Let's Organize It! - Pantry and Lower (Laundry Room) Cabinets

Have you been following the Declutter Calendar from My Simpler Life?

I have been doing so well sticking to my resolution to declutter and organize, and I owe it to that calendar.  I follow along with each day, but make adjustments as needed. For instance, Jan. 6th was, "put all of your cans on one can shelf." Well, we don't have many canned products - certainly not enough to fill an entire shelf. So I decided instead, to re-organize my whole pantry; and while I was at it, I re-arranged the lower cabinets in the laundry room as well. We use those cabinets for storage of food we stockpile and other kitchen tools - nothing laundry related. I have been meaning to re-organize them, and there is no better time than the present. 

Before

laundry room cabinets

pantry

I actually forgot to take the before picture of the laundry room cabinets before I started. So, they looked a little different before I took that picture. 

We have the oddest shaped pantry ever. The shelves measure 44 in. x 9 in., and the door is not wide enough to see the whole pantry. There is a good 10 inches on each side of the shelf that is blocked by the wall. It's so aggravating, but something we have to live with {for now}. 

After

right side

left side

I was able to fit all of my small appliances on one shelf, and still have some extra room behind them (if I ever need more space to store something). I put all of our plastic bags, plastic cups, and straws on one shelf; and paper products and plastic utensils on a shelf together. 

The canvas baskets I picked up at Walmart a few years ago; and I just cut regular computer paper to fit the slots for the labels. 

On the floor is extra storage containers, foil, and a bin that holds my oven mitts. 

Since I now had a whole shelf free after moving the small appliances and baking tools, I moved all of our stockpile goods, lunch boxes, and water bottles (we have a bunch - at least 3 per person) onto the bottom shelf. 

Bubba now has his own shelf, which has all the snack food that he is allowed to eat, and his macaroni and cheese boxes. 

The third shelf holds all of my baking items - i.e. sugars, salt, chocolate, oats, etc. 

The fourth shelf (going up from the bottom), is for snacks, hot breakfast items, and the 4 cans that we have.

Finally, the very top, is for all of of the tall Oxo containers - which holds cereals, pasta, rice, and chips. 

We used to print out labels from our label maker for the Oxo containers; but now I have a new OBSESSION, and it's name is chalkboard contact paper. I love it because if we don't refill the container with the same food, we can just erase the name and write something else. Before, we would have to remove the label, which left behind a mark from the sticky stuff on the back, and it was such a waste. The chalkboard contact paper is awesome. You can cut it into any shape you want, then just stick it on. I was pretty simple, and just stuck with squares...but you can get as creative with the shape as you want. 

So there you have it - an organized pantry and cabinets. It feels so good to have this done! I can see everything we have now, and it is all neat and organized. 

How is your organizing going?