Organized Farmhouse Pantry

It’s Farmhouse Fri-yay!
I am one who loves all things farmhouse, which is why my home, dubbed The Chateau, is all about farmhouse decor. When you’ve spent 15 months building a home, it needs a name and a bougie one so Le Chateau it is!

While building my home, my builder brought up the idea of an open pantry just off the kitchen, to stay in line with the European farmhouse theme. It was essentially supposed to be unseen to guests unless I purposely directed them there. Sounded like a great idea, right?

***Slams hand down on the table like Judge Judy***

WROOOOONG!

Considering that we remove our shoes in the house and ask our guests to do so as well, everyone typically enters our home thru the garage. There’s a mud bench in there that makes it easier for shoe removal. Needless to say, when people enter through the garage, the first thing their eyeballs come across is my “hidden” pantry.
Now we all know that pantries are our secret place of nutritional and not so nutritional hodgepodge, that can ultimately become a big mess, hidden by a closed door. Nobody’s business. My pantry, on the other hand, is everyone’s business and I’m ok with that, as long as it’s neat. Unfortunately, it had become an unorganized mess of open space, so I decided to give it a much-needed makeover.

Although I had the baskets prior to my makeover, the pantry was as unsightly as it was not functional. Everyday items were crammed down on the bottom shelf in baskets that were hard to reach and there was too much underutilized space towards the top.  Regrouping, readjusting and redesigning was a must.

Also, my husband loves to take items out of their packaging to “maximize” space but it ultimately becomes more shenanery to clutter up the place.

My cool little helper and I began by removing all of the candy from the Easter baskets and storing them way up high and unreachable to sneaky little 4 year old hands. We placed the candy in some drawers I salvaged before disposing of the nightstands they belonged to.

After the candy sorting was done and he happily ate a few pieces while sorting, he was no longer interested in helping, so I rearranged the cans, condiments and things we use on a daily basis and also moved them to the higher shelves so they were easily accessible. 

I purchased those nifty little can holders from Amazon and they really helped to maximize the space on the bottom shelf. They were a little tricky at first because you need to position your cans based on their size and then it’s quite efficient.

The three baskets at the top were used for storage of miscellaneous items like trash, storage, and zip lock bags.

Our unpackaged snacks disaster also got an overhaul.

I’ll probably add some decor to the top of the pantry like tobacco baskets or some other fun farmhouse find but overall, I am satisfied with the new look and organization.  All of the wire baskets were purchased at Home Goods and the wicker baskets were purchased at Target.

My husband has already moved something from its designated place. I told him if he doesn’t want to hear the Friday the 13th theme music in his sleep, I would advise him to keep everything in its new systemized arrangement. Happy wife, happy life right?