 
I used baskets I already had and just better organized the goods.

 
 
The floor used to be covered in stuff and you couldn’t walk into the pantry.  Now, you can actually see it!

 
 
Here is the side with all the can goods.

 
 
I found this chalkboard decal for $2.99 at the Christmas Tree Shop.  It adds just a touch of cuteness to the wall.  And in case you’re wondering, that drawing at the bottom is supposed to be a jar!

 
 
I so wish you could see the real before so you could fully appreciate the after.  It’s not as sigh-worthy as my inspiration, but I’m liking it!

Share this:

Comments

  1. Great looking pantry! Mine is much smaller, so I hang those jars you show on the top board on hooks from chains that hang from the ceiling. I`m going to label them now, thankss for your inspiration!

  3. I love that you didn’t go out and purchase thousands of dollars of plastic organizers. You used what you had, looks great

  6. Oh my that is one lovely pantry! I don’t have a pantry in my apartment (sad) I can’t do this kind of project but I can probably ‘suggest’ it to my sister! It would totally beat having just 5 huge shelves where you can’t see what’s all the way in the back.

  9. Simplemente preciosa…ojala tuviera yo una despensa como la tuya lo que si tengo son los botes de cristal y me has dado una idea para ponerle etiquetas. Adoro toda tu casa.Bss Josefa.

  11. So cute! We're building a new house in the spring, and I'm so excited to decorate everything that I'm already looking for inspiration~ and this is definitely getting added to my ideas!

    I just started blogging last month~ check it out @ craftykayla.blogspot.com 🙂

  17. Your pantry looks wonderful. Doesn't if feel good to have it done? I just did our linen closet. I don't have a pantry or it would be next.

  19. Ohhhh, LOVE this! You did such a great job, I think the old milk crates are my fave! And by the wy, we have the same gardening caddy with the plastic tools, lol!! Stop on over for a asvisit sometime!

    Cara

  20. my husband just walked by as I was looking at your blog. He mentioned that ours looks far worse than the picture of yours before you started the project. I guess it's time to get organized.

  21. I love your tags ~ great idea! Your pantry looks awesome ~ doesn't organization feel good 🙂

  22. I love your three rules. I am doing a month of organization over at my blog and my pantry is next on my list.

  23. Love your pantry organization. Looks great. Inspires me to get mine organized and looking as nice as yours and House of Smith. Thanks for sharing.

  24. Have fun opening your pantry door now! 🙂 It looks beautiful. I love the food in containers. GREAT work!

  25. Who knew a pantry could be so pretty??!! It looks great, Beth. Lucky you to have a pantry. I don't even have enough cupboard space for everything. All of our food and dishes are strategically placed into all the cupboards without a bit of extra room.

  26. I LOVE all those adorable tags! You inspire me to want to clean up my pantry… but whether or not I actually do it is another story! 🙂

  30. Beth,
    Hey girlfriend! I love it. Now I want a cute pantry 🙂 Thanks for the tip on Ebay and the milk crates~I've been wanting some, but have had no luck at yard sales.

  31. Want to come do mine?? LOL…looks great. Problem with mine is I do it then a couple times of being rushed when I go to the store…and its back looking bad again.

  32. Okay, you've inspired me again. I want a pantry that looks like yours! Right now I have. . . ugh, I don't want to think about what I have. I suppose I should be thankful that we have so much food in our pantry. Yes, that's what I ought to be feeling. Instead, I'm thinking "I'm glad there's a door on this thing."

    Okay. I'm about to take some "Before" pictures. Now I just need to get myself into "During" mode so that I can get to the "After"!!

  34. Fabulous!!
    And here I am with my house on the market to sell and my pantry – uhm, well — looks like the picture you showed of someone else's pantry… HEY- how'd you get a picture of my pantry?!
    *sigh* I hate this kind of motivation…. but bless it, too. 🙂
    Great job!!!!!!!!!

  35. seriously that loops fabulous. I have a dungeon of a cold room I'm not sure if it deserves to be beautified but maybe I'll take the inspiration to my laundry room

  37. I love how yours turned out and without buying a bunch of new stuff too! I suffer from pantry envy since my house barely has enough closets to hold our clothes, let alone things like food and kitchen supplies, but I'm sure if I had one it would look much like the "before" pic. Those baskets were a great find and a real bargain!

  40. i LOVE the idea of the tags made with scrapbook paper. I would use that idea becasue You would have to use the same jars for the same things over and over…. ok maybe that didnt make any sense….for say if your sugar jar broke you could just slip the Sugar tag on anpther jar fill it with sugar and TADA a new sugar jar

  42. LOVE IT… thanks for sharing. It has given me ispiration too. I dont have a pantry..so I will drool over yours but am making a few changes to my walls to make "built in" can food pantry in between my studs on one of my short walls. you gave me a idea to paint the back wall of my little can size pantry a bright fun color like yours…

  43. Ok so I love those milk crates! I want some. I haven't been able to find any though. Great job.

  44. nothing is greater than having something organized except organizing it cute!! love the tags! and the containers, especially the milk crates! i see betty crocker gluten free mixes,i have celiacs. i have a blog that i haven't updated in forever but am going to start again soon but it's glutenfreeinhawaii.blogspot.com
    good job!!!!!!!

  46. Nice job! The labels are adorable! I have to do mine at some point but like alot of the others it's on the list!

  47. I think all of we "gluten-free" cooks recognized most of the contents in your pantry.:) I have recently tried Udi's bread. Oh. My. Goodness! It lived up to all the hype I had read on many of the "gluten free" blogs. I ate the entire loaf in three days all by myself.

  48. Love how neat and tidy it looks. And those milk crates are such great storage and cool, too!

    Nancy

  49. Thanks Julia! Our pantry and kitchen were painted red. I actually hate it and am about to repaint the kitchen, but I don't have the energy to repaint a million coats on the pantry to kill that red. So red the pantry will stay and I'll just work with it. It will be the fun, festive, party pantry :).

  51. 1. I LOVE that you kept it real and had realistic expectations with what you would use and the changes you would implement.
    2. The milk crates are awesome, and the neat jars at the top are cool too!

    You did a wonderful job. 🙂 I hope you might be able to stop by my Dishing It! party this week, even if you can't link up. 🙂

  53. Whoa! I love it! My pantry is organized but it's far from pretty. Maybe I should paint the walls a nice color like you did. Great job!

  54. Adorable! I love it! Looks fantastic. Those milk crates were a score! 🙂

  55. I think it's sigh worthy! If you saw mine you'd run and hide! It's truly scary! tho it is more organized than before:) LOL I'm inspired girl! Now I need to go dig thru my house for containers that are "mouse proof" and Pretty:)

  56. It looks great! I love the color!

    I actually was inspired to organize my pantry too…and some cupboards…after seeing that post, but mine is in no way pretty. Just functional.

    I have about half the pantry and twice the food of what is in your picture!

  57. Wow. Can I send in my address for a pantry makeover!!! I wish I had the energy right now to do that. I write on my 'containers' with a black sharpie. Not very chic.

  58. Nicely done, Beth! Love your tags and all the containers you put to work for you here. Of course, I noticed your Betty Crocker Gluten Free mixes! : ) Ha! I want to get the cake mix because I've been craving cake, but all I saw last time at the store was brownie and cookie mixes.

  61. I think that is definately sigh-worthy. It looks great. Now you have inspired me. But, since the list is long, I may not get to it for a while.
    Brooke

  62. Looks great! I redid my pantry last year but find that now I have stuff on the ground again!

    Jody

  63. You are good! Can you come and do mine! Oh wait, I don't have a pantry. We use something like a wardrobe in the basement for our excess items. Still, it doesn't look as good as this!

    Jeanine

  65. Love the organization! I have to ask…does someone have celiac or a gluten allergy? My son has celiac and I'm always looking for new foods and recipes. Thanks for the inspiration.

  67. Are you kidding? I totally disagree! It is SO sigh worthy! You did great, and apparently it was meant to be. Have a great week, Sandi

Shop