Happy Saturday 🙂
This week has been jam packed full of organizing, working out, meal planning and prepping and continuing to go through and de-clutter! It is true what they say, EXERCISE GIVES YOU ENERGY! I have been non-stop since Monday and I am not tired yet!
I will give you all the details of the new exercise program (Beachbody’s 80 day Obsession) in tomorrows post! Let’s get to today’s post, put your feet up, get snuggled up, and get ready to see the HOT MESS I started with!
I have mentioned before that we live in a home that was built in 1900 and although it is too small for our needs right now, there are many things I really love about our home. It has been in my husband’s family since it was built, or possibly moved.. we have heard that it was moved from another location to this plot of land, but we don’t know that for sure. Pretty cool if it was!!
Anyway, this home has a lot of stories to tell! YEARS of memories. Not only for us, but our cousins, aunt and my father-in-law are always telling us about special times in this house <3
My husbands Grandmother, “Nanny” spent A LOT of time in our kitchen. Their Grandfather “Poppy” hunted and fished and she cooked up anything he brought home. From what I have learned, she was an outstanding cook! I have taken over in this kitchen and I am giving it all I have (most of the time, hahah!)
One of my favorite spots in our kitchen is the built in pantry. 
(FYI: The countertops are on our DIY list, CONCRETE!! Can’t wait! Floors are further down on that list, haha!)
The space the pantry has is great, we can fit so much in it. However, this pantry, that is full of character and stories, has been neglected, extremely neglected, over the last few years… the doors have been opened and closed (and possibly slammed) many, many, many, many, many times, by children of all different ages.
This is how it looked on Monday:
During holiday baking, I would literally have to put the sugar on the top (baking) shelf and slam the door to get it to latch. How did I let it get this out of control? Haha! Life happens, thats how (that is what I am telling myself anyway, hahaha!)
I went shelf by shelf and emptied, scrubbed, and even painted for a fresh new ORGANIZED look!
I didn’t want to spend any money on this project, so I did my favorite and “shopped from my house!” I used leftover paint, gathered baskets and totes. I separated everything into piles and I was disgusted to see how many things were expired. I wasn’t using anything expired, but I wasted so many things. I had 5 nutmeg spices… 2 were expired! Why do I keep buying nutmeg?
PLEASE tell me at least one of you is like this: When I am at the store, with a new recipe, I am walking around, chatting with other shoppers, gathering ingredients, and I don’t always remember if we have something, so I get it anyway,
BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO COME BACK TO THE STORE!!
Is anyone with me???? Then I use the nutmeg, and look back at the first picture, the nutmeg was sucked into this mess, and never seen again!!!
It feels good to have it under control again. Everything has a place, and there is order. Hopefully that will really cut down on future wasting.
I didn’t do everything at once. I started with the bottom two shelves, which took a few hours in the morning (mostly because the paint needed to dry). I did the third between being a personal UBER for my roommates (the teenagers) on another day. And the baking shelf, that took the longest. I finished that up this morning. If you are like me, don’t overwhelm yourself with LARGE organizing and de-cluttering. Do it in sections, room by room. Space by space!
I also noticed that I have more room now. With the meal prepping and planning for 80 day obsession, I was able to grocery shop for two weeks worth of meals and it all fit (without me forcing the door closed, haha!)
If your pantry needs a little of your attention, (or a lot like mine did) go around the house and gather some bins, even painted shoeboxes will work… maybe use black chalk board paint and label each box.
If you really want to GO BIG, here are a few things I found on Amazon, that I would have bought, if I wanted this baby to be Pinterest worthy! (maybe down the road, when my bank account is out of depression from Christmas). If you click on the photo you can add right to your Amazon cart from here 🙂
Happy Shopping, Happy Organizing, Happy Saturday, but the most important, I am HAPPY that you stopped by the blog today!