OMF to the Rescue: Help for a troubled pantry

It's another OMF to the Rescue! I got a "help me" from Elizabeth about her dysfunctional pantry.

OMF to the Rescue - Master Closet Dilemma via OrganizingMadeFun.com

It's another OMF to the Rescue! I got a "help me" from Elizabeth about her dysfunctional pantry.

I just discovered your blog and I am following you on Facebook, too. You have some great ideas! I love your home office. It is so pretty! I bet you love to work there!

I need help with my pantry in my kitchen. It is a good size but it is weird at the same time, too. It is very deep, meaning you have to step into it and go all the way back to get to any food. There is a lot of floor space where we tend to put our tubs of dog food, grocery bags, etc....and then I can't get to our food because that stuff is on the floor!

I asked Elizabeth a few more questions about her pantry and she helped me a little more:

That is it for what usually goes in this kitchen pantry. On the left are hooks for brooms and Swifters (dry and wet). On the right are the white organizers for food. The slanted ceiling may not work for storage as my husband and I are tall! :)

It is also a challenge to step around the stuff to reach to the pantry shelves to get peanut butter, etc. But , on the other hand, its a great place to hide dog food and big boxes of food you would get at Sam's or Costco.

So, with all this knowledge, I can give some ideas. I feel badly for Elizabeth because this IS a crazy pantry! I could only imagine looking at it and thinking "How in the world do I make this work?" I will do my best to tackle this beast! Not being there, I can't say that all my advice will work but I certainly hope it inspires you to think outside the box and get something figured out that can work better for you.

I want to commend Elizabeth on doing something right - she's using the back of her pantry door to store stuff. It's not real organized and there is no rhyme or reason to putting bread on the shelves or no sense to what's on there. But, she's heading in the right direction. My guess is that it's easiest to put bread there because she can grab it and go. I store my bread in the fridge {neither way is right or wrong necessarily}, but if I were to store it in there I'd want to be able to grab it easily and put it away quick.

Source

One idea that I saw it to group things together that are similar in baskets or containers. Here, above, is an example. See how they did this?

Source

Also, she has a horrible slanted ceiling to deal with , so I found some other slanted ceilings...above and below. This one above is actually a craft/wrapping closet and they installed wooden dowels to hold ribbon. I'm not exactly sure what kitchen item you could store on something like that, BUT, the point is that they made good use of a strange space.

Source

How cool are these Ikea shelf brackets above, that can adjust to fit under stairs like this? She could put something like this to hold more pantry items, as long as it didn't stick too far out and conk her in the head.

Source

If you type in "small pantry" on the search in Pinterest, you come up with a phenomenal amount of ideas for small pantries. One thing they have in common is A} grouping like items, B} taking things out of the boxes, often, and C} Using similar shaped containers. It's not for everyone, but if you can get some of your odd shaped store boxes out of the pantry and put your food into sealed containers that are similar shape, it really DOES help.

Also, the other important thing I believe that will make a big difference in here is to get sliding shelves. These make a HUGE difference in a cupboard or place where the shelf goes back pretty deep. Having this sliding shelf with baskets or containing your store boxes, will help you get to things easier. In fact, if she were to take these shelves out and put in deeper ones, she would get a big benefit, as well, using sliding shelves.

Source

I also typed in "under stairs pantry" and got a ton of ideas, including the one above. While this one is great, it's not quite realistic as to what she needs to store. But, I like how they have the shelves on the side and back. Perhaps building out a small set of shelves {or maybe get some Ikea ones like THIS} to set in there from between current shelves and door jam across that wall and move up or use half the wall organizer that's on there now.

Source

Lastly, label! I know it seems silly, but this is the way you keep things grouped together for the family to find. I get emails all the time about "well, my kids and my husband won't put things away and so I have to do it" - guess what? Other than my husband {who does it half the time}, mine don't always either.

Source

But, I have a consequence when my kids don't put things away and I am ALWAYS checking on that. It's not going to happen by magic, so keep training your family to put things away "where they belong" - my kids hear that from me a dozen times a day. So all that to say, you've got to teach everyone in the house about putting things away where they belong and it might just take a couple hundred times of reminding them and some consequences if they don't "remember".

Source

Having an awkward pantry is not fun and I know she said she's been dealing with this for awhile. Keeping up your pantry and any other organized space is just as important as getting it organized - that's why labeling and teaching everyone else to use it properly is important. Once or twice a year it would be a good idea to go through your pantry and clear out any unused foods - unopened, non-expired food is great for donating to food pantries if you know you won't actually use it. Otherwise, you need to discard it and wipe down shelves. Make sure everything is in sealed containers so no buggies get in. Do you have any other ideas for her troubled pantry?

Do you have a space that's needing help organizing? Send me your pictures and I might feature your space and help you get organized!

P.S. I'm joining up with a few other bloggers this week for an Organization 101 series. Go see BETH first at Free Stylin' HERE.