I do! I scroll thru what would be miles and miles of feeds on Instagram. I look at immaculate homes. Perfectly appointed rooms. Children in matching outfits.
Husband and wife work out teams. And the super cool Tic Tok dances.
Then I look up from my phone and see ... wait for it ...... REALITY
My home is not perfect. It is lived in. And 9 days out of 10 has a light dusting of white dog hair covering the floors. Thanks to this little dude. This is Buddy I love him .. but wish he was not a shedding kind of guy.
I just try my best to keep it orderly and clean. And not collect stuff just for the sake of having stuff.
One of my Hot Mess problem areas was my pantry.
I am fortunate to have a lovely rather spacious pantry in my kitchen. I keep a few canned goods in it, baking ingredients and snacks. It also has a perfect top shelf to store my sheet pans.
But in time it got to be a disaster.
Finding things was getting frustrating to say the least.
Open packages had a tendency to tip over and spill and I had enough.
That was the day I decided that Kitchen Pantry Upgrade was about to become a reality.
The first step was to fully empty the pantry and give it a wipe down. And then discard all expired food. You will be surprised at what you find.
Pantry Emptying is a big job
The next step was to give it a fresh coat of paint. It had occurred to me that in the 10 years we had been living in our home, this was the only space that never had seen a coat of fresh paint. I used Benjamin Moore Beach Glass for the pantry.
I also had a vision in my head of the fancy pantry set ups I had seen and wanted something similar that was in my budget.
I noticed that the pantries that I loved the most all had a similar vibe or feel. Tidy baskets and nicely labeled glass jars.
Once my pantry was dry it was time to go to work restocking it.
This is a really important part .. you need to really think about this step. Or you will end up at step one way quicker them you EVER want. Be selective does it NEED to be in the pantry or can to go to the basement or be donated ?
It was during this project that I learned the value of 5 very simple items.
Glass storage Jar
Chalkboard label
Chalkpen
Sharpie
Matching Bins from the Dollastore
Adding your dry goods to a Jar from IKEA and adding a label will almost instantly make you feel like you have your life in order.
Even if "having it all together" is not the case, you sure look like you do ~ and some days that's a win
Then for things that can't really go in a jar, keep them organized, I put them in to bins. It just hides a bit of the clutter and looks tidy.
This was my pantry make over.
It is far from perfect or even close to designer. A fresh coat of paint, clean fresh looking jars (to minimize spill and less food waste due to ingredients going stale)
Improved ease of use.
Everything has its place, and its easy to find
Biggest bonus this has put a stop to the rummaging in the Pantry & making a bigger mess.
luv
SFB