Cozy House Chronicles (Part I): How to DIY a Pantry...

Well, it's Wednesday again and I for one am looking forward to the weekend!  Mostly because then it'll be closer to next weekend when I go on my scrapbooking retreat!!!  I'm so excited; I haven't been to a scrapbooking retreat since March 2013 when I went to Atlanta. So I am really looking forward to going and reconnecting with some of my online crafting friends.  

I'm also looking forward to the weekend because I have re-instituted the "Family Fall Outing." That's right.  For many years, mostly when the kids were younger, we did a lot of family outings:  pumpkin patch or apple picking in the fall, zoo lights and Santa visits in the winter, museums in the spring and a whole myriad of things over the summer.  But, then the kids start growing up ant they're busy and not so much interested in those types of activities anymore.  So I started drafting my other babies to go with and that worked until they moved across the country last year.  So no outings last year.  That didn't make me a happy camper, so I've decided we're going to the apple orchard this Sunday after church.  And so what if the kids think they are too big for it?  Anyone familiar with the movie "Georgia Rule?" Yep - Mommy Rule.  Translation:  Ya gotta go (and pose for pictures with the least amount of snarkiness and sarcasm your tween and teen selves can muster). Stay tuned...

So onto Part I of the Cozy House Chronicles.  So as I've said before, with this move, our family downsized to a house about a third of the size of our last one, and less than half of the one before that.  So it's a serious downsize!  But you know what?  I don't miss it, well, most of it anyway.  I do miss my bathroom, my craft room/office, my closet, and my pantry. The pantry is the subject of today's post - because this house didn't have one and with a smaller kitchen, I was really stumped on what to do with the dry goods (all of which, along with canned goods, extra spices as well as rarely used small appliances, were stored in the pantry at the old house).  So ta-da:  my new pantry! 

My new pantry!  Still needs painting and labels,
but I love it!

While the cozy house didn't have a pantry, it did have two hall closets, one of which is just across from the kitchen.  It was this closet that was designated for reincarnation as a DIY pantry.  Here is a photo of the plain, boring closet before (just a regular closet, with a single rod and a shelf), nothing exciting:

Regular ole closet, nothing to see here!

I used this opportunity to "cute up" the pantry; time to put some of those Pins I love on Pinterest to work!  I told you a few weeks ago that I went to Dollar Tree and purchased an assortment of baskets and other containers in fall/harvest red- those containers were used to organize/categorize food in the soon to be pantry as well as within some of the kitchen cabinets. Here's a breakdown of how I used the various sized baskets and bins to store and organize dry goods.  *Note, it was trial and error; I wasn't sure what was going to fit where, so a lot of back and forth to the various Dollar Tree stores in the area made it happen. There are a lot of pictures, as you will see.  

So first, the various containers and what they house:

Salad Dressings and condiments

Herbal tea collection

Jello, pudding and nutri-grain bars

Cracker containers (these came from Dollar General)

Extra snacks (pudding, fruit cups, applesauce, trail mix)

Crackers:  graham, ritz, club, snack 

Baking mixes (we usually don't have this many, but the extra was
purchased for a RMH project that we didn't make it to...)

Oatmeal

Pancake mix, syrup and grits

Noodles!

Side Dishes (pastas & potatoes)

Dry beans

Powdered drink mix, freeze pops

Soup mixes

Foil, storage bags, etc.

Rice Sides

Canned Chicken and Salmon

Sugar

More tea!

Light bulbs

Whew!  That's a lot of containers, I know (and I think I missed a few).  But, it will all make sense in a minute.  I borrowed a practice that I use in my craft room storage - whenever possible, I got rid of the boxes that the came in because they tend to be bulky and take up too much space.  

So onto the closet transformation.  First, the rod was removed, and three shelves were added.  The shelves were cut from particle board from Home Depot, which is relatively inexpensive and perfect for this project.  Shelf supports were cut from wood, also from Home Depot.  Now for the (un)finished product... I say unfinished because I haven't made it "cute" yet - painted the shelving or labeled the containers yet (still unpacking my craft supplies, so it will be totally done soon).  So I put everything where it was going to go to a) make sure that it all fit and b) to get those containers of food off of the kitchen floor!  So without further ado, here's the new DIY pantry (overlook the ugly, unpainted particle board - that's just a temporary situation...):

Top shelf is the original shelf that was already in the closet;
shelf below it was added

Lower two shelves (also added my airtight canisters)

Pantry floor

  I was even able to hang my aprons on the inside of the bi-fold door:

And there you have it - a DIY Pantry!!!  Once I get the shelves painted and the containers labeled, it will look as if it was always that way.  I was very pleased that everything fit; I didn't do any pre-measuring to make sure the containers would fit and all of that - I just bought them, made sure the food fit and crossed my fingers that they would fit on the shelves once completed.  All in alll, I think it turned out to be a successful DIY home improvement project in that it created storage.  Gotta love inspiration from Pinterest! 

Now of course I did no woodworking, so shout out to Urban Dude for assuming the role of Handy Andy in this here little project (managed by yours truly, of course!).  I have a few other similar projects for inside the house (converting the other teeny, tiny hall closet into my shoe closet, as well as adding some shelving to the craft room closet).  In the name of organization/decor/storage, I will be sharing other stories/projects in the Cozy House Chronicles as I work to turn it into our cozy little home!!!    So stay tuned!

So how about you - any other DIYers brave the challenge of creating more storage space/becoming more organized in your own homes?  If so, care to share?  You know the drill - Holla @ Darvi!  Be Blessed!

Wait, not saying goodbye just yet.  It doesn't feel right to end this post without some word of encouragement, so here you go:

"God changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls, 

and coal into diamonds using Time and Pressure.  

He's working on YOU too!"  - Rick Warren 

Hope that brightens someone's day!  I'm signing off for real this time, but Holla @ Darvi with your favorite DIY home projects.  We are getting to the holidays and I will be sharing crafts and holiday decor soon - it's my second favorite time of the year!  What's the first?  Why, my birthday, of course!  Be Blessed, everyone!!!