March After – Pantry

It’s the end of the month – that means it’s time for me to share my March After. I want to start by saying the pantry isn’t finished…this isn’t the final “after” reveal. I still have some work to do, but I’ve made some serious progress.

Remember how my pantry looked at the beginning of the month?

Here’s how it looks now!

Let’s take a closer look - Warning: Lots of pictures ahead!

Before

After

This picture really just shows how much better everything looks once it’s organized! The top shelf is now pool testing kits and games, the second shelf is now kitchen appliances, and the third shelf is paper goods/supplies.

Before

After

I think the biggest change is that I finally took all those plastic bags to be recycled! I’m pretty sure that collection was from an entire year of shopping. Now, every time I fill a bag I’m taking it to be recycled…no more bag hoarding! A few people commented that I should stop using plastic bags, but honestly I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I have fabric shopping bags, but I always forget to put them in my car or forget to take them into the store. And I’m pretty sure my boyfriend wouldn’t use them. Sorry, but I’m just being honest. I save them up and take them to the store to be recycled, so that’s better than nothing…

Before

After

These aren’t exactly the same shelves (the bottom left “before” shelf is the same one as the top “after” shelf). Most of the stuff on the top shelves went to the Goodwill (bye bye wok). Then I organized our snacks into baskets and plastic IKEA containers and I organized the rice, breadcrumbs, and pasta into glass jars.

Before

After

Drinks, rags/towels, and chips now have their own space! And after all that cleaning/organizing I have an empty shelf!

Before

After

The ironing board was moved to the laundry room (finally). Here you can see the top shelves - one is holding misc. kitchen items and the other is holding my baking ingredients (flour, sugar, brown sugar, and oats). The dogs’ treats were also organized! They have their own basket of toys/goodies and a treat jar.

Before

After

Bird hooks from Hobby Lobby (spray painted black) now hold the mops and broom. The closet Hobby Lobby only had 2, so I need to make a trip to the far away Hobby Lobby to get the third one.

And finally, Ringo can’t stick his head in the food bag anymore!

(Abby modeling the new dog food container)

OK, now let’s review the to-do list:

Paint walls

Paint shelves

Update switches/outlet to white

Replace light fixture

Move ironing board to laundry room

Buy container for Ringo and Abby’s food

Trash expired food

Donate unused items (like that wok in the top corner)

Recycle plastic bags

System for storing plastic bags (maybe something like this)

Rearrange items on shelves

Buy baskets and containers

My parents are coming down Saturday for a spring training game, so I’m hoping my dad will update the light switch to white and hang the new light fixture while he's here.

Added to the to-do list:

Paint trim

Buy crate for cleaning supplies

Buy additional crate for rags

I’m so close to being done with the pantry! I’m hoping to have a final reveal in a couple weeks!