My blog is generally about home decor, but, as some of you know, I have been in a decorating frenzie as of late. This frenzie has included organizing just about every drawer and door I open. One area that was in desperate need of an overhaul was my pantry.
There is a reason this pantry was such a mess. See the drawer slides below? Crap. They are crap and cannot hold any weight. These shelves fell all the time and I had to organize my pantry by weight. I am a very mild mannered person, but these shelves falling down made my blood boil. I would be balancing a shelf full of dry goods in my arms and wanted to curse the person who didn’t realize that people would put soup cans and boxes of pasta in a pantry.
My hubby saw my distress over these shelves and finally replaced them with these 100lb heavy duty drawer slides. My mom purchased them for about $17.00 a pair at Lowes and my handy honey installed them. Thanks, babe!
Ahhh…much better. Now I can actually organize by type. Amazing!
I also organized other cabinets and drawers – including my spice drawer, our game and craft cabinet, and…
…the cabinet where I store some of my serving pieces. This was a broken dish waiting to happen. Every time you opened the doors an avalanche of plates, platters and bowls came down. I hope this was inspiring to you to do some organizing of your own. Here are some tips to keep in mind when you’re looking at the mountain that is growing in your garage or the closet that is over stuffed.
Some easy organization tips:
1.) Work on one small area at a time. Don’t try to tackle a room or closet mess that is huge and overwhelming. Every little bit will add up to a functional space.
2.) Talk to your stuff. Ask it questions. “Do I love you?” “Do I use you?” “Does something else I own do your job better than you do?” “Do I have room for you?” If the answers are no, no, yes, and no…get rid of it. Give it, donate it, pitch it, sell it. Let it go. If you are not good at this, ask a friend who will help and be ruthless.
3.) Let your family know what you’re trying to do and ask for their help and encouragement.
4.) You don’t have to buy fancy bins and cartons. Use shoe boxes, disposable food containers, and ziplock bags. You can buy the pretty boxes when you can afford them.
5.) Don’t get discouraged. I am very neat and organized and I still have messy, disorganized, and junky places all over my home. We all do. So, go easy on yourself!
Make sure to visit the post below and link up your favorite furniture posts from 2009. It’s open until tonight at midnight.
22 Responses
I LOVE to organize! It makes me happy and when everything is in its place, I feel better. We just moved and I left a pantry that was a walkin room to a closet. My hubby had to go and buy me a cabinet at Lowes to house our food. I love to cook and bake and a closet doesn't work for me. That $100 was well spent.
Great tips.
I need to talk to my things, no doubt about it.
Of course, some of them might talk back, then I would end up yelling…
I break rule #1.
I am the biggest offender.
I make a bigger mess, get discouraged and quit.
I'm going to print out your tips and highlight them!
Great post,
~Amy
Yes that is why I LOVE January. After all the lovely clutter we call Christmas decor I embrace the organization month of January. I organize the crap out of my house. The kids get scared saying watch out she is purging and organizing again.
SIMPLIFY is a main thing – it makes life enjoyable.
But I have to say – no matter what I do my craft studio is always organized chaos:)
Oh well can't have it all can we?
tammy
Timely tips..
many I need to use today..
Yesterday was filled with reflecting and relaxing..
today is another story..
will start purging and organizing..
after I get off the computer..
beginning with my office..
which s CHAOS CENTRAL!!
ps.. will try talking nicely..
warm hugs
Loui♥
you are right, those drawer slides are crap! we have them on all of our kitchen drawers. the "not so smart person" who installed them installed them where they recess too far so after being slammed over and over by little children the drawer face just falls off exposing the long screws used to install them. nice. maybe we will change them out, too! thanks for all the organizing tips-it is slowly occurring around here one space at a time.
Good for you! I can see where a full shelf slamming down onto other full shelves could turn into a comedy of errors pretty quick!
Thank you MMS's hubby and mom for taking good care of our girl here. We want her happy and creative. 😀
(and thank-you mom for your lovely email, that was so awesome – I feel nearly like family now 😀 )
My closets are so bad. It's where I quickly stash stuff to keep the rest of the house tidy. YIKES.
And completely overwhemling. In my main bedroom closet, I have to small sidetables stacked on top of another and no closet bar as yet since I painted in there. (a year now?!?) So on the sides, all the extra quilts and linens are just stacked. It is not pretty! And where did all these blankets come from???
I am trying to be ruthless one inch at a time. I currently have a mound growing on the floor in the basement for the local thrift. I drop my stuff off in small encrements so I don't overwhelm THEM. LOL!!
Donna
My problem is a small house, no storage. If I want to declutter one area, I have to declutter another first, and so on. It's never ending. I love your shelves. Thank goodness for hubbies who have some know how and can help out. Can't wait to see what you declutter next.
Thanks for your tips and ideas…I have been on a 6 month organization and de-cluttering campaign. Sad to say there is a lot left to get rid of! Yikes….
My office/TV room is the problem room. It contains cast-off furniture. In an attempt to organize I had 3 bookcases filled with stuff. Then I realized that the more space I had, the more stuff I filled it with. I got rid of two of the bookcases and have lots more space.
It seems we're all in organizing mode! I totally agree with working in small areas at a time ~ looking at everything you have to do makes it so overwhelming you wind up procrastinating or putting it off. I actually do this when I have to weed the beds outside in the warmer months, too.
Isn't it amazing that a home builder would have not thought of putting heavier shelves into a pantry, of all inconceivable things? Probably thought of it and opted to go cheap!
Brenda
I think a lot of us want to start our new year with a bit of organizing..I, too, worked on my pantry, just before the new year.
I have some drawers that need my attention and 2 closets that, no matter what I do, or how often I do it, I can't seem to keep them straight! *heavy sigh…
Keep up the good work.
Everything look great and tidy! If you run out of things to organize there, I've got plenty here!
deedee
yay for your man helping you out with the tough tracks! What a great gift from your mom! Everything looks great! Lovin' the organization!!
Can you please come to my house and work your magic? lol =)
I feel like every day I wake up and say to myself, today is the day my house will be organized. My two toddlers of course always seem to have different plans.
I just emptied our pantry and reorganized everything. It feels so good to open it up and be able to find things!
I would have spoke many colorful words if I had to wrestle with those sub-par drawers. Great tips. Our workshop is a mess. Perhaps your post will help us.
Sincerely
the Redneck Junkers
Ooops……I forgot to talk to my stuff…maybe that's why things stayed and didn't leave…and I love ziplock bags too…smiles.
thanks for visiting my sight, I think your right I need a darker font. great organization. Lezlee
looking at everything you have to do makes it so overwhelming you wind up procrastinating or putting it off. I actually do this when I have to weed the beds outside in the warmer months, too.
buy wagyu
Haahaa!!! I love the questions to ask the 'stuff in the cluttered mess'..that is great!!!!!!
Ah, This is awesome! Clarifies
several contradictions I've heard