Pantry Makeover Reveal...

Okay, here it is!  It may not be some super classy high-end design, but I finished my pantry project, and I 
L-O-V-E it!  

I started with this horrifying mess...

(Princess #1 is still mortified that I show you all this!  She's fairly certain that Social Services will now come inspect our house and take away her little sisters!)

Next I emptied the entire pantry and washed down the walls, shelves and floor with a bleach solution so everything was nice and sanitized.

Then I had to make the tough decision not to paint and stencil like had wanted to do.  The paint was not really in bad shape, and it would be a complete nightmare to take down all those brackets.   I was "prewarned" by my Main Man that I would be own my own if I decided to tackle that job!

I decided to take the easy way out and add a little fun and color with some repositionable decals.  You can find many different designs at craft & home stores.   I found some multi-color geometric design tiles at Home Goods for only $9.99!  Woo-hoo for bargains!

(Can I just pause here and give a word of testimony about TJ Maxx/Homegoods?  

Love, love, LOVE that place!)  

Aren't those cutie-patootie?  Here, look closer...

My Home Goods only had one set of these tiles, but I think I'll look for another one.  

Well, here it is, the finished product... A nice organized pantry! 

Woo-hoo!  I'm so happy with this!  So, here's what's amazing, with the exception of  a little purging I did, the same items are still in the pantry, but now they are orderly and in their place.  And, no... I bought no new containers.

Let me show you.  

Here are extra laundry supplies, tp, and paper towels...

 Next is cleaning supplies...

 The green basket and the one next to it are filled with extra stock of things already in my kitchen cabinets such as seasonings, salt, hot sauce, salad dressings, etc.  The basket on the right is candy and cookie making supplies, like the cookie press, decorating bags, sprinkles, etc.

 The top shelf is where I have some of my party supplies.

Beside them are some plastic platters and the picnic basket.

 Here are the staples...sugars, Splenda, flour and cornmeal, and below that more back up food items, as well as a basket filled with light bulbs.

 The next shelf has a basket for doggie supplies, the multi-color basket is kitty stuff, and the green container on the right is filled with candles and candle holders.

 The bottom shelf is where I put my glass vases (in that container on the left) and then items I don't use every day, but frequently enough that I don't want them store away.

 On the floor level there is a hand-held vac, lunch boxes & thermoses, and household tools.

 I am just to happy with this, I could stand there and look at it for a while!  By the way, the drawer unit on  the right is filled with all my table linens and placemats.

Why did I wait so long to do this?... I have no clue, but I am so, so happy that I did!  Nothing feels better than an organized house!  I have one more finishing touch I'm going to add this week, but I didn't want to leave you hanging to show you what I had already finished.  Since I kept my commitment of not buying new storage containers, this only cost of this makeover was $9.99 for the tile decals.  

I hope you are inspired to get your clutter under control... you will be so glad you did it!  Happy organizing!

Keep Shining!

The Woo-Hoo Gal

*  You might like to read my previous post here Pantry Makeover.

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Pantry Makeover

A few weeks ago, will cruising through "Blogland", I was stopped in my tracks by the gorgeous pantry redo over at House of Smiths.  Shelley has absolutely phenomenal taste, and I love anything she does, but this pantry redo blew me away!  


I went and took a look at my pantry...

Just keeping it real here folks! Well... here it is in all its unorganized, messy horribleness.  My oldest princess who is home from college this summer saw me taking this picture, and the convo went like this...

"Please tell me that is not going on the internet."  

"Of course, it is baby, I'm a DIY/decorating blogger, and I have to keep it real."  

"Have you no shame?"

"Yes, I wear the pantry 'cone of shame'."

I know, I know...it's downright awful.  Now you know why my family sometimes laughs when I go to organize and design for others!  This pantry is by far the most disorganized, messiest zone in our house.  Now it's not nasty, just a jumbled mess and catch-all.  I do have something to say in my defense... Our house is on a crawlspace = no basement, and we converted our attached garage to 2 bedrooms and a bathroom, so that leave one small outdoor shed for total storage for a family of six!  But, despite that, I have to get this space under control. It makes me break out in hives just to find a ziploc bag!  

First thing to do?  Empty it.  Oh. My. Word.  There was a village of pygmies and a litter of chinchillas in there... it was awful.  I made 874 trips out of there, BUT...

Yipee!  There it is, all empty and scrubbed down, and a clean slate for designing!  

My little heart was broken when I realize a  painting and stenciling project like Shelley did wasn't very practical.  As a matter a fact, it seemed a completely overwhelming tasks to remove all of those many, many screws & brackets that hold up wire shelving...not nearly as easy to paint as wooded ones.   Well, I made a decision and moved on with a plan.  I'm still adding a couple of final touches, but I'll post the end results very soon.  My one rule...no going to Target or Ikea and spending a lot of money on containers.  I wanted to make it nice using the things I already had.  

Stay tuned... I can't wait to show you the reveal!

Keep Shining, 

The Woo-Hoo Gal

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.