Closet Pantry Makeover

We've lived in this house for over 13 years and while making over the pantry has always been on the to-do list, it never quite got to the top......

 Up until now, my food storage consisted of:

• Kitchen cupboard - snacks, drink mixes, and cereal

• China hutch bottom - Shaklee Life Shakes, protein bars, and vitamins

• A big boxy thing on one side of a coat closet - dry goods and canned food

• Shelves in the garage - home canned food and extra canning jars

• Garage floor - pop, and water bottles

It was all use able.... just not ideal. The problem was that I had food in 5 different places, and I couldn't find anything in the big boxy thing, because everything always fell over and I couldn't see what I had. It was frustrating.

Here's a pic of the closet/pantry before. It also had the sweeper, cleaning things, coats, shoes, hats and other random stuff in it.

I wanted to make the whole closet into a pantry, so I could have all the food in one place, and see, and easily get to everything. So, we started by taking everything out.... 

My son, Wyatt and I tore the big boxy thing out. There's something about demo work that makes me happy...

Hubby put boards on each end so the shelves could rest on them. I painted the whole thing a bright, clean white. I wanted to add wall paper behind the shelves, but didn't think it was worth the extra time, or the $$.

Hubby put in the shelf brackets and cut the shelves to fit. (We bought heavy duty brackets - each one holds up to 500 lb., so with two to each shelf, it should hold up to 1,000 lb. per shelf. Overkill? Maybe, but we'd rather be safe than sorry. Also, because most of my shelves are 8" between, we had to stagger the brackets, as they were too large to put in a row. In the end, it's better that way, so that all the weight is distributed over the four wall studs instead of only two. Also, we wanted white brackets, but the store was out, so we got the grey instead, which I really don't mind). Putting in the shelves was slow going.... but he got it done! 

Hubby also installed a led motion light in the closet.

I had fun filling all the shelves! I tried to group item into categories... baking, cooking, condiments, drinks, fruits, canned goods, snacks, vitamins, etc.

And, I will insert here.... I love the look of a pretty organized pantry with everything in clear jars all lined up neatly!!! But, for our house (and my sanity) that just ain't going to happen!

Here's the breakdown: 

The top two shelves are 12" deep, so that we could get things on and off of them easily. The rest of the shelves are 16" deep.

The top shelf is 15" from the ceiling. I put things that we don't use often in fabric 11" boxes. One has extra baggies and kitchen wrap, one has empty plastic containers, and one has canning stuff. I also put my pressure canner on the top shelf.

The next shelf is 11" and it has the taller items like cereal boxes, oatmeal, flour, oil, and condiments on it.

The third through eighth shelves are all 8" tall and holds everything else. 

The floor space is 16" high and I have baskets of chips, potatoes, onions, vinegar, pop, water and my step stool (which will eventually be painted black) there.

I hung my fabric, plastic bag holder in the pantry too.

I shopped my house for the fabric bins on the top shelf.. (they came out of the girls room). The large black plastic bin on the floor used to hold sandbox toys, back when the kids were younger, but it works perfectly as a place to put bottles of water and pop.

The copper baskets were bought for .25 cents a piece. There are two different sized rectangle ones, and three tall round ones on the floor. And though I would have rather had something a little prettier, these twelve baskets work great for the $3 I have in them!

And there you have it!!! I love to open the doors and just stand there looking at my new pantry! I love having all our food in one place and being able to see everything I have!

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*Pictures really don't do it justis at all. The pantry is right off the kitchen in my small laundry room and between the light coming in at the window, and trying to find an angle to get the whole closet, it's rather hard to get good pics!

** Because I cook/bake about everyday, I do keep my baking supplies that are open and my spices in my kitchen cupboards, where they are more convenient.

*** My empty canning jars are going to remain on the shelves in the garage. And yes, when I do more canning, I will need to keep some of the excess in the garage too, but I'm okay with that. 

**** By the way, the sweeper, broom, and cleaning supplies have moved to their own designated closet! And the coats, hats, and random things found other homes! I'm thankful for a house that has 8 large closets!

***** We are a family of five. Between living in the middle of 'nowhere', and the fact that I don't like shopping, I usually only do my main grocery shopping once a month and then get fruits, veggies, and milk every week or so, as needed.